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Mark and Recapture: Estimating a Population

Estimate the number of beans in a bag the way biologists estimate wildlife populations.

Grade 10ExperimentMath ChallengeScienceMathBiologyEnvironmental ScienceProbabilityData AnalysisIntermediate45 to 75 min5 materials

What you'll learn

  • Explain how sampling can estimate a population
  • Use proportions to calculate an estimate
  • Evaluate how sample size changes accuracy

Objective

Use a mark and recapture method to estimate a population, then compare with the true count and discuss error.

STEM concepts

Population ecologySamplingEstimationLincoln-Petersen method
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Prediction, test sheet and results
Why does it work, challenge and project report

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