Question

Explain why a bar graph is appropriate for presenting the data in part 1 and a scatter plot is appropriate for the data in part 2.

Short answer

As the data in part 1 was given in tally and computed as a percentage, a bar graph is suitable for displaying the data obtained by counting. A bar graph also makes it easier to visualize two groups of snakes that eat both types of food.

On the other hand, the scatter plot depicts several points in time, some of which are repeated at the same time, making drawing the graph as a point more acceptable.

Step-by-step solution

The experiment in part A

The first part of the study in this area gathered 12 red-bellied black snakes from areas where cane toads had been present for 40 to 60 years and another 12 from places where cane toads had not been present for 40 to 60 years.

In each region, they counted snakes that consumed either a freshly killed native frog (a food source for snakes) or a freshly slain cane toad with its venom gland removed.

The experiment in part B

The researchers collected snakes in parts 2 and 3 from sites where cane toads had lived for 5 to 60 years. A small pool was used to measure the snakes' swimming speed after making them swallow a small dose of cane toad poison.

Bar graph and scattered plot used in the experiment parts

The percentage is calculated using a bar graph that counts how many snakes eat cane toads and native frogs. The scatter plot is most commonly used to monitor and visualize correlations between two variables, and they function best while comparing large amounts of data over time.