Environmental Festival
Simulating Methods to Estimate Population Size
1. In terms of percent coverage, using the group data, rank the colors on the
Population Sheet from highest to lowest.
2. Ho w do you think your data would change if 10 transects per group were run
during this activity?
3. List a few situations or types of organisms for which this type of study would be
ideal.
4. Give an example of a situation where this type of population study would not be
ideal.
Environmental Festival
TEACHER KEY
Simulating Methods to Estimate Population Size
5. In terms of percent coverage, using the group data, rank the colors on the
Population Sheet from highest to lowest.
ANSWER: Will vary depending on the groups, the colors should rank as Blue,
Red then Green. Blue is 65% of the actual area, Red is 20% of the area and
Green is 15% of the area.
2 Ho w do you think your data would change if 10 transects per group were run
during this activity?
ANSWER: This will vary, there should be less variation the more samples that
are collected, so if you add more transects, there should be less variability
between groups.
3 List a few situations or types of organisms for which this type of study would be
ideal.
ANSWER: This will vary. Possibilities include vegetation types in a field, tree
cover in a forest, sessile (non-moving) animals in an aquatic system. Transects
are most appropriate for organisms that move very little or not at all.
4 Give an example of a situation where this type of population study would not be
ideal.
ANSWER: Answers will vary, but wildlife that move a lot, or hide or flee in the
presence of an observer or vegetation or wildlife that is spread out or highly
compacted into small areas.