Ohio Resource Center
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Content Supports
Population Growth
Discipline
Science
Grades
6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Postsecondary
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Professional Commentary

This resource will introduce students to some basic concepts of population growth. The site describes exponential and logistic growth models and provides several experiments that can be performed using the included Java applets. Students can manipulate the birth rate and carrying capacity of the population to demonstrate the impact of these factors on population growth. Along with demonstrating exponential and logistic population growth the resource could also be used as a starter for conversations about environmental factors that might contribute to rapid population growth or to conversations about the impact overpopulation has on the environment. (author/ts)


Ohio Science Academic Content Standards (2002)
Life Sciences
Benchmarks (11–12)
B.
Explain how humans are connected to and impact natural systems.
E.
Explain the interconnectedness of the components of a natural system.
Grade Level Indicators (Grade 11)
3.
Relate how birth rates, fertility rates and death rates are affected by various environmental factors.
4.
Examine the contributing factors of human population growth that impact natural systems such as levels of education, children in the labor force, education and employment of women, infant mortality rates, costs of raising children, birth control methods, and cultural norms.
7.
Show how populations can increase through linear or exponential growth with corresponding effects on resource use and environmental pollution.
8.
Recognize that populations can reach or temporarily exceed the carrying capacity of a given environment. Show that the limitation is not just the availability of space but the number of organisms in relation to resources and the capacity of earth systems to support life.
National Science Education Standards
Life Science
Populations and ecosystems (Grades 5 - 8)