Which species would be most likely to have a Type III life history?

Question

A.  whale
B.  coconut palm
C.  lion
D.  gorilla
E.  pine tree

Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?

Gather Content:
What do you already know about a type III survivorship curve? What other information is related to the question? 

Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?


Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

E.  pine tree


Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
The key concept is to identify which organism exhibits the characteristics of a type III survivorship curve. What type of thinking is required?
This is an analyze question, you will need to break down each of the answer choices and figure out which one most likely follows a type III survivorship curve.


Gather Content:
What do you already know about a type III survivorship curve? What other information is related to the question? 
Due to the extremely high mortality rates for juveniles, investing lots of energy in each offspring is not a good use of energy for organisms that follow a type III survivorship curve.


Choose Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Whales, lions, and gorillas all invest a lot of energy into each of their offspring. A coconut palm produces a few very large seeds (coconuts) that are loaded with energy for the developing plant. Pine trees produce thousands of seeds at a time.


Reflection on Process:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Were you able to make the correct choice? You needed to break down the type III survivorship curves and apply it to all of the choices to pick out which organism was the best example.