In this activity, students investigate population growth using a variety of representations, leading to some observations about stable and unstable populations as an introduction to chaos theory.
Before the Activity
This investigation offers opportunities for students to explore new branches of mathematics using multiple representations and a variety of mathematical tools. As such, care should be taken to provide ample time for ALL students to engage actively with the requirements of the task.
This activity can serve to introduce work on sequences and iteration.
Begin by discussing how mathematics is a growing branch of human knowledge and that much remains yet to be explored.