Factors Influencing Growth of Individuals and Populations Science Games

In this series of games, your students will learn about the resources organisms need to thrive, and what affects their ability to do so. The Factors Influencing Growth of Individuals and Populations learning objective — based on NGSS and state standards delivers improved student engagement and academic performance in your classroom, as demonstrated by research.

Scroll down for a preview of this learning objective’s games and the concepts they drive home.

Concepts Covered

In order to survive, most organisms need air, food, water, shelter, sunlight, and space. Without these resources, they would be unable to grow, develop, and reproduce.

Natural disasters, weather patterns, and other natural phenomena can affect their access to these resources, and so can human-driven activities like conservation efforts, deforestation, resource extraction, and climate change. The effects on resources can be positive or negative.

When the availability of these resources changes, it can have major effects on populations. For example, if one species of herbivore suddenly drops in population, other species that eat the same plants will have more food available. Those individuals, and their population, will have the opportunity to grow.

Certain factors can limit this growth. A population’s biotic potential is the maximum growth it could achieve with unlimited resources and no predators. Biotic potential is limited by how quickly and how often individuals can reproduce, and how long they live. Carrying capacity is the maximum size a population can maintain with the resources that are actually available in its ecosystem.

A preview of each game in the learning objective is found below.

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