Ecosystem Balance

About this simulation

Rabbits hop and nibble, foxes stalk and chase, and hawks circle overhead in a meadow with a pond and a rain gauge. Change the rain, switch animals in or out, or set off a drought, a wildfire or a disease, then watch the numbers on the chart rise, fall and recover year by year.

What students can explore

What happens to the grass when there are no foxes?
Why do the fox numbers rise after the rabbit numbers?
How does a drought affect each animal?
What grows back first after a wildfire?

Learning objectives

1Identify the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem and how they affect each other.
2Explain how the food supply limits how many animals a place can support.
3Describe how predator and prey populations rise and fall in turns, and how an ecosystem recovers after a disturbance.

Questions teachers ask

What is carrying capacity?

It is the largest number of animals a place can feed for a long time. When rabbits grow past it, they eat the grass faster than it can grow back, and their numbers fall again.

Why do predator and prey numbers go up and down?

More rabbits mean more food for foxes, so foxes increase. More foxes catch more rabbits, so rabbits fall, then the foxes go hungry and fall too, and the cycle starts again.

How can I use Ecosystem Balance in class?

Let the valley run for a few years and ask students to describe the pattern on the chart. Then switch the foxes off, or press Drought or Wildfire, and ask them to predict what will happen before they press Play.

Embed this simulation

Drop it into your LMS, blog, or class site — free.

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