Fiddling with Estimating Populations -
On-site
Activities/Interpreter Led
Grade Level: 7
Content Area: Science
and Math
Time to Complete: 2 hours
Title of
Lesson: Fiddling with Estimating
Populations
South Carolina State Standards
Addressed:
Science
|
II.B.1.a. |
Analyze the basic
characteristics and needs
of living things. |
|
II.D.1.a. |
Describe characteristics
of populations. |
|
II.D.1.c. |
Distinguish between
habitat and niches. |
|
II.D.2.a. |
Analyze the role of
producers, consumers,
and decomposers in an
ecosystem. |
|
II.D.2.c. |
Analyze energy flow in a
food chain and its
relationship to the food
web. |
|
II.D.3.b. |
Analyze the effects of
overpopulation within an
ecosystem on the amount
of resources available. |
Math
| III.E. |
Connect patterns, relationships, and
functions with other aspects of mathematics and with other
disciplines |
| V.B. |
Estimate, construct, and use
measurement to describe and compare phenomena. |
| VI.D. |
Construct, read, and interpret
tables, graphs, charts, and other forms of displayed data. |
Lesson Description:
The following activity was designed for
students to gain hands-on experience at
setting up an experiment, gathering and
arranging data, and discussing the
significance of the results.
Focus Question For Students:
|
1. |
Are all of the region counts
close to the average? If
not, why? |
|
2. |
Do you think that the estimate
of the total colony is close to
the actual number? |
|
3. |
What types of populations would
scientists rather estimate than
count? Why?
|
|
|
Populations that exist in great
quantities would be good ones to
estimate because it would be
unrealistic to count each
individual. |
Culminating Assessment:
See
Post-site
Activities
Material/Equipment/Resources:
To be supplied by the park:
| meter stick |
| string |
| sticks for corner posts |
| 1 meter square frame |
| clipboards |
| data sheets |
| computer equipment |
To be supplied by the class:
| shoes (no flip flops or sandals) |
| clothes which can get wet and muddy |
| notebooks |
| pencils |
Teacher Preparation:
Read
lesson activities completely and contact Huntington Beach State Park with
any concerns or modifications. Implement pre-site activities several
days before the scheduled program. Plan adequate time for post-site
activities in order to reinforce topics discussed in the program.
Procedures:
|
|
Arrive at park on time.
Fees for the program and directions will be given to you by the
person at the entrance booth.
Bathroom facilities are at the North and South parking lots.
Use these before coming to the Education Center. |
|
|
Data Gathering: |
|
1. |
Visit the salt
marsh mud flats at low tide and locate a large colony of fiddler
crabs. (Interpreter will review pre-site activities) |
|
2. |
Divide into
groups just as you did in the pre-site program and hand
out datasheets.
|
|
3. |
Measure the total area of the crab colony in square
meters (pre-marked) Area=length x width
|
|
4. |
Use the 1 meter square frame to
designate a region within the colony for each of the students to
observe. |
|
5. |
Count the number of crab burrows in
each region and record it on your datasheet. |
|
6. |
Draw the location of your plot on
the larger map of the total colony area. Show where the 1
meter square regions are located (teacher will help with this.) |
|
|
Arrangement of Data (Education Center classroom) |
|
1. |
Determine
the average number of burrows per square meter by adding all the
burrows counted and dividing that number by the number of regions
observed. Remember, each region is a square meter) |
|
2. |
Estimate the TOTAL population of the
area by taking the average number of burrows per square meter and
multiplying it by the TOTAL area. |
|
3. |
Draw a
graph showing the number of burrows per region and the average
number per region. |
|
