Zoology and the use of mathematics? 10 pnts for best answer?

Question

I'm doing a project for my math class, and i need to know how zoologists use mathematics in their job. I have to write an article for this project, so i need allot of information. Please help me if you can! thank you!

Answer 1

Here are some ways...

http://www.uww.edu/techcamps/careersSCI....

Zoologist

At large zoos, zoologists keep track of animal behavior. They keep records of the animals' habits and health. She might set up experiments and use cameras and sound recorders to get information. The information goes into a computer, where the zoologist uses math to figure out what's going on. One of the most important decisions she makes is how to help the animals to have strong, healthy babies.

to know how much food to feed the animals

http://www.thefutureschannel.com/dockets...

http://plus.maths.org/issue44/interview/...

An example comes from a question posed by Bristol Zoo Gardens at a study group in 2003. The zoo is involved in captive breeding programmes of endangered species, in particular the African penguin. One of the strategies the zoo uses is to remove eggs from the penguin's nest soon after they are laid and to place them into artificial incubators. The mother will usually lay more eggs to make up for the loss, so as long as the artificial incubators do their job well, the zoo ends up with more chicks than the mother alone could produce. To be maximally efficient, the artificial incubators need to mimic natural conditions as closely as possible, and this is where the difficulty lies: penguins, like many other birds, periodically rotate their eggs around their long axis, and no-one knows exactly why they do it. If you don't know why something happens, it's hard to replicate it effectively, and without the rotations the chicks won't hatch.

The study group was asked to investigate this problem by looking at the fluid dynamics within the egg. An initial idea was that the rotation ensures a uniform temperature of 37° throughout the egg, but the study group's mathematical model, based on the equations of fluid dynamics, showed that the effects of rotation on temperature are minimal. They had more luck with a second theory: their model showed that the rotations produced the necessary mixing within the egg, ensuring that nutrients are distributed uniformly and waste is dispersed. The model describes the turning and churning within the egg in detail and provides a theoretical basis to help with programming artificial incubators, not only for penguins but also for other species of bird. The group also recommended what type of further research would be necessary to improve their model. (You can find out more about the model on the KTN website.)

http://www.classzone.com/books/geometry/...

Math on the Job

Zoologists often collect large amounts of data and information. They may apply statistics to this data for the purpose of describing animal populations and characteristics. Zoologists also may create mathematical models that help determine the size and growth of animal populations.

http://www.rtis.com/nat/user/elsberry/iv...

>>6)  How do you use mathmatics in your career or life ?

        Algebra daily as part of programming computers

        Statistics for analyzing data

        arithmatic for daily life of check books and budges

        arithmatic and algebra for carpentry, elecronics design and

implementation

>>7)  What advice would you offer me regarding the importance of mathmatics ?

        Math through algebra and geometry is very important for everyday

living and problem solving.  If you want to pursue zoology then calculus,

statistics, diffential equaitions all are used in data analysis, modleing, etc.

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/200...

Re: How does Zoology use math?

http://math.colgate.edu/~wweckesser/fsem...

Answer 2

I use a lot of metrics to show the effect of environmental stress on the animals associated with the bottoms of streams. Math is also used in population studies.

Answer 3

here are some ideas:

they use math to find populations of given animals in an area.

to find the coordinates and patterns in where animals travel

how much animals eat?

these are pretty open ended so have fun with the research.