Question

a wildlife preserve north of your home catches and tags 1,000 monarch butterflies migrating south. to help estimate the total number of butterflies migrating, they ask you to observe the insects that land in your yard. you observe 200 butterflies, and 8 of them are tagged. you can do this to estimate the total number of butterflies that migrated through the preserve. divide 8 by 200 add 200 to 1,000 use a proportion count the butterflies at the preserve

Explanation:

Step1: Set up proportion

Let $x$ be the total number of migrating butterflies. The proportion is based on the ratio of tagged to total - observed butterflies in your yard being the same as the ratio of initially - tagged butterflies to the total number of migrating butterflies. So, $\frac{8}{200}=\frac{1000}{x}$.

Step2: Cross - multiply

Cross - multiplying gives us $8x = 1000\times200$.

Step3: Solve for $x$

$x=\frac{1000\times200}{8}=25000$.

Answer:

The correct method is to use a proportion. So the answer is "Use a proportion".