Coding Stories: Evolution

Biology is not my greatest area of expertise. So when STEMTeachersNYC asked me to help put on a workshop called computational modeling and evolution I knew it would be an exciting challenge. My colleague and workshop co-leader Josh mentioned a famous evolution example from industrial England that I had some familiarity with. The peppered moth of pre-industrial England was light in color allowing it to camouflage effectively on the light colored lichen and bark of the English countryside. Then as coal use increased and soot built up on these surfaces they became darker in color. And over time a darker variety…