Communities and Evolution:
Resource
Competition
Game
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Game rules
This game demonstrates how competition can shape ecosystems. During the game, the participants learn, how the amount of resources, like food, can influence the success of species, and also that, how competition can influence the structure of communities. Equipment needed for the game: Game situation A) No competition (for a 3-person group): 16 white craft balls 16 black craft balls 16 yellow craft balls 5 blue craft balls 5 red craft balls 3 plates 1 plastic spoon 2 plastic forks 2 plastic knives Animal cards / Life chips 1 timer Game situation B) Competition (for a 3-person group): 4-5 white craft balls 4-5 black craft balls 4-5 yellow craft balls 5 blue craft balls 5 red craft balls 3 plates 1 plastic spoon 2 plastic forks 2 plastic knives Animal cards / Life chips 1 timer |
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Participants will be divided equally into no competition and competition groups.
In no competition group, there are enough resources that allow all the viable population to grow. Opposite to competition group who experiences a limited number of resources. Participants should play this game for 4-6 rounds, to experience what happens in no competition environment and understand the effects of the competition. If there is more time, then we suggest that all participants could play 3-5 rounds of the game under both scenarios. After the game, you can discuss how and why these two scenarios affected species differently. See more post-activity questions below. To set up the game: 1. Distribute balls randomly on a table (see the equipment needed for the game). 2. Divide participants into 3 person groups. 3. Give all the participants an animal card (different species each within a group) and a spoon / 2 forks / 2 knives to collect the balls, a plate and 3 life chips. 4. Explain the rules. Rules: 1. Each animal has to collect balls in order to survive and reproduce in the game. 2. Each animal has its eating habits. For example, the red fox can collect black, orange and blue balls. Wolf can collect white and orange balls. Lynx can collect yellow and blue balls. 3. Each animal has its own adaptations to collect the food: one spoon (fox), two forks (wolf) and two knives (lynx). Note, participants should hold the tools in ONE hand only. 4. Participants have a limited amount of time (30 seconds) in each round to collect the balls. 5. Each animal starts the game with three lives (3 life badges). In order to survive the round, each species needs to collect at least five balls. If the participant collects three balls beyond the five, then they will get an additional life chip, showing that they have successfully reproduced! 6. The game will last 4-6 rounds, and each round will last 30 seconds. – – – – – – – – – – Competition Game plan: In the beginning divide players into a competition and no competition groups. Divide them into 3-person groups and give each one a different species card. Explain that each species has its ecological niche, which is indicated as the different coloured balls on the animal card. Players will play 4-6 rounds, each round is 30 seconds long (but it can be modified depending on the group). The aims of this game are to survive and try to produce offspring under both scenarios. Each species can collect only certain coloured balls (i.e. have their own ecological niches). These balls ("resources") can be collected using a certain tool (i.e. spoon/two forks/two knives). Participants should hold the tools in one hand only. At the beginning of the game, each participant will start with 3 life chips. In order to survive the round, each species needs to collect at least 5 balls. If the participant collects 3 balls beyond the 5, then they will get an additional life chip, showing that they have successfully reproduced! The game will last several rounds, and each round is 30 seconds long. The first 3 rounds are played in no competition environment. After that, remove some balls (i.e. follow the competition scenario instructions). Let the participants play the same game now in a competitive environment. Play it for the same amount of rounds as the no competition version. Post-activity questions for the students: * Compare the game in the no competition environment and competitive environment. * What happens in the no competition environment? * What happens in the competitive environment? * Why? * What affects competition? * What happens if niches overlap entirely? What happens if the niches do not overlap? |
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Extra: You can visualize the result by drawing how the number of life chips changes with each round for each species and scenarios (no competition vs competition) separately. The x-axis will indicate the number of rounds, and the y-axis the total number of life chips per species for each round. You can also use this excel sheet to visualize your results.
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More resources and inspiration: Books: * Peter R. Grant ja B. Rosemary Grant: 40 Years of Evolution: Darwin´s * Finches on Daphne Major Island. Princeton University Press. 2014 Videos: * Fuse School: Competition and Natural Selection * Fuse School: Evolution by Natural Selection-Darwin´s Finches – – – – – – – – – – Our materials are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. It means you can use our materials freely, but please remember to always credit our work and mention us whenever you are sharing contents of our project online: Instagram: @evolution_in_action, Facebook: @evoluutiopajat, Twitter: @EvoWorkshops. If you use our materials in teaching, we are happy to hear greetings and feedback. You can tag us on social media or send us an email: [email protected] Evolution in Action logo: jpeg, eps |