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Activity 3 Endangered But Not Extinct

This document outlines an activity to simulate habitat destruction and species extinction. Students are split into teams and assigned roles of hunters, timers, and counters. Toothpicks scattered in a circle represent grasshoppers. Hunters collect toothpicks for 2 minutes while counters track the numbers taken and remaining. Teams rotate roles over 3 rounds, adding toothpicks for reproduction between rounds. The activity tracks declining grasshopper populations over time to demonstrate how habitat loss can lead to extinction.

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Nouiea Bernardelle Acabal
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© © All Rights Reserved
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2K views

Activity 3 Endangered But Not Extinct

This document outlines an activity to simulate habitat destruction and species extinction. Students are split into teams and assigned roles of hunters, timers, and counters. Toothpicks scattered in a circle represent grasshoppers. Hunters collect toothpicks for 2 minutes while counters track the numbers taken and remaining. Teams rotate roles over 3 rounds, adding toothpicks for reproduction between rounds. The activity tracks declining grasshopper populations over time to demonstrate how habitat loss can lead to extinction.

Uploaded by

Nouiea Bernardelle Acabal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Activity 3 Endangered but not Extinct…yet

Objective:
Demonstrate, using a simulation activity, that habitat destruction can
contribute to species extinction.
Materials:
Box of toothpicks
Stopwatch/wristwatch
Pencil & paper
Flour for marking areas in the lawn

Procedure:
1. Create teams of seven members.
2. Designate two students as the “Hunters”, two students as the “Timers”, two students as the “Counters “ and one
student as the Leader.
3. Get your copy of the Extinction Simulation Data Table handout from your teacher.
4. Go to the area in the school grounds designated by your teacher. Using the flour draw out a circle measuring
about 20 feet wide.
5. In the circle, scatter 100 toothpicks as randomly as possible. These are the “toothpick grasshoppers”.
6. The Leader gives instructions to the students assigned as the following:
Hunters: “Catch” by picking up as many toothpick grasshoppers as they can
Timers: Set the time for two minutes for the Hunters to collect the toothpick grasshoppers.
Counters: Determine how many toothpick grasshoppers have been caught and calculate the number of
toothpick grasshoppers remaining in the circle.

Record this information in the Extinction Simulation Data Table handout.


7. Begin the activity. The Leader sees to it that the students perform their assigned task for the activity.
8. After the first round, put an additional toothpick grasshopper into the circle for every pair of toothpick grasshoppers
remaining. This simulates reproduction.
9. Rotate roles and repeat the activity a second time and record the data in the handout.
10. After the second round, rotate roles once again and repeat the activity for a third time and record the data in the
handout.
11. Draw a line or bar graph of the number of toothpick grasshoppers in the grass at the end of the round.
Guide Questions:
Q 9. What happened to the toothpick grasshoppers over time?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Q 10 What factors might account for differences in the graphs and /or total
number of toothpick grasshoppers in each group?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Q 11. In nature, what environmental factors might account for differences in the
total number of grasshoppers?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Q 12. What effects do you think will habitat reduction have on the toothpick
grasshoppers’ population?________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

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