African Lions: Modeling Populations

Open your Chromebook and go to the following website:

https://concord.org/stem-resources/african-lions-modeling-populations

Click on “Preview”, in order to start the African Lions: Modeling Populations Activity.

1. Which of the following is an example of ecology? (Highlight your answer)

a. Studying earthquakes
b. Looking for planets in outer space
c. Creating pharmaceutical drugs
d. Studying how global warming affects whales

2. Which of the following questions interests you the most? (Highlight your answer)
a. What factors can influence how populations change over time?
b. What is the difference between exponential and logistic growth?
c. How can we apply population models to real world data?
d. What inferences can we make about human population growth?

3. From 1960 to 1963, the population of lions in the crater decreased. Which of the following is
most likely to have been true from 1960-1963? (Highlight your answer)
a. More lions are immigrating than emigrating
b. More lions died every year than were born
c. No lions have died
d. Both a and b

4. What would have to be true, on average, from 1952- 1956? (Highlight your answer)
a. Birth rate > death rate
b. Death rate > birth rate

5. What do you predict will happen to the lion population after 1963? Explain Below.
I think that they will start to slowly grow bigger.

Draw your prediction on the graph to the right, starting in 1964. Do this in the activity, you do
not need to draw the graph here.

6. Next, draw your prediction of how bacteria will grow over time. Do this in the activity, you do
not need to draw the graph here.
7. In which hour are the bacteria growing the fastest? Write below between which two hours on
the graph you selected as the fastest growth time.

In the steepest point.

8. Look at the lion population from 1963 to 1975. Do you think this rate of growth will continue
to increase? Why or why not?
No because it starts to go down and up which is a sign that that pattern will continue.

9. Using the picture to the right to get started, brainstorm a list of at least three limiting factors
that might affect the lion population in the crater.
No places to hide, No water, amount of prey.

10. Click a point on the graph where you think competition for space was low for the bacteria.
When does it say competition for space will be lowest?
It will be its lowest when population is still growing.

11. Use the graph to draw a prediction about the lion population from 1980 to 2012. Do this in
the activity, you do not need to draw the graph here.
It will go up.
12. Draw a line to estimate the carrying capacity of the petri dish. Do this in the activity, you do
not need to draw the graph here.
What does it say is the carrying capacity for the petri dish?
6000

13. Draw a line to estimate the average carrying capacity of the environment prior to the disease
outbreak (affecting lions) that took place in the early 1960s. Do this in the activity, you do not
need to draw the graph here.
What does it say was the carrying capacity before the disease outbreak?

70-90 lions.

14. Using what you now know about carrying capacity, redraw a new prediction of the lion
population after 1963. Do this on the computer, you do not need to draw the graph on this paper.
Compare your prediction to the real data. What do you notice? If there are differences, can you
suggest some causes?
I noticed that It went down. The difference was that I kept going up but it actually goes down.

15. Which of the following is a density-independent limiting factor that could cause fluctuations
in the carrying capacity between 1995 and today? (Highlight your answer)
a. There is a drought for 2 years.
b. African wild dogs move into the crater and compete with the lions for their
wildebeest and zebra prey.
c. A disease wipes out most of the zebras.
d. Half of the crater’s 3,200 square miles is fenced off for the development of a
game preserve.

16. Given the shape of these graphs, do you think Earth’s population will reach carrying
capacity? What might be some limiting factors? What do you think will happen if we do reach
carrying capacity?
Yes I do think that Earth's population will reach carrying capacity.Some limiting factors are
water, food, shelter. Once we reach that point it will start to go down.

17. What factors can influence how populations change over time? What is the difference
between exponential and logistic growth? How can we apply population models to real world
data? What inferences can we make about the human population?
In 1-2 sentences, answer one of the questions above.

The difference between an exponential and logistic growth logistic at some point stops going up
and just has a horizontal line wile exponential keeps going up.