Isle Royale is a computer lab consisting of simulations for the study of population ecology. The program used simulates portions of the history of Isle Royale in Minnesota during the early 1900s, where moose arrived to find a habitat with immense food and no predators. In the 1940s, however, wolves arrived on the isle and began preying on the moose, resulting in a near model predator-prey interaction cycle.
The teaching assistant provided a lecture consist of terms and concepts for population ecology at the beginning of the class, and then using this information the students began working through the workbook, following the instructions for the simulation and answering related questions. During this time, I walked around the room, assisting students with the computers and asking them concept questions on the simulation, since it was a perfect opportunity to verbally reinforce their knowledge.
While the simulation is quite visual in displaying the numbers of moose and wolves as shown in the pictures at the bottom, students still had some difficulty grasping climate change concepts and their effect on the animals. With two students to a computer, however, teamwork and discussion helped many groups as they worked through the instructions. These are two very important elements that have taken place in nearly every lab, and it is an important factor in determining the amount of knowledge and experience the students can walk away with. This lab used an interesting simulation for the subject and had students use teamwork and problem solving discussions to complete it. The only improvement that could be made is one involving a greater look into the actual Isle Royale natural experiment and what the status is of it as of now.
This is the simulation the students used to analyze moose and wolf population ecology.
