Questions

1. Examine the survivorship curves for the three soap bubble populations. How do they
correlate with the Type I, II, and III survivorship trends? Explain.
Type 1: Type 1 survivorship curve refers to a set of individuals that have a high life
expectancy rate and a low birth rate (K-strategist). It simply means that a greater
proportion of bubble are able to reach adulthood but the number of bubbles who make it
into old age is reduced. Example: mammals.
Type 2: Type 2 survivorship trend corresponds to the no parenting strategist. There is no
specific time of death as their mortality rate is constant as it dependent on age.
Type 3: Individuals do not live long lives however their fertility rates are high experiencing
the peak of their life in their early years (R-strategist)

2. Do any of the bubble populations show constant death rate for at least part of their
lifespan? If so, which?
Yes, the no parenting curve shows a constant rate of death which is why its downward
sloping.

3. How did the treatments that bubble populations 1, 2, and 3 were subjected to affect
the shape of their curves?
Population 1: In population 1 we observed a slow decrease in the population as we took
care of them once they were blown making sure that they dont touch any surface and pop.
This survivorship was plotted to form a convex curve.
Population 2: Population 2 experienced high mortality rate as the bubbles we didn't prove
any external help in taking are of the bubbles. This constant death rate resulted in the graph
to become almost linear.
Population 3:Few ​ Population 3 bubbles survived without the aid of people and the
inclusion of the ring in the third population (to identify the few individuals who can respond
to changes that would help them survive) we see the graph being concavated inward.

4. Which type of survivorship curve describes a population of organisms that produces

a very large number of offspring, most of which die at a very early age, only a few
surviving to old age? Give an example of a population of this type.
Salamanders are a R-strategist population.

5. What reproductive strategy (R or K) would you expect each population to have.

Explain each of these strategies.
Population 1 and 2 are k-strategists as their life expectancy rate was higher compared to
population 3. Populations 1 and 2 were big with few offsprings therefore they spent more
energy taking care of their offspring compared to Population 3 who produce lots of
offspring and don’t spend a lot of energy to take care of them.
6. Would you expect a population in which most members survive for a long time to
produce few or many offspring? Which would be most advantageous to the
population as a whole? Explain.
It would be most practical for a population to have fewer children as they have higher life
expectancy making them a K-strategist population. A K-strategist population are bigger in
size and need more care and parental support. K strategists are more beneficial.

7. Suppose a human population exhibits a Type III survival curve. What would you
expect to happen to the curve over time if a dramatic improvement in medical
technology takes place? Explain.
If there is an improvement in medical technology, fewer children will need to be born as the
life expectancy rate will increase as people will now be healthier. There will be a decrease in
the mortality rate and the fertility rate therefore the population curve will exhibit a
k-strategist type two population curve​.

8. What would you expect to happen to a population where the birth rate is about equal
to the death rate? Explain.
A population that has an equal birth and death rate would be the most suitable situation as
enough people would be born to replace the ones who have passed away.

9. How many humans presently occupy our planet? [look it up]

There are about 7.6 billion people living on our planet currently.

10. Is our population increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable? Explain with evidence.
If we examine the current data on the world’s population we can see that it continues to
increase as countries are continuously developing into advanced nations with better technology
and education which is also one of the reasons why the growth rate of our population is
declining. As the fertility rate is low, individuals are living longer everywhere throughout the
world and will keep on doing so.