Gizmo Rabbit Population by Season | Student Exploration: Rabbit Population by Season -ALL ANSWERS ARE CORRECT
Student Exploration: Rabbit Population by
... [Show More] Season
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?
In order for the rabbit to stay alive and healthy, it would need water, food, and an
appropriate environment to live in.
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?
We are not overrun with rabbits because of the food chain. Rabbits have many
predators, and because of these predators the rabbit population is constantly leveling
off with births and deaths. So, predators and the food chain are what keeps the
rabbit population in check.
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 approximate
size of the initial rabbit population?
The approximate size of the initial rabbit
population is 50.
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?
o During the spring season, the rabbit population increased the most due to the
nice weather conditions, which call for good vegetation for the rabbits to
consume.
B. In which season did the rabbit population increase the least?
o During the winter season the rabbit population decreased due to the cold
weather conditions, which limited the rabbits chances of survival because
there was not a large food supply available for them.
Activity A:
Carrying capacity
Get the Gizmo ready:
Click Reset ( ).
Question: What determines how l [Show Less]