Limiting Factors

A population is all the individuals of a species that are living in an area at one time. How big can a population get? We will find out when we study limiting factors.

Part 1: Population Growth

Watch the Sturgeon Carrying Capacity Movie (4:30).

Go through the Population Growth PowerPoint.

Use p. 1 of the Limiting Factors assignment to calculate how many milkweed bugs could be around in the future if there were unlimited resources.

Part 2: Limiting Factors Background

Read pp. 22-24 in the textbook.

In your journal, write your responses to the following items.

1. What are two different biotic limiting factors, and how do they limit a population?

2. What are two different abiotic limiting factors, and how do they limit a population?

3. What does "carrying capacity" mean?

Part 3: Limiting Factors Simulation

• From the following website, click "Class Login" and enter this information.

  • Login: smssci

  • Password: School#1

• Click "Sign In," then click "Populations and Ecosystems"

• Under "Multimedia," scroll down and click on "Milkweed Bugs, Limited"

• Run the simulation following the guidelines on p. 2 of the Limiting Factors assignment, and fill in the sheet as you go.

https://www.fossweb.com

Tips: Refresh your browser between trials to reset the simulation to default settings.

Part 4: Oh Deer!

Play the Oh Deer game from Project Wild.

Before the game, answer the following questions in your journal.

1. What do animals need to survive?

2. What are some limiting factors that affect their survival?

After the game, answer the following questions in your journal:

• 1. What happened to the deer population over time?

  2. Why did this happen to the deer population (explain)?

  3. When a population is in equilibrium (at carrying capacity), is it static or does it fluctuate?

Observe and discuss the Snowshoe Hare and Lynx Graph.

Extension:

* Watch Invasive Species TedEd Movie (4:30). Then watch the Green Crab movie (2:50) about an invasive species that affects Western Washington. Look at the World Population Meter and then the World Population Clock. Are we an invasive species? Write an argumentative/persuasive essay to answer that question.

* Go through the Population Explosion simulation.