Let's Try Some Problems- #1

Here are some problems that researchers planning their research activities would have to solve. Let's see if you can figure out how to answer these questions.

1. Researchers from TTU would like to provide research experience to school teachers from Texas and Malaysia. Grant funds to provide this experience are limited (in fact, right now they are lacking).

Flying from Lubbock Texas to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia costs $1700. Travelling by bus from Kuala Lumpur to Krau Wildlife Reserve costs 120 MR. Food and lodging for a teacher at KWR costs 80 MR per day.

Answer the following questions assuming that the total budget for providing a research experience for teachers is $15,000.

a) If we spent all of the money on teachers from Texas then how many could we take?

b) If we spent all of the money on teachers from Malaysia then how many could we take?

c) How many Texas and Malaysian Teachers can we take if we want to have equal numbers of Malaysian and Texan teachers?

d) How many Texas and Malaysian teachers can we take if we want to spent half of the funds on teachers from Texas and half on teachers from Malaysia?

2. Twice each day (once in the evening and again in the morning) researchers hike to the trapping area, check the traps and process the captured bats, and then return to the lab.

Once the researchers reach the trapping grid it takes 10 minutes on average to check each trap (including travel time between traps) and process all of the bats. The time it takes to reach the trapping grid depends on the distance of the trapping grid from the lab and the terrain. Generally, the researchers are able to walk one and a half times faster on flat land than while walking across hilly terrain. The average person walking through hilly terrain is able to travel two miles in one hour.

a) How long should it take to sample 10 traps in a sampling grid located 4 km from the lab when the entire travel distance is across flat terrain?

b) How long should it take to sample 20 traps in a sampling grid located 1 mile from the lab when half of the travel distance is across hilly terrain and half is across flat terrain?