Predator and Prey - a simulation game
You will need:
- a large area
- popcorn or polystyrene packing materials
- hoops
- containers of three different sizes.
Select a locally-appropriate food chain, eg. cicadas are eaten by squirrel gliders are eaten by eagles.
1. Students each become one of the animals. Starting with say, 4 eagles, 8 squirrel gliders and the remainder are cicadas.
2. Scatter the popcorn over a small area. The cicadas 'eat'/collect the popcorn into their small containers. If a squirrel glider 'catches'/touches a cicada, the caterpillar pours its popcorn into the squirrel glider's (larger) container and the cicada is 'dead'/leaves. The same happens when the eagle 'catches'/touches the squirrel glider. The eagle has an even larger container.
3. Give the students about 2 minutes to play the game. If someone has a full container that animal is alive. It will be over very quickly and the eagles will have all the food and the others will be dead.
4. Ask the students "What will happen next day, there being nothing left for the eagles to eat?"
5. With discussion from the students, modify the game to increase the chance of survival for squirrel gliders and cicadas and keep playing games until all three animals survive. You could use a timer to see which modifications produce the best sustainability. Possible changes:
- Change the proportion of the animals (more prey, less predators)
- Increase the area in which the game is played
- Put out more food
- Make safe/sheltered areas out of hoops. If an animal is in a safe area it can not be eaten, but needs to leave occasionally to feed.
Give students ample opportunity to adapt and develop rules to make the game a better model of nature. At the end of the game there will probably be only one eagle, about 6 squirrel gliders and the rest will be cicadas. This exercise will show that:
- Top predators need a large area (an eagle will need 2 or more square km when nesting)
- Shelter is important
- Excess food at all levels is important