Methodological proposals for ecological systems analysis: simulation model to study logistic population growth

Abstract

As a didactic teaching proposal for contents of the subject Ecological Systems in the Faculty of Environmental and Sanitary Engineering atLa Salle University, the application of the logistic growth of population model is presented. The variable ranges of the model were obtained by students in class, according to the methodologies proposed by Franco et al. (1995: 61) and reviewed by the author of this essay. During the development of exercises in class, that was named ‘The Bean Game’, a model of logistic growth was simulated. The observed and expected values were mathematically compared by means of the χ2 test in order to establish their significance and differences. In the discussion and conclusions, the effectiveness of this methodological proposal is shown as well as its importance in the vocational training in Environmental Engineer at La Salle University