The exam will include one essay question (25 minutes) selected randomly from the six listed below.

Before the exam, you may, if you wish, study together and discuss your answers to these questions. However, you must prepare your own answers by yourself.

During the exam, everyone must work alone . . . without books, notes, or electronic devices!

Good scientific essays include (1) definitions of important terms, (2) clear explanations of principles, and (3) clearly explained examples.   They include lots of good information!

Be sure to review the suggestions for writing good essays below!

1. How can life tables help when comparing vertebrate populations?

2. How do density-dependent changes affect the way vertebrate populations are managed?

3. How do differences between the sexes evolve in vertebrates?

4. Do predators and prey (or parasites and hosts) reach an evolutionary balance?

5. What conditions could result in the evolution of prudent predation by wolves?

6. Are humans efficient or prudent in managing resources?   Under what conditions?
Hint: use information from this course (especially the notes and case studies for our last lecture).

There is no one correct essay for any of these questions.   Two very different essays could both receive high grades.

A good way to organize information (and to remember it when you need it) is to prepare short outlines.   Each outline should consist of about five short sentences.   A short sentence has no more than five or six words (not counting words of 1-3 letters!).   More important, each sentence should include an important term or concept (to remind you to continue with a definition, explanation, example, and so forth).

Some information we have discussed could be relevant to more than one question ... and some questions might have relevant information in more than one lecture!

Scientific essays often include diagrams, graphs, drawings, equations, or maps (in large format, in the center of the page, with parts or axes labeled) whenever appropriate.

Ask yourself this question: will my essay show somebody how much I have learned about this question?