The coyote has good senses of hearing, sight, and smell used to detect prey. After targeting the prey, the coyote uses its fast speed to capture and kill the animal.

This pill bug, sometimes called a woodlouse, sow bug, or roly poley, is curled into a ball to protect itself. Pill bugs often do this as a defensive measure so that anything that might attack it has a harder time getting to its underside.

" We will cover fundamentals of ecology, considering Earth as an integrated dynamic system. Topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and oceans; photosynthesis and respiration; the hydrologic, carbon and nitrogen cycles. We will examine the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems; regulation of the distribution and abundance of organisms; structure and function of ecosystems, including evolution and natural selection; metabolic diversity; productivity; trophic dynamics; models of population growth, competition, mutualism and predation. This course is designated as Communication-Intensive; instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Biology is a recommended prerequisite."

Basic subject in ecology: understanding the flow of energy and materials through ecosystems, and what regulates the distribution and abundance of organisms. Productivity and biogeochemical cycles in ecosystems; trophic dynamics; community structure and stability; competition and predation; evolution and natural selection; population growth; and physiological ecology. Emphasis on aquatic systems.

Insect predators use one of three general feeding strategies with associated morphologies (mandibles, raptorial forelegs, and unmodified legs) to capture prey. Evolutionarily, species subjected to strong predation pressure may respond by developing defenses (including poison) or by producing more offspring. This exercise examines the interplay between three potential prey species and three insect predator types played by the students. Simulations are conducted over 5 to 10 generations with changes in population size being tracked. In response to foraging, one prey type becomes poisonous, one prey type becomes semi-poisonous, and one prey type remains palatable. To simulate the cost of defense, prey reproduction rate is dependent on the level of prey defense. Co-evolution and predator specialization are simulated by allowing one predator type to adapt to poisonous prey species.

The pill bug shows several behavioral responses such as curling up into a ball when being poked or attacked. The pill bug breathes through gills and mostly lives in moist environments because of its respiratory system.

Many insects have special biting and chewing mouthparts to eat plants and leave holes in the leaves. Not all predators eat animals. In fact, any plant or animal that preys on another is a predator.

Lemmings are small animals who show a flux in population every few years. Numbers become low when predators over-hunt the lemmings. Numbers of lemmings skyrocket when food is plentiful-lemmings reproduce very quickly. When there are too many lemmings in one area, they fight for space and food. Many of them die from starvation and the numbers of lemmings plummet once again.

Through natural selection, two interacting populations of predators and prey can change with respect to one another. Some prey individuals display characteristics that decrease their chance of capture; they have a reproductive advantage and produce more offspring. Other individuals display negative characteristics that result in a greater chance of being captured; their numbers decrease as they fail to reproduce. Predators are similarly affected. This exercise examines the change in numbers of individuals of three predator morphs and four prey morphs over four generations. Students actively participate as predators and capture prey morphs, simulating the feeding needed to support reproduction.

Lynxes have a dynamic predator-prey relationship with the hare, or rabbits. This relationship is cyclic. The hare population size increases every ten years or so because there is an abundance of vegetation. Shortly after, the lynx population increases because there are more hares to eat. Once the hares have eaten all the available vegetation, their population crashes because there is nothing to eat. The lynx population crashes shortly after that because there aren't enough hares around to eat.

The concept that a sea star is a predator is hard to grasp because it moves slowly. It preys on other slow-moving animals by using its tube feet (like suction cups) to grasp the animals shell and open it.

There is a diverse range of predators in the natural world. A predator is an organism that lives by preying on another organism for food. Predators are also known as consumers and they eat both plants and animals.

The lobster uses its claws to grasp crabs, clams, and mussels and eat their flesh.

This 2-week investigative laboratory introduces students to the basic mathematical models describing exponential and logistic growth in populations of organisms. They consider two- species interactions, such as predation and competition, that may effect population growth. Student groups set up cultures of protistans in order to collect data on population growth and design and conduct an investigation of competition, predator-prey interactions, or some other factor that may limit growth of these organisms. These studies are completed during the second week and groups share their results and conclusions with the class.