QUESTIONS

1. Patterns occur regularly in nature. List three examples of patterns found in nature:

● Zebra stripes

● Cheetah spots

● Honeycomb pieces

2. Provide one piece of evidence from the film to support each of these claims:

a. Termite mounds enhance ecosystem productivity.

● They enhance ecosystems productivity by enriching the soil with nutrients.

b. Termite mounds enhance ecosystem stability.

● They enhance the ecosystem stability by turning up the soil and making tunnels for good water

flow and airflow.

3. Technology has changed the way scientists do research. Provide two pieces of evidence from the film to

support the claim that “Technology is crucial for Dr. Tarnita’s ecological patterns research in Gorongosa

National Park.”

● A voronoi diagram is used in the film and it applies to the satellite images of termite mound

landscapes. Then the satellite points out the points that have the same hexagonal patterned termite

mounds.

4. The following photo is a portion of the savanna showing a Voronoi diagram overlaid on a landscape of

termite mounds:

a. Using a magic marker, place a dot in the center of 20 random mounds that don’t touch the edge of the

figure.

b. For each mound you marked, count the number of neighbors and record the data in this table. Be sure to

keep track of which mounds you have and have not counted.