Guiding Students to Understand Functional Responses: Holling's Disc Experiment Revisited

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

PRIMUS

Author ORCID Identifier

Leoncio Rodriguez 0000-0003-1615-1973

Brynja Kohler 0000-0002-2395-5956

Luis Gordillo 0000-0002-3281-0185

Volume

32

Issue

2

Publisher

Taylor & Francis Inc.

Publication Date

11-5-2020

First Page

124

Last Page

136

Abstract

Inspired by the approach first employed by C.S. Holling in his classic “disc experiment,” this article provides a sequence of learning activities that increase students' understanding of the mechanisms behind saturating effects in predator-prey scenarios. The proposed lesson is recommended for inclusion in courses that address mathematical biology or modeling from introductory to advanced levels. The featured activities include a theoretical derivation of Holling's type II functional response model, a hands-on experiment for data gathering, and tools for further exploration through individual-based computer simulations. This multi-faceted approach gives students the opportunity to gather different sets of data in order to meet multiple learning objectives. Classroom trials conducted in Spring 2019 indicate that the proposed instructional resources and activities are effective for improving students' understanding of the mechanisms in Holling's type II functional response equation, and deepen students' appreciation of authentic data-driven mathematical modeling in ecology.

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