Population Gizmo
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School
University of South Carolina *
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Course
BIOL208
Subject
Mathematics
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
3
Uploaded by MateGalaxy15102
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Student Exploration: Rabbit Population by Season
: 14 Points
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes.
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?
The amount of food available and their predators.
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. The increase in population grew steadily for more than half of the 10 years, but
eventually started to decrease at a constant rate.
B.
What pattern did you see repeated every year? The Rabbit population in the Spring grew exponentially but then you would get to the winter and see a loss.
C.
How could you explain this pattern? During the Winter food is scarce for rabbits.
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.) The total average is 384 with 426 during the summer and 342 during the winter.
B.
When did the rabbit population reach carrying capacity? Explain how you know. The rabbit population hit carrying capacity during the summer.. We know this because the population stopped rising and stayed constant.
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? Predators, food, and 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?
Rabbits will have less food which will ultimately lead to a decline in rabbit population.
3.
Experiment
: Use the Gizmo to find the carrying capacity with Ample
, Moderate
, and Little
land. List the carrying capacities below.
Ample:
402
Moderate:
300
Little:
109
4.
Analyze
: How did the amount of space available to the rabbits affect how many individuals the environment
could support?
The larger the space available the larger the rabbit population was.
5.
Infer
: Why do you think limiting a population’s space decreases the carrying capacity? This was because of the amount of food available.
6.
Challenge yourself
: Other than space, what might be another density-dependent limiting factor? Explain. Predators could also be another density-dependent limiting factor because they aren’t only fighting for food, but also fighting to stay alive and to not become food for larger animals.
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved
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