Game Idea

We have an activity in class that I do each year to demonstrate population dynamics. I've thought through how I could turn this into a computer game. Considering that I don't have to actually have the skills to create a computer game, or simulation, I consider the sky to be the limit and anything goes as I imagine this simulation!!
My audience is a 10th grade group of students, age 16, who are being introduced to the concept of logistic and exponential growth in a population in nature. They are learning the cause and effect relationships that drive nature based on the essential needs of an animal, those being food, water, reproduction, and shelter. So, the game is based on a lush mountain. There is a population of deer (10 total deer) that a student is in charge of. This student needs to make sure that the needs of each animal are met in each year. The year is determined by a time frame of 5 minutes. In that five minutes the student has to make sure that each deer is fed a certain amount (imagine a bar that keeps track of the total vegetation eaten by each deer) and the deer must have a certain amount of water (also kept track with a bar).
There will be 12 increments of time to represent the 12 months in a year. At the end of each five minute period a count of the student's total population will be recorded so that by the end of the game there will be 12 pieces of data.
The deer can reproduce during the months of May and April and the student can choose to have those deer reproduce or not. Wolves are introduced into the game during the months of June, July, and August and those will be controlled by the computer. Random attacks will happen that will cut the deer population down.
The deer will need to roam all over the mountain to find the food and water that is needed. As the food and water is taken in an area that area will show up as a barren piece of land and will not replace itself until the next set of 12 increments of time comes along.
Seasons will occur, controlled by the computer. Some deer may succumb to cold temperatures controlled by the computer. (The computer is supposed to represent the unpredictability of nature) The vegetation and water will succumb to weather conditions. It is possible that the mountain may not be able to provide for the population of deer. In that case, some of the deer will have to die off. This will illustrate the concept of a carrying capacity. All areas of nature have a carrying capacity that limits the growth of a population.
The object of the game is to get through the 12 periods of time with the highest population of deer. There is a little strategy involved. It takes time for the animals to reproduce. Having the animals reproduce is a good thing however the females require more food and water during gestation and the young are at a greater risk of predation. So it would be wise to decide how much of the population should reproduce during the reproductive months.
At the end of the hour long game students have 12 sets of data that they need to then represent in the form of a graph. They will see how their population increases and decreases and understand that nature allows for only so much control. Populations are subject to nature and the smartest and strongest will survive.