Hannah Midles

Mrs. Norris
APES 3
rd

12
th
September, 2014
Somethings Fishy
Lab Partners: Evan Barnes, Riordan Siefring, and Jillian Thomas
Introduction:
A method biologists use to determine the population size of various species is called tagging,
mainly used in dealing with butterflies and fish. Tags can vary between stickers, ear clips,
notches or in fins of fish. The tags purpose is to track migration patterns, health and range to help
figure out the population size. By taking samples and determining the percent tagged, biologists
can hypothesize the population of that species.
Problem:
How can we effectively measure population of the species of fish?
Hypothesis:
If we estimate our population size, it will be 196.
Parts of the experiment:
Control Group: None
Experimental Group: The bag of fish
Independent Variable: The number of fish
Dependent Variable: The accuracy of tagging
Control: Same bag, type of fish
Materials:
1. non-tagged fish (white beans)
2. tagged fish (brown beans)
3. Brown paper bag
Procedure
1. Obtain a bowl with your fish.
2. Do NOT count the number of fish in your pond yet!
3. Have one member of your group remove a large handful of fish.
4. Count the number of fish you just removed and write it in the table below.
5. Replace these fish with tagged fish (in this case, colored fish)
6. Mix your pond well to redistribute the tagged fish among the other fish.
7. One member at a time (and without looking), remove a handful of fish and record the
number of total fish in the sample, the number of tagged fish, and figure out the
percentage of tagged fish. (see chart)
8. Return your handful to the bowl!!
9. Continue with this until you have taken 20 samples

Data Table:
Sample # # of Tagged Fish in a
Sample
Total Sample Size Percent Tagged in
Sample
1 0 33 0%
2 2 16 12.5%
3 4 29 13.7%
4 1 16 6.25%
5 6 23 26%
6 1 10 10%
7 2 18 11.11%
8 1 13 7.6%
9 4 13 3.07%
10 4 19 21%
11 5 27 18.5%
12 3 18 16.6%
13 2 19 21%
14 7 26 15.3%
15 11 31 35%
16 2 18 11.11%
17 5 20 25%
18 2 19 10.5%
19 7 40 17.5%
20 3 15 20%
Mean: 16.44%


To the left is a picture of a handful of
tagged and non-tagged fish.
Inside picture of the tagged and non-
tagged fish.
Conclusion:
Questions:
1. The mean of the percent tagged fish from 20 samples was 16.44%.
2. The estimated population for the pond is 33.
a. The population size was 201.2
3. The actual number of the fish was 207.
4. The percent error is 2.89%.
5. This method is effective because the percent error was so low. If the percent error were to
be high it would tell us that this form of method is not accurate to calculate the
population size.
6. Biologists should be aware that different species migrate to different habitats at certain
times of the year. Also, mating season and having offspring can affect the research done
to find the population size. If a habitat appears to be in drought or depleting, species can
die off and that affects the experiment as well.

We were close to hypothesis, which was the population size of 196. I believe this
experiment can be used in the everyday world, as long as the habitat is in good condition
and it is not a migrating or mating season. This procedure can help figure out how many
animals are left in a species and figure out if some species are becoming endangered. The
only flaw to this lab would be if you grabbed a handful of fish and the number of tagged
and un-tagged fish are way off and does not balance each other.


tagged fish pulled out from the bag.