Deer Population Model  

The deer population activity allows students to experiment with the factors which influence population dynamics. In their exploration, they encounter both exponential and logistic growth curves. Students should be familiar with the concepts of birth and death rates, emigration and immigration, predation, limiting factors such as food supply and habitat size, and carrying capacity. The activity is self-paced with extensions provided for those who have extra time.

TEACHER RESOURCES

Teacher Materials
Student Activity
Student Assessment
Learning Goals/Standards

COMPUTER MODELS

STELLA Versions Vensim Versions Web-based Simulation

THE MODEL DIAGRAM


THE EQUATIONS
Deer_Population(t) = Deer_Population(t - dt) + (Births - Deaths) * dt
INIT Deer_Population = 10
Births = Birth_rate*Deer_Population
Deaths = Deer_Population*Death_Rate
Birth_rate = .25
Deer_Density = Deer_Population/Square_Miles
Square_Miles = 100
Death_Rate = GRAPH(Deer_Density) (0.00, 0.00), (1.00, 0.09), (2.00, 0.25), (3.00, 0.43), (4.00, 0.6), (5.00, 0.76), (6.00, 0.825), (7.00, 0.86), (8.00, 0.88), (9.00, 0.9), (10.0, 0.9)

THE OUTPUT



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