Why Is Evolution Important Now? Understanding Predation

Why Is Evolution Important Now?  Understanding why some chili peppers are hot and some are not
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080811195315.htm

WHY IS EVOLUTION IMPORTANT NOW? Understanding Predator-Prey Relationships – An Evolutionary Arms Race

Read the following article:

University of Washington (2008, August 12). Bugs Put The Heat In Chili Peppers. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 2, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080811195315.htm

Name _______________________________ Period _______________
Note-taking Worksheet

Chili peppers have these predators:

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Predators are attracted to and eat peppers because of these biochemicals:

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This is the predator that helps disperse the pepper seeds:

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This is the predator that kills the pepper seeds:

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Chili peppers produce this biochemical as a defense against attack of a microbe predator:

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This predator does not sense and is not harmed by eating capsaicin:

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This predator is inhibited by capsaicin:

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These predators can sense “heat” of the capsaicin, but still eat the peppers without being harmed:

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Hot peppers are most often found growing in areas with larger populations of:

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When you have filled in all the blanks in the note-taking worksheet, you can design a concept map, or chart that contains the important facts about the peppers and bugs being part of an evolutionary arms race within a food web.

This video clip shows another predator-prey evolutionary arms race that is demonstrated by the relationships between garter snakes and toxic newts:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/3/l_013_07.html

Here is a STEM Lesson on Gray Wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains:
https://beartrust.org/gray-wolves-in-the-northern-rockies


The following posts also address the question: Why is Evolution Important Now?

Why Is Evolution Important Now? Understanding Extinction and Our Environment
http://cavalierscience.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-is-evolution-important-now.html

Why Is Evolution Important Now? Disease Prevention
http://cavalierscience.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-is-evolution-important-now-disease.html

Why Is Evolution Important Now? Antibiotic Resistance
http://cavalierscience.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-is-evolutions-important-now.html

Why Is Evolution Important Now? Understanding Diseases and Food Production
http://cavalierscience.blogspot.com/2009/02/why-is-evolution-important-now.html

The Human Environment (McGraw-Hill series in population biology)

Why Is Evolution Important Now?  Battling the Bedbug Epidemic and Cockroach avoidance of bait - Pesticide Resistance
http://cavalierscience.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-is-evolution-important-now-battling.html