Bacterial Fission, Powers of Two, Sociology, Environmental Science, Public Health, Biology, Mathematics: An Integration of Constructivism, Discovery, and Inquiry

Abstract

Students examine the bacterial expansion pattern and attempt to relate what they discover to expanding powers of two. They also relate what they see and discover to increasing living space requirements in a world of infinite space and finite space to discover that living space decreases as a function of one over expanding powers of two. The population doubling effect is also related to refuse generation and food supply requirements as well as human drinking requirements. During their investigations, students engage in a series of concrete activities to demonstrate the various effects of unabated population expansion.

Keywords:

• bacterial growth
• doubling effect
• population expansion
• powers of two
• trash generation