Rabbit Population by Season Gizmo (1)

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Howard Community College *

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101

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Anthropology

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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Name: Date: 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? The rabbit would need food, water and shelter to live and provide just as we do! It would need the proper shelter accommodations. 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? The limiting factors and the carrying capacity limit the population from overflowing or overrunning. Since we have a limited food supply, the rabbits sometimes won’t receive and find what they need which causes them to die. Also, rabbits get eaten by other animals such as foxes. 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? There is around 40 rabbits initially in the population. 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? The season that the rabbit population increase the most was spring because of the proper growth of vegetation that they eat off of and the ideal climate. B. In which season did the rabbit population increase the least? The season that the rabbit population increase the least was Winter because of the cold climates and the food supply for them is very scarce. 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? climate, food supply, and shelter are some examples of limiting factors. 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. For about 4-5 years, the rabbit population seemed to be increasing but then in the 6th year, it stayed still which we could define carrying capacity. B. What pattern did you see repeated every year? The population decreased in the winter and increased in the spring. C. How could you explain this pattern? Well, according the the simulation, the rabbits population did not change after it’s 4th or 5th 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.) Well according the gizmo, the environment average carrying capacity for winter was 380, 339 during the winter and 420 during the summer. B. When did the rabbit population reach carrying capacity? Explain how you know. The rabbit population reached carrying capacity in the spring and summer months because the population stopped growing 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? food, water, shelter, predators. 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? The rabbits would have less food because they rely on that vegetation, causing a decline in the population. 3. Experiment : Use the Gizmo to find the carrying capacity with Ample , Moderate , and Little land. List the carrying capacities below. Ample: 400 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 would make more room for the rabbits and vice versa. 5. Infer : Why do you think limiting a population’s space decreases the carrying capacity? There would be no room for incoming animals in the population. 6. Challenge yourself : Other than space, what might be another density-dependent limiting factor? Explain. Predators because they rely on other organisms for food. Reproduction for educational use only. Public sharing or posting prohibited. © 2020 ExploreLearning™ All rights reserved

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