Science Project

Question

For a science assignment, Friedrich and his classmates are to go outside and mark off a plot 2 feet by 2 feet and count the number of insects on top of the soil in order to estimate the population of insects on the front yard of the school. Friedrich finds 10 insects on his plot. If the other students found a similar number of insects to be found on the front property of the school that measures 4 feet by 25 feet.

Answer 1

Hello, Jana,

Let's make a conversion factor from the data. We are told that a section of yard measuring 2 feet by 2 feet contains 10 insects. The language in the question makes it difficult to conclude that other students saw similar results ("If the other students found a similar number of insects to be found on the front property of the school that measures 4 feet by 25 feet."). What does that sentence mean??

I'll assume it means that all students had similar results, so we will assume, with reasonable data, that 10 insects will be found on all 2 x 2 foot sections of property. We get the ratio 10 insects/4 ft^2. We can reduce this to 2.5 insects/ft^2. [Warning: Don't tell the 1/2 insect what we just did.].

To predict how many insect might be found on the 4 x 25 foot section of yard, we can use our conversion factor:

4ft x 25ft = 100 ft^2

100 ft^2 * 2.5 insects/ft^2 = 2,500 insects.

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Editorial: Please leave them alone. Insects are having a tough time with climate change, deforestation, and pesticides. Give them an apple slice.

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Bob