Q1.
Mark an area of 1 m × 1 m in your school garden. Identify four organisms in this area, and count their numbers. Record the number of the organisms in Table 12.2.
Answer
Mark the square with four sticks and string, then count every individual of each chosen kind inside it — counting a plant once even if it has many leaves, and not counting anything that is only half inside.
Sample answer (one group's 1 m × 1 m plot in the school garden):
| Name of organism | Population (number of individual organisms) |
|---|---|
| Plant 1: Grass (doob) | 20 |
| Plant 2: Marigold | 05 |
| Animal 1: Ant | 32 |
| Animal 2: Earthworm | 03 |
Then compile the data from all four or five groups, so that the class has counts from several squares.
Why it happens: the size and the time are both fixed on purpose. A count only means something if you say how much area and when. Two groups counting different-sized patches, or counting ants at noon and at dusk, cannot compare their numbers at all. That is why a population is defined as a group of the same kind of organisms in a habitat at a given time.