"Hybrid Zones" Trailer

Are hybrids rare? A biologist explains

Foraging Frenzy: A hands-on natural selection memory game

What Hybrid Birds Tell Us about Climate Change

'Hybrid Zones' |Science| G8-12 (en-US)

Eric Money, PhD

Associate Director of Educational Innovation

Laura Vander Meiden, PhD

Freelance Data Analyst

Matt Felperin

Photographer

Carver Lee

Freelance Graphic Designer

Amanda Miskowski

Anna Wilkins

Freelance Character Designer & Storyboard Artist

Acknowledgments

#### Connection to Research
 In each lesson, students learn about evolution and hybridization directly from scientists in a series of engaging videos. Then after playing a game simulating chickadee foraging habits, students will use their own data to draw conclusions about the success of different foraging strategies in different environments, participating in the same types of critical thinking scientists use to explore this still-ongoing research question.  
#### Research Background
 [Dr. Scott Taylor](https://www.colorado.edu/lab/taylor/people/scott), [Dr. Amber Rice](https://www.lehigh.edu/~inbios/Faculty/Rice.html), and [Dr. Tim Roth](https://www.fandm.edu/directory/timothy-roth.html) study hybridization between closely related birds to better understand why two species remain distinct despite widespread interbreeding. We are specifically interested in how hybridization might result in strong selection against individuals who do not have the same spatial memory as others, which might lead to mortality during the winter for the small non-migratory birds that we work on.
#### Further Reading:
- [Audubon | In the Rockies, Human Activity Paves the Way for a Hybrid Bird Boom](https://www.audubon.org/news/in-rockies-human-activity-paves-way-hybrid-bird-boom) 
- [Evolution | (Scientific paper) Hybrid chickadees are deficient in learning and memory](https://academic.oup.com/evolut/article/72/5/1155/6726722?login=false)
- [Proceedings of the Royal Society B | (Scientific paper) Maladaptive learning and memory in hybrids as a reproductive isolating barrier](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2018.0542) 


Background

**Matt Wilkins:** Led the project, spearheaded all curricular materials, and produced videos  
**Ella Houlihan:** Co-developed all curricular materials, produced videos  
**Stephanie Rapciak:** Assisted conceptualization and development of learning materials, produced videos  
**Dri Tattersfield:**  Assisted conceptualization and development of learning materials, produced videos  
**Katie Capp, PhD:** Helped align to standards and finalize all materials  
**Stephanie Castillo:** Produced and edited all videos  
**Amber Rice, PhD:** Defined outreach goals, ensured scientific accuracy,  and secured funding for the project; produced and featured in videos  
**Tim Roth, PhD:** Defined outreach goals, ensured scientific accuracy,  and secured funding for the project; produced and featured in videos  
**Scott Taylor, PhD:** Defined outreach goals, ensured scientific accuracy,  and secured funding for the project; produced and featured in videos  

Credits

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Feedback

JobViz Career Connections

Evolution's Testing Grounds

Science

#### Driving Question(s):
- What is hybridization and how does it impact evolution? 
- Is hybridization good, bad or neutral? 
- How is climate change impacting hybridization and evolution?
#### Hook(s):
Students will move around, play a memory game, and have many opportunities for discussion as they explore how hybridization, evolution, and climate change are intertwined in diverse organisms.

Hybrid Zones

The Gist

Driving Question(s):

Hook(s):

Lesson summaries

Lions, Ligers, and Pizzlies

Chickadee Foraging Frenzy!

Making sense of hybridization and evolution

Supporting Multimedia

"Hybrid Zones" Trailer