Biology Populations-Draft

Population Ecology

To perform this lab you must access the Glencoe MHEducation website:

Population Biology-Paramecium

Pre-lab questions are from the reading on the left side of the website.  Journal questions are answered before and after the lab is performed.

Pre-Lab Questions

1.  "Paramecium" is the genus or species:

2.  Things that can limit growth are:

3.  The point where the population size remains stable is called the:

4.  Competitive exclusion is when two species are competing for the same:

5.  Competitive exclusion allows one population to grow well and the other to not grow as well.  Which population will grow well:

Journal Question

1.  Make a hypothesis about how you think the two species of Paramecium will grow alone and how they will grow when they are grown together.

2.  Explain how you tested your hypothesis.

3.  On what day did the Paramecium caudatum population reach the carrying capacity of the environment when it was grown alone? How do you know?

4.  On what day did the Paramecium aurelia population reach the carrying capacity of the environment? How do you know?

5.  Explain the differences in the population growth patterns of the two Paramecium species. What does this tell you about how Paramecium aurelia uses available resources?

6.  Describe what happened when the Paramecium populations were mixed in the same test tube. Do the results support the principle of competitive exclusion?

7.  Explain how this experiment demonstrates that no two species can occupy the same niche.

8.  How does competition affect population growth?Have students make a hypothesis about which species of Paramecium will grow the best when placed in the same test tube before having them perform the lab.

Students fill out data table while performing the lab.

Environmental Changes and Populations

Pepper Moth Online Lab

Predator Prey Relationships

Make sure to look at both the student and Educator Materials

Lemming & Arctic Fox Graph