Predators and Prey Design

From Gamewiki

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.

Contents 1 Category 2 Explorations 3 Lesson Plans 4 Acknowledgements

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.