Ecology End of Unit Test on Tuesday, October 7th

Lesson 10:

Carrying Capacity

Survivorship Curve

Learning Intention:

Students will be able to explain how carrying capacity limits the growth of populations within an ecosystem by analyzing factors such as resource availability, predation, and competition.

Success Criteria:

Standards:

HS-LS2-2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support.

Reminders:

Test is tomorrow
Tutoring in A-301 Wednesdays from 3-4pm.

Activity #1

Warm-Up - Stop n'Jot

(5 min)

Carrying Capacity:
The largest number of living things that an environment can support over time with the available resources. The availability of abiotic and biotic factors can increase or decrease the carrying capacity.

(Example - more predators would lower the carrying capacity).

Survivorship Curve:
A graph that shows how many individuals in a group are still alive at different ages during their lifetime. It helps scientists see when most deaths happen in a species—early, middle, or late in life.

(Example - One fish release tens of thousands of eggs but only a few survive to adulthood.)