Data Interpretation

1. What patterns do you observe based on the information in Table 4? I observe that this fish population flourishes within a certain range of Dissolved Oxygen (ppm) between 8-18. As the level of dissolved oxygen decreases, so does the number of fish present. It makes me interested to know if the table was extended showing higher levels of dissolved oxygen, how the fish population would be affected by the greater levels.

2. Develop a hypothesis relating to the amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the water sample and the number of fish observed in the body of water. If the water quality has higher levels of dissolved oxygen, the higher the fish population will be.

3. What would your experimental approach be to test this hypothesis? I would use the scientific method to test this hypothesis.

4. What would be the independent and dependent variables?
The independent variable would be water quality with higher levels of dissolved oxygen. The dependent variable would be a higher population of fish.

5. What would be your control?
My control would be time of year, time of day, water temperature, location of water being tested, and amount of people fishing. My negative control would be the time of day tested. I would not expect that to skew the results. My positive control would be if the tests were conducted during fishing season, in which I would expect the population of fish to be less.

6. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data set? Why? I would use a bar graph for this data set so results independent from one another can be compared, rather than a continuous series. It will demonstrate clearly what affect different water qualities have on the fish population.

7. Graph the data from Table 4: Water Quality vs. Fish Population (found at the beginning of this exercise).

8. Interpret the data from the graph made in Question 7.