Abstract
Although we are increasingly aware that an understanding of evolution is critical to all biological fields and to scientific literacy, evolution remains a challenge in the classroom. Here we present a hands-on, inquiry-based classroom activity to study host-parasite coevolution. Coevolution is the reciprocal evolution of interacting species. It is pervasive, diverse, and rapid. Instruction in coevolution is therefore an excellent way to teach students evolutionary principles. In the described game, students take on the role of either host or parasite, and they use playing cards to act out reciprocal selection. Students collaborate to collect data on the change in frequency of host and parasite genotypes (card suits) through time. They use these data to conduct an independent test of the prediction that host-parasite coevolution maintains genetic variation. The game is suitable for students ranging from upper-level high school through college. We include detailed instructions, discussion topics, and simple modifications to extend the game to additional topics. This is a fun, active, and simple exercise to introduce students to the complex topic of host-parasite coevolution. Moreover, the game emphasizes infectious diseases as major selective forces, a fascinating topic for today’s students.
Highlights
Since its origins in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the field of evolutionary biology has made enormous strides
We developed it in order to provide students with a test of the Red Queen Hypothesis for the maintenance of genetic variation, which we discuss in more detail
We present the game to the students as a means to test the key prediction of the Red Queen Hypothesis (RQH): host-parasite coevolution maintains genetic variation
Summary
Since its origins in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the field of evolutionary biology has made enormous strides. The students are engaged in hypothesis testing Our goal for this exercise is to convey four general concepts (Figure 2a): (1) coevolution occurs rapidly; (2) that which is most fit can become the least fit in just a few generations; (3) rare advantage, or negative frequency-dependent selection, can maintain genetic variation over time; and (4) we can use simple games to represent complex processes and to test hypotheses. Students will often find that matches (successful infections) are rare in the initial generations of the game and increase through time as the parasite population adapts. Coevolution leads to divergence between populations: as a host and parasite population reciprocally adapt, they can adopt distinct evolutionary trajectories from their neighbors, just by chance alone Students will see this when they compare allele frequencies at generation 15 in different groups (Figure 4a–d).
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