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A gardener grows thistle plants as weeds in his grass lawns - OCR Gateway - GCSE Biology - Question 16 - 2022 - Paper 1
Question 16
A gardener grows thistle plants as weeds in his grass lawns. He wants to see if thistle plants grow better in the front garden than in the back garden. The diagram ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:A gardener grows thistle plants as weeds in his grass lawns - OCR Gateway - GCSE Biology - Question 16 - 2022 - Paper 1
Step 1
Describe an experimental method the gardener uses to get this estimate.
Answer
To estimate the number of thistle plants in the back garden, the gardener can follow these steps:
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Use a Quadrant: The gardener should utilize a quadrat, which is a square frame used for sampling organisms in a defined area.
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Random Positioning: The quadrat should be placed at random positions throughout the back garden to obtain a representative sample of the area.
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Count the Thistle Plants: Within each quadrat, the gardener will count the number of thistle plants present.
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Calculate the Density: To estimate the density of thistle plants per square metre, the gardener can use the following formula:
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Take Multiple Samples: It is advisable to take multiple samples and then calculate the average number of thistle plants per quadrat. This can be used to extrapolate the average number of thistle plants per square metre.
The piece of apparatus the gardener uses in this method is a quadrat.