Predators and Prey Design

The Predator Prey model is a simulation classic. Large fish eat small fish. Small fish eat plants. If the large fish eat to many small fish then the small and large fish will die. What makes a stable system and what does stable really mean? Experience the surprising fragility of ecosystems as simple as this one.

Category

 * Science: ecosystems, food webs

Explorations

 * Open the simulation properties (if not already on the screen, in the Tools menu), run the simulation and observe the number of small and large fish over time.
 * Look at the behaviors of the large and small fish. Modify the reproduction rates and/or the threshold of dying to create stable ecosystems.
 * Export the simulation data to Excel (by right clicking on the plot the simulation generates as it's running and selecting "Export to Excel..."). In Excel, plot
 * the number of small/large fish versus time
 * the number of small fish versus large fish in a scatter plot. What does the chart reveal?

Lesson Plans

 * Lesson plans created by participants of the 2010 Summer Institute

Acknowledgements

 * Original simulation was built by Alexander Repenning.
 * Simulation was extended by Andri Ioannidou.