LESSON 3: People and Population

ACTIVITY 3 LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Name: Arienza, Jhon Marvin Azarcon _ Date: APRIL 30,2021

Class Schedule: MONDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY Time: 4:00-5:00 PM

Interpret the data: The equation cannot be solved, but since the dolphins might not have been
photographed previously, we can assume that the population of dolphins in the region is very
high.

A. INTEXT QUESTIONS. Instructions: Read carefully each item and answer the questions that
follow.

1. Define briefly the following term based on your own understanding.

a. Exponential growth – it is the growth with a constant proportional increase. To put it in

example, when a pair of anacondas were to be released on an environment where it’s natural
predator does not exist, it would exponentially increase. The pair would lay eggs then when the
eggs hatch and grow into adults they would also lay eggs and so on because there is no predator
or limiting factor to stop the increase in population

b. Logistic growth - It occurs when the population's per capita growth rate slows as the
population grows closer to the carrying capacity due to the limit established by limited resources
in the environment. To put it in example, when a goat herder breeds his first pair of goats and
reproduces offspring then the offspring will grow and also reproduce and so on. As the
population of the goats grown larger, the need for food and water also increases and as it reaches
the maximum capacity that the goat herder can handle and feed the reproduction rate decreases
due to malnutrition and other limiting factors.

c. Carrying capacity – it is the maximum number of individuals a stable environment can

accommodate. it is a limiting factor that is brought by the limited resources and space in a given
habitat. To put it in example, the sizes of aquarium determines the amount of fishes it can
support, the larger the aquarium the more fishes it can support.

d. Limiting factors – are factors that limit the size of a population and causes it to slow or stop
increasing. Some examples are predators, competition, and carrying capacity

2. What factors contributed to the world's overall population growth in the last 150 years?

 According to the passage above, the main factors that contributed to the world's overall
population growth in the last 150 years is the agricultural revolution and increase in
 reproduction. Later on, breakthroughs in medicine, cleaner environment and a more
nutritious diet further increase the population growth by decreasing the mortality rate.

3. What will happen when the human population exceeds the earth's carrying capacity?

 If resources are consumed faster than they are replenished, the ecosystem' carrying ability
has been exceeded. If this happens, the population will decline as a result of a shortage of
food and an overcrowded population. This shortage would eventually lead to famines and
civil unrest as human kind fight for the remaining resources

4. Use the graph below to answer the questions that follow.

a) Which country looks like it is experiencing exponential growth?

 Sub-saharan Africa

b) Which country looks like it has reached its carrying capacity?

 China

c) Because it has reached its carrying capacity, describe the relationship between its birth
rates and death rates.

 As the environment reaches it carrying capacity, the birth rates and death rates would
become equal. Same amount of people dying is the same as the amount of children being
born.

d) Describe what is happening to Europe’s population size in terms of birth rates and death.

 Europe’s population size in terms of birth rates and death in the last 100 years has been
almost equal because its population as shown in the graph has not increased rapidly.

e) Which country or countries could be experiencing:

•emigration: Sub-saharan Africa, India and China

 Because they are the ones who have the highest population growth thus resulting to
families choosing to leave and move out and love to other countries.

•immigration: Europe, USA, Indonesia

 Because they have low population growth thus having the capacity to accept more people
other than their current population.
 B. Deer: Predation or Starvation Background Information:

Analysis:

1. What is a density-dependent limiting factor?

 It is a factor that restricts population growth by slowing the rate of growth as population
density increases. This is primarily due to a scarcity and competition for food.

2. When do density-dependent factors operate most strongly?

 Only when the population density exceeds a certain degree can density-dependent factors
come into play. When a population is large and dense, these factors are most strong. They
have less of an effect on small, dispersed populations.

3. List four density-dependent limiting factors?

a. Competition within the population.

b. Predation

c. Disease and parasites

d. Waste accumulation

Source: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/ecology-ap/population-ecology-
ap/a/mechanisms-of-population-regulation

4. Describe what happened to the deer and wolf populations between 1971 and 1980.

 The population of the wolves increased from 10 in 1971 then reaching its peak at 1975
with 28 the slowly reduced to 19 in 1980. The deer population still manage to increase
from 2000 in 1971 to 2224 in 1975 and decreased later on. This changes was due to the
introduction of the wolves. In the first few years, there was no significant decrease in
dear population because the wolves were still few. As the years went by and the
population of the wolves increased, the predation that the wolves brought became a
limiting factor that decreased the population of the deer when it reached its peak. After
that, they started to even out and the population of deer and wolves became stable.

5. What happened to the deer population when the number of wolves was low?

 The population of deer still increased because the limiting factor that the wolves’
predation was still not enough to decrease the population growth of the deer.
6. What do you think would have happened to the deer on the island had wolves NOT been
introduced? Explain your answer.

 The deer on the island would have suffered an be wiped out because as the population
reaches the carrying capacity of the island, they will slowly consume the resources faster
than nature can regenerate it. This would result to the scarcity of food and eventually
starvation and extinction.

7. What is the relationship between the deer and the wolves on the island?

 the relationship between the deer and wolves was a predator pray relationship

8. Is the number of deer on the island a density-dependent or density-independent limiting factor

for the wolf? Explain your answer.

 Yes, because the deer serves as their food. The increase in deer population would
increase the number of wolves and a decrease in deer population would result to a
decrease in the population of wolves.

9. Read each situation in the chart below. Then, state if it is a density-independent limiting factor
or a density-dependent limiting factor. Then, state the specific limiting factor that is occurring.
The first one is done for you as an example.

Density-dependent Availability of food

Density-independent Man-made disaster

Density-dependent Disease

Density-dependent Competition for food

Density-independent Natural disaster

Density-independent Natural disaster

Feedback and suggestions:

I finally reached the last activity. First and foremost, I would like to thank you sir for giving such
a wonderful and informative module. Overall the activities were very relevant to the lesson and it
help to achieve the objectives of the lesson. I learned a lot about how the size of the population
could impact the sustainability of the environment. I discovered how limiting factors contribute
to balance everything out in order to maintain stability and sustainability in the long run. I would
like to suggest that it would be great to have video links for us to watch in order to garner more
knowledge about the current topics. In addition to that, I hope that you could attach external
related links for us to read in order to fill any holes that the module missed. To sum everything
up, I had fun answering the module and it gave me additional knowledge about the world we live
in and how its inhabitants impact the overall outcome of the planet