Students speculate on why plants are more abundant in some areas of the
site than others. They list factors that might account for the differences,
such as temperature, humidity, light, soil, rainfall, wind, and human or animal activity, and figure out how they can collect more data on these factors.
They discuss why it might be important to take a count of all the individual
plants in each plot and develop a plan for conducting the field study. A reading selection describes how scientists count plants and gives students tips for
conducting their own survey. Students then count plants and record their
data.
Several optional activities are provided. In the first, students discuss the idea
that finding out what percentage of each plot is covered by vegetation would
give them another way to compare the plots quantitatively. It would also help
develop a composite picture of the whole site. They devise methods and tools
to find out the percentages and then go out into the field to collect the necessary data. Later, they compare the percentage of vegetation in their plots.
The second optional activity teaches students to calculate a simple biodiversity index, a formula scientists use to quantify biodiversity in a given area.
The third optional activity encourages students to use their own data to calculate a frequency rate for the plants appearing in their plots.
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