Predator-Prey Lab
Materials
Tables
Frisbees
Bingo chips
Procedures
1. Create a hypothesis that explains the relationship between a predator and prey’s population size. Record your hypothesis in the box provided.
2. The small frisbee represents the predator (wolf)
3. The bingo chips represent the prey (deer)
4. Put 10 bingo chips on your table (this # goes in column 2 in generation 1)
5. In your first generation, you will start with 1 wolf (this goes in column 3)
6. To simulate predation, you will toss one frisbee on the table to see how many deer will be eaten (if the Frisbee touches a bingo chip it is considered eaten)
7. Take these deer out of the population and count them (this # will go in column 4)
8. For every 3 deer that are caught, a wolf survives (3 deer = 1 wolf survives)
9. Put the # of remaining wolves in column 6
10. For every surviving wolf a baby wolf will be born (put the # of new wolves in column 7) Ex: If 5 deer are caught there will be 1 wolf and there will be 1 wolf baby.
11. Put the # of deer left (total started with – total caught) in column 8
12. In every generation, the population of deer doubles; therefore, multiply the # of deer in column 8 by 2 and put it in column 2 of the next generation, and add those many beans to your dish
13. Add column 6 and 7 to find how many wolves you will start within the next generation
14. You will do this process over again starting with your new numbers of deer and wolves (be sure to have the right number of beans in your dish.
15. The only thing that changes now is that you will throw the same # of times as the # of wolves you have (ex: if you have 3 wolves, you will throw 3 times, and count the total # of bingo chips to get the # of deer caught)
16. Complete generations 1 through 10
Note:
- If you ever run out of beans (all the rabbits are eaten), the next generation will start with 10 rabbits again
- If the wolves all die, the next generation will start with 1 again.
o Do not forget each student needs their own work.
- From the data you gathered during this lab, you will create a line graph.
Graphing:
1. On the X-axis, write generations 1 through 10, on the Y-axis write the population numbers for each generation (number of predators, number of prey). Choose one color for the line for the predator and color for the line one for the prey to graph the data.
· Don’t forget to include a key for your graph.
2. Answer the questions on your own.
RECORD YOUR HYPOTHESIS HERE.
QUESTIONS
1. Describe the relationship between the prey and predator line on your graph.
______
2. What population (predator or prey) shows the first increase?
______
3. Does the peak in the predator population come before, after or at the same time as the prey population peaks?
______
4. Predict what the graph would look like after 10 generations if all the predators were lost to a disease. Explain your answer.
______
5. Predict what the graph would look like after 10 generations if all the prey animals were lost to a disease.
______
6. Predict what would happen to the predator and prey populations if half of the prey animals’ habitat were destroyed by the construction of a shopping mall.
______
7. Knowing the world’s population is over 7 billion, what will it be like when this doubles?
______
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9Generation / Starting deer population / Starting Wolf Population / Number of deer eaten / Number of Surviving Wolves / Deer remaining (# column 3 - # column 4) / Number of new wolves / Multiply the number of remaining deer (Column 6) X 2 / Total number of wolves (column 5 + column 7)
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