| d) Get another � sheet of graph paper and label the vertical axis �Number of Mice� and the horizontal �Time in Days� as before. Make a graph showing the growth of the mice population after 210 days if�
1) The mice had limited amount of space and food. 2) The mice only had enough food to accommodate 30 mice and there was only enough space to support 25 mice. 3) Label this graph: Hitting the Carrying Capacity. e) What is carrying capacity? What things affect carrying capacity? Act #7: Human Population Guess: What do you think our (human population) growth pattern looks like? Do you think we�ve hit our carrying capacity? Why or why not? 1) Computer Link: under �Ecology� click �Number of years required to add 1 billion people to the population of the Earth.� 2) Get another � sheet of graph paper and make a graph of �World Population in billions� (vertical axis) and �Time in Years� (horizontal axis). Label this graph Human Growth Pattern. Attach to your act sheet. 3) During which time interval is growth the MOST rapid? Why do you suppose that is? 4) Has the human population reached a peak yet? 5) What do you think may happen to the human population as it continues to increase? 6) How might available space, food supply, war, and disease affect our growth? |
| Act #8: Popclock
This JAVA based popup gives us an idea of the population size of the United States and the World. www.geocities.com/mtcarmelbiology, click �ecology� and then click �What is the population of the world and the U.S. now?� 1) What is the U.S. population now? (to the nearest million) 2) What is the world population now? (to the nearest million) 3) Watch the pop clock for 1 minute. How much does the world population increase in that time? 4) How much does the U.S. population increase in that time? Act #9: Birth Rates As you may have studied, birth rate is a large contributing factor to controlling the size of a population. 1) What is the average birth rate of an American woman? 2) Let�s see what happens to the growth pattern of a population over time when we change the birth rate. Go back to your mouse graph (the first one you created for me). Use another color pen and plot a line showing the population of mice over time when no mice ever die and after every month each pair of mice gives birth to only 2 mice. 3) How does a birth rate affect the growth of a population? Act #10: Oh DEER! Label this graph �LOGISTIC GROWTH PATTERN� 1) According to the graph, where does steady state begin? Please label on your graph. 2) According to the graph, what is the carrying capacity? Please label on your graph. 3) What are some density dependent factors mentioned in this exercise? 4) How is this graph different than the graph you produced for me labeled �EXPONENTIAL GROWTH PATTERN�? |