Amaya Holliday

Rat Population Growth

Problem Statement
A buck and dam rat landed on a desert island in the middle of the ocean. On this island there are no
predators and unlimited food. The male and female rat have 6 pups per litter and she has a new litter every
40 days. Each litter has 3 bucks and 3 dams. Dams can produce a liter after 120 days. What will be the
population of the mischief after a year?

Visual Representation

Process

After I read through the POW, I was reminded of the viral sensation Pizza Rat. Before I started solving
the POW I had to share with Hannah this resourceful-rodent. When I got that out of the way I could focus
all my attention on solving the rat problem. I created a spreadsheet to organize my findings. I divided my
data into the columns days, rounds of litters, number of rats, and the amount of dams(female). I then used
the amount of dams from each litter and multiplied it by 6. I continued this until the year ran out. I also,
considered how the after 120 days the female rats can produce pups.

Solution
I calculated there would be 66,084 rats on the island. For the original rat pair there can be 9 gestation
cycles because 360 40 = 9 . I determined there could only be 9 cycles because Mama Rat can not have
a litter in 5 days. From there I used my spreadsheet. I used the amount of dams in the previous litter and
multiplied it by 6. This can all be seen in the image below. Additionally, I had to consider the new dam
rats would be ready to have pups after the first 120 day. From there I used the same method as I did the
original rats. Next, the original rats first litters litter would be able to have litters of their owns on day
240 of the year. Also, that litter could have a litter on the 360th day. I used the same methodology from
the original rats to all the litters. Finally, I added all the totals I calculate, which resulted in 66.084 rats
after a year living on an island.

Leap Year

I realized leap years would not affect the population rates until after 40 leap years because this would
mean another forty day cycle would be added to the rats gestation period.

Evaluation
This POW was fairly easy for me and I enjoyed learning more about population growth rates. Because I
have grown as a math thinker, I spent the least amount of time solving than any other POW. In the
future I would love to see an extra credit problem about Pizza Rat. For example, the rats on the island
only eat New York Subway Pizza. After a year how many pizza will the rats have eaten 4 rats eat 1 pizza
per week?

Self Assessment

I am confident in my answer, therefore I believe I earned an A. Because I utilized my time I completed

the POW early and I could refine my work. I am also proud of how organized I kept my work because I
usually have 5 scratch papers with various aspects of the problem. This POW was a great way to end my
Math 3 adventure and I will miss them when I am in Washington.