Unpacked Content
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Crosscutting Concepts
Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Knowledge
Students know:
- Exponential population growth occurs when the growth rate is proportional to the size of the population (J shaped curve).
- Logistic population growth shows the population leveling off when it reaches carrying capacity (S shaped curve).
- Linear population growth is the addition of the same number of organisms to the population at a constant rate, no matter the size of the population (strait line growth).
- Environmental factors (density-independent factors) that can impact population growth (flood, drought, extreme heat or cold, etc.).
- Ecological factors (density-dependent) that can affect population growth (e.g., predation, disease, parasites, competition).
Skills
Students are able to:
- Use data to create graphs.
- Calculate doubling time for a population.
- Mathematically compare populations experiencing varying conditions.
- Investigate various factors (both environmental and ecological) that impact population growth.
- Draw conclusions from population growth graphs.
- Using various visual representations of data, make claims about specific causes and effects.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- An important characteristic of any population is its growth rate.
- Some populations remain approximately the same size from year to year while others vary in size depending on conditions within their habitats.
- Populations tend to stabilize near the carrying capacity of their environment.
Vocabulary
- Population growth rate
- Emigration
- Immigration
- Exponential, linear and logistic growth
- Doubling time
- Carrying capacity
- Density-independent
- Density-dependent
