JoinScience Sampler: Is knowledge random? Introducing sampling and bias through outdoor inquiry
Sampling, very generally, is the process of learning about something by selecting and assessing representative parts of that population or object. In the inquiry activity described here, students learned about sampling techniques as they estimated the number of trees greater than 12 cm dbh (diameter at breast height) in a wooded, discrete area (approximately one acre) close to school, in 15 minutes. Trees were chosen as the study organism because they are stationary (thus easily sampled), their population is constant over a long period of time, and they are prominent natural elements of the environment.