During late September the 7th grade life science classes used the Lincoln-Petersen mark-recapture method to estimate the caterpillar population on the AMS campus. Ms. Kurrles' and Mrs. Glenn's life science classes explored the foundations of this method on September 27. The classes were mixed together and split according to comfort level in math. All of the students did a simulation of the mark-recapture method (paper turtles or paper fish, marked and recaptured). The students who are less comfortable with math followed a more structured approach to analyzing the simulation data and those who are more comfortable with math discussed the proportional reasoning involved in this method and solved the proportions on their own. The mathematics behind this method is closely tied to what the 7th graders have been studying both in 7th grade mathematics and in 7th grade algebra.
