Title: LAB - Isle Royale (population ecology)
Course: BIO-182 RTZ > Section: week 11 - Population Ecology

Please follow the instructions below to subscribe to SimUText for your Unity of Life II (01) SP16 course at [Your college/institution]. Again, if you've already downloaded the program, there is no need to download it again. Go directly to the instructions for the lab below.

1. Go here: https://simutext.com/register.jsp?accesskey=wfYp-ucU5-GNhE-JrVH-jZ3x
2. Click the Continue button.
3. Once you complete your registration, you must download and install the SimUText application to view your course materials. You will need the account information you created when you registered to log in to the SimUText System.

Should you encounter a problem registering, the access key for this course is [Your access code here]. Problems or questions? Visit SimUText Support to search our Knowledge Base and view Video Tutorials. If you are not able to find the answer to your question, you can submit a support request from the support page.

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You have an option to complete two virtual labs this week: UNDERSTANDING POPULATION GROWTH RATES and ISLE ROYALE.  The first one (Growth rates) is an optional activity which could earn you up to 5 extra credit points. Completing the second lab (Isle Royale) is required.

1.  Understanding Population Growth Rate (optional extra credit):   This tutorial is designed to help you understand a few fundamental concepts pertaining to population growth.  If you choose to do this activity, you need only do the first two sections.

- Section 1: An introduction to how populations change in size over time with special emphasis on the exponential growth model - you may recall this pattern of growth from the antibiotic-resistance lab conducted earlier this semester.  Work through the following activities:
  - Simulating Population Dynamics
  - Simploids on the double
  - Population Growth models
  - Exponential growth models
  - Birth & Death Rates

These above activities explore theoretical populations and are meant to illustrate the concepts.

- The Power of Growth (the next activity) examines an application of these theoretical concepts.

- Section 2: In this section we explore the limitations imposed by resource availability and the logistic growth model. Work through the following activities:
  - Carrying Capacity
  - Logistic Growth Model
  - Exponential vs Logistic Growth

2.  Isle Royale: This tutorial is part of a study being conducted exploring the effectiveness of computer  simulations in teaching biological concepts.  Your participation in the study is voluntary (allowing the researchers to use your answers in their study), however you must complete the sections assigned for a grade in this class.

- Section 1: Moose Population Growth - explores the growth of the moose population in the absence of predators.
- Section 2: Wolves move in – explores the effect of predators on the moose population.
- Section 3: Effect of changes in weather on different populations on the island. Completion of this section is extra credit.
- Section 4: skip this one.
- Section 5: optional
- Section 6: Graded questions. Answer the following questions #45 – 54; #55 – 64 are optional.
- Completion of the “Rate this Tutorial” is optional.

Your answers to all questions in both labs are automatically graded and recorded in the SimUText program. There is no need to submit additional paperwork for this lab assignment.