Biology 2: Predator-prey Lab
Written by Nick Cordella, Meghaan Smith, and Jennifer Cabello
The number of animals in a certain region, such as a meadow, is known as a population. The manners in which the populations change with time are known as population dynamics. A population of bunnies, for instance, may increase due to reproduction or migration of other bunnies from nearby meadows. The population may decrease if they run out of food. If a predator, such as a wolf, enters the meadow and eats bunnies, the bunny population will also decrease. The predators’ populations also change with time, and they depend on the amount of bunnies in the meadow. This lab explores the population dynamics of wolves and bunnies that live in a meadow together.
- One 11” x 17” sheet of paper: “the meadow”
- 30 2.5” x 2.5” gray paper squares: “the wolves”
- 75 1” x 1” pink paper squares: “the bunnies”
- One box/container to hold the “current wolves”