2.  Recall that a population is all the individuals of a species that are living in an area at one time.

3.  Every population has the potential to increase in size.  Some populations have the potential for slow, steady growth; others have the potential to increase rapidly.  If you have the proper information at hand, you can calculate the potential for population growth for any organism.  The theoretical unlimited growth of a population over time is its reproductive potential.

4. What information would you need in order to predict the size of the population in the future?

5. Milkweed Bug

6.  Look at Milkweed-Bug Reproductive Potential Data Sheet  Entomologist have discovered some general information about the lives of milkweed bugs living in the wild.  That information is written on your sheet in the question and answer chart.  Based on the information at hand, you should be able to figure out how many bugs will be in the population after a month, 2 months, or a year, if nothing limits population growth.

7.  Complete worksheet. – Keep the following thoughts in mind:  You start with one male and one female.  Only the females reproduce.  Half of the offspring are females and half are males.  The offspring from the previous generation are the parents in the next generation.  Milkweed bugs live 4 months.  Population reduction is the number of parents in the previous generation.

8.  Without any limitation on population growth, every egg produces a new individual in the population, and every individual lives out its natural life, 4 months.  A pair of milkweed bugs has the potential to produce a population of almost 32 billion bugs in one year.

9.  This number of milkweed bugs would circle Earth eight times if they stood in a line, nose to tail.  They would cover eight football fields if they all crowded together, but didn’t crawl on top of one another.  Have a mass equal to about 30,000 typical middle school students.  Fill about 12 typical middle school classrooms floor to ceiling.