Questions: Using what you have learned from the lesson and the virtual lab activity, answer the following
questions in complete sentences:
1. Describe three additional biotic and abiotic factors not modeled in the simulation that
could affect the population dynamic of the whales and seals.
2. Explain why some limiting factors may lead to drastic changes in whale and seal
populations, while others may only cause minimal changes.
3. In this lesson, you learned about two patterns of population growth and decline, the
sigmoid and peak phenomena. Does the seal and killer whale relationship represent a
sigmoid or peak phenomenon? Please provide supporting details.
4. A microbe from an ecosystem that exists in the same arctic region has infected the whale
population. The graph below shows the new carrying capacity for the whale population.
K
N
I
t
N represents population number, t represents time, and K represents carrying capacity.
Explain how these microbes have affected the whale population. Does this new evidence
change the seal and killer whale relationship? Does this new relationship represent a
sigmoid or peak phenomenon? Please provide supporting details.
5. If scientists added a chemical to destroy the arctic microbes, what positive and negative
consequences could result? What population settings could you adjust in the simulation to