Exploring Rabbit Population Dynamics by Season: Key Factors

Name: Dave Verma Date: 10-15-23 Student Exploration: Rabbit Population by Season Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. Vocabulary: carrying capacity, density-dependent limiting factor, density-independent limiting factor, limiting factor, population, population density Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. Suppose you had a pet rabbit. What would the rabbit need to stay alive and healthy? Water, food (carrots), physical activity, place to stay (hutch), and socialization. 2. A female rabbit can give birth to over 40 baby rabbits a year. Suppose all of her offspring survived and reproduced, all of their offspring survived and reproduced, and so on. If that happened, in only eight years the mass of rabbits would exceed the mass of Earth! So, why aren’t we overrun with rabbits? What keeps the rabbit population in check? Foxes, predation, and disease Gizmo Warm-up A population is a group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area. The size of a population is determined by many factors. In the Rabbit Population by Season Gizmo, you will see how different factors influence how a rabbit population grows and changes. 1. Select the BAR CHART tab. What is the size of the initial rabbit population? 40 2. Select the TABLE tab. Click Play ( ), and allow the simulation to run for one year. A. In which season did the rabbit population increase the most? Spring B. In which season did the rabbit population increase the least? Winter Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Activity A: Carrying capacity Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset ( ). Question: What determines how large a population can grow? 1. Think about it: A limiting factor is any factor that controls the growth of a population. What do you think are some of the limiting factors for the rabbit population? Predators and availability of food 2. Run Gizmo: Select the DESCRIPTION tab. Set the Simulation speed to Fast . Select the GRAPH tab. Click Play , and allow the simulation to run for at least 10 years. (Note: You can use the zoom controls on the right to see the whole graph.) A. Describe how the rabbit population changed over the course of 10 years. Increased a lot B. What pattern did you see repeated every year? Goes up a lot then goes slows down or decreases C. How could you explain this pattern? A lot of resources available to rabbits at certain times of the year and not a lot at different times of the year 3. Analyze: The carrying capacity is the maximum number of individuals of a particular species that an environment can support. All environments have carrying capacities. A. What is this environment’s approximate carrying capacity for rabbits? (Note: Average the summer and winter carrying capacities.) 400 rabbits B. When did the rabbit population reach carrying capacity? Explain how you know. During the summer, started to decrease after summer Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Activity B: Density-dependent limiting factors Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset . ● On the SIMULATION pane, make sure Ample is selected for the amount of LAND available. Introduction: Population density is the number of individuals in a population per unit of area. Some limiting factors only affect a population when its density reaches a certain level. These limiting factors are known as density-dependent limiting factors . Question: How does a density-dependent limiting factor affect carrying capacity? 1. Think about it: What do you think some density-dependent limiting factors might be? Competition for food, shelter 2. Predict: Suppose a shopping mall is built near a rabbit warren, leaving less land available for rabbits. How will this affect the environment’s carrying capacity? It will decrease the carrying capacity 3. Experiment: Use the Gizmo to find the carrying capacity with Ample , Moderate , and Little land. List the carrying capacities below. Ample: around 400 Moderate: around 310 Little: around 100 4. Analyze: How did the amount of space available to the rabbits affect how many individuals the environment could support? The less land available, the less individuals that the environment can support 5. Infer: Why do you think limiting a population’s space decreases the carrying capacity? There is probably less food as there are more competition within a small area 6. Challenge yourself: Other than space, what might be another density-dependent limiting factor? Explain. Predators because it can cause for the rabbit’s population to decrease or stay constant without overpopulating Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

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Activity C: Density-independent limiting factors Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset . ● On the SIMULATION pane, select Ample for the amount of LAND available. Introduction: Not all limiting factors are related to a population’s density. Density-independent limiting factors affect a population regardless of its size and density. Question: How do density-independent limiting factors affect how a population grows? 1. Think about it: What do you think some density-independent limiting factors might be? Droughts 2. Gather data: Click Play . Allow the population to reach carrying capacity. Click Pause ( ). Select the GRAPH tab and click the camera ( ) to take a snapshot of the graph. Right click the image and paste the snapshot into the box below. Label the graph “Normal Weather.” Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Normal Weather 3. Predict: How do you think a period of harsh winters will affect the rabbit population? It will decrease the rabbit population 4. Investigate: Click Reset . Select Harsh winter from the CONDITIONS listed on the SIMULATION pane. Click Play , and observe how the population changes over five years. Paste a snapshot of the graph in the box below. Label the graph “Harsh Winter.” Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Harsh Winter A. How does the Harsh Winter graph differ from the Normal Weather graph? There is a lower number of rabbits on the harsh winter graph than the normal weather B. What do you think most likely caused the differences seen in the two graphs? the weather and availability of food 5. Predict: Rabbits reproduce in the spring. How do you think a period of cold springs will affect the rabbit population? There won’t be as much rabbits reproducing compared to normal weather; less rabbits 6. Investigate: Deselect Harsh winter . Select Cold spring . Click Play , and observe how the population changes over a period of five years. Paste a snapshot of the graph in the box below and label the graph “Cold Spring.” Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

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Cold Spring A. How does the Cold Spring graph differ from the Normal Weather graph? There are less rabbits B. What do you think most likely caused the differences seen in the two graphs? less reproduction due to cold spring 7. Predict: How do you think a period of hot summers will affect the rabbit population? Increased the population 8. Investigate: Deselect Cold spring . Select Hot summer . Click Play , and observe the how the population changes over a period of five years. Paste a snapshot of the graph in the box below. Label the graph “Hot Summer.” Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Hot Summer A. How does the Hot Summer graph differ from the Normal Weather graph? There are less rabbits B. What do you think most likely caused the differences seen in the two graphs? Heat 9. Think and discuss: Other than unusual weather, what might be another density-independent limiting factor that could affect the rabbit population? If possible, discuss your answer with your classmates and teacher. Human activity like wildfires, pollution, etc. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

Dave Verma - RabbitPopulationSeasonSE

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