ECO1.2 Mudweaver Fever

Summary: 

In order to get some flemstool from Kellis, research the mudweaver population size and food source, then prove to Kellis that picking some flemstool won't hurt the mudweaver population.

Recommendations: 

This quest has several parts to it – all of which can be done with little or no introduction to food webs. The first part involves doing a population survey to estimate a population size. Students do not need to be able to do the calculations themselves, the game walks through the math, though not comprehensively. See the guiding questions to go over the estimation numbers. If students get stuck on the population survey, it is likely that they sample size is not large enough (make sure it is at least 1500 – stated in the quest log as a reminder).

Learning Objectives: 
  • Use a survey to estimate population size
  • Collect data to prove/disprove hypothesis
  • Create data summary
Connecting Questions: 
  1. Discuss the method of Mark and Recapture in order to determine a population estimate. First creatures are marked, then released and recaptured and logged based on whether they have the original marking. The number of marked animals divided by the total animals captured gives a percent that is used to estimate the total population size. Example: 10/100 = 10%, so the 100 animals represent 10% of the total population therefore the population is 1000.
  2. Why do you think it is important to keep track of changing animal populations?
Additional Resources: 

None.