What in the world does this mean?
To estimate animal populations, biologists count the total number of animals in a small section of a habitat. The total population of animals is directly proportional to the size of the habitat (in acres) polled.
a. Write an equation using only one variable that could be used to solve for the constant of variation k.
b. A biologist counted the number of white tail deer in a 100 acre parcel of land in a nature preserve and found 12 deer. Find the constant of variation k.
c. If the entire nature preserve is 2,500 acres, then what is the total white tail deer population in the preserve? Describe how you arrived at your answer.
2 answers
Hi again Laura: it's putting into words the consequences of one of the assumptions that we made when we worked out the number of animals in that conservation park, namely that the density of animals in a small section of their habitat (in that example that would have been the area of the park where the conservationist took her sample) is the same as the density of animals throughout their habitat (in that example, the habitat was the park as a whole). So if for example you find five deer in an area of 10 hectares, you're assuming that you'll find approximately 50 deer in an area of 100 hectares. (It's important to realise that you ARE making this assumption when you do calculations like this, since if all the deer in the park were in reality all herded together in the one place the sample was taken, the assumption would be completely wrong.)
oooooooooooh ok thank you.
2 answers