On Friday, all of the on level Biology classes held class out on the practice field. The students simulated an ecosystem by assuming roles as food, water or shelter (the environment) and the deer that depended on those factors for survival. The student were able to see how, when resources were high, it allowed for the deer population to grow and when the deer population got too large they depleted the resources. After a few rounds of “play”, wolves were added to the ecosystem and the fun really began!
The students were able to see how predators, along with the environmental resources, impacted the deer population and how the availability of prey caused the wolf population to change. Ms. Smither did a great job running the game and making sure all the deer, wolves and the environmental factors were true to the roles they had in the ecosystem. Students used the data collected during the game to make graphs showing population changes and to analyze different causes and effects that occur in an ecosystem.
