PredatorPreySimulationInastableecosystem,thenumberofpredatorsandthenumberofpreyfluctuate,butremainrelativelyconstant.Threefactorscanaffectthecyclingofpredatorandpreynumbers:
ThereproductiverateofthepreyThenumberofpreyeatenbyeachpredatorThereproductiverateofthepredator
Inthissimulation,youwillmanipulatethosethreevariablestodeterminehowtheyaffecttheoverallpredatorandpreypopulations.Thissimulationislocatedat:
http://nortonbooks.com/college/biology/animations/ch34a03.htm
Step1:Developyourhypothesis
Considerthevariablesanddevelopahypothesistopredicthowchangingvariableseffectspredatorandpreypopulations.Anifthenstatementisappropriateinthiscase,forexample:"Ifthereproductiverateofthepreyisincreasedthen[whatmusthappen]inorderfortheecosystemtoremaininbalance.
Step2:Collectdata
Usethesimulatortoviewhowpopulationsareeffectedbychangingthevariables.Inmanycases,changingthevariableswillresultinacrashofbothspecies.Findingtheappropriatebalancewillrequiretrialanderror.Keepnotesofyourdataandoutcomes,youwillneedthislaterforyourlabreport.
[Whenyourecosystemisinbalance,youwillneedtotakea"snapshot"ofyourgraphonthescreen.Todothis,findthe"printscreen"buttononthekeyboard.Thisdoesnotactuallyprintthescreen,itactuallycopiestheimage.OpenMicrosoftPaint(oranotherimageeditor)andusethe"copy"commandtodisplayanimageofyourgraph.Youwillneedtoinsertorattachthisimageintoyourlabreport.Youmayalsochoosetousemorethanoneimage.Youmaywishtocroptheimagesothatonlythegraphiisseen.]
Step3:ConclusionsandReport
Usemicrosoftword(orothertexteditor)andwriteyoulabreport.Itshouldincludeyourhypothesis,yourdataandawrittenconclusionofyourfindings.Thislabreportdoesnotneedtobeverylong,asinglepageshouldbesufficient.
TitleandName
Hypothesis:WriteyourifthenstatementfromStep1.
Results(Data):PrintasnapshotofyourbalancedecosystemfromStep2.
Conclusions:
*Acceptorrejectyourhypothesis(prediction)*EXPLAINwhathappenedintheexperimentasyouadjustedthevariables(preyandpredatorreproductiverates,andthenumberofpreyeaten
Writeaconcludingstatementabouthowthesimulationappliestoreallifepopulationsandpredatorpreycycles.
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