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ACTIVITY

20

Line Transect:
A Classroom Demonstration of the Method for
Surveying a Small Community
Introduction
The instructions in this activity are designed to help you preteach the major survey method your
students will be using to examine communities at school and on the field trip. This activity will
be new to most students, so demonstrating in class how to establish a line transect before you go
outside will answer many questions. Instructions are included here.
The line transect method uses only a small section of any large natural area, yet produces an
accurate representative sampling of the biotic and abiotic parts of a community. It is an exciting
and stimulating activity, but does require a great deal of teacher preparation for it to be a success.
The time you spend preparing will make the results well worth your effort. Your students will
spend several exciting days investigating and mapping their community using this method.
This activity is the introduction for your students, and it takes place in the classroom. Activity
21 takes students outside on school property to practice making a sample community survey.

From the NSESp. 32

Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as curiosity, openness to new ideas and
data, and skepticism that characterize science.

Objective
The student will be introduced to the purpose and function of a line transect, a method for obtaining a representational survey of a community.

Materials

Line transect
20 meters of string on a handle with a nail on one end of the string and the other end
attached to the wooden handle (instructions follow)
Student worksheet 21
Assorted plants and animals
1-meter stick
Pen or pencil
Plain white paper (one piece per student)

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ACTIVITY

Preactivity Preparation
1.

2.

Constructing the line transect. Your technology department may be willing to make the handles
for the line transect from scrap material, or you could use square blocks of wood and wrap the
line around that. Buy heavy kite string for the line and 5-penny spikes for the anchor. Measure
20 meters of string and tie it to the wooden handle and wind up. Tie the spike to the other
end. It is helpful, but not necessary, to identify the 5-,10-, and 15-meter marks by using
colored yarn or felt marker.
Gathering plants and animals for classroom instruction. A collection of the plants and animals
geraniums, gerbils, cacti, aloe vera, turtles, goldfish, spider plantsin the classroom can serve
the purpose for this introductory lesson. If none is available or the variety is not adequate, cut
pictures from magazines, glue them on sturdy paper, and attach feet at the base so the pictures
will stand up along the line. At least 5 to 8 plants and the same number of animals will be
adequate.

Teacher Instructions
What is a Line Transect? (Teacher Demonstration)
1. Hand out student worksheet 21 and a piece of plain paper to each student.
2. Have students read the worksheet, define line transect, and write a reason for using one.
3. Discuss the definition of line transect and relate that to the community study. What are the
problems when you try to measure and count entire populations of a community? Refer to
Activity 10. (Populations are too big, no way to keep track of mobile animals that have been
counted.) The same results can be achieved by using a transect survey.
4. Setting up the line. Demonstrate as you talk.
a. The nail is the 0-meter mark of the line transect. Outside it is pushed into the ground.
b. Unroll the string. The handle end is the 20-meter mark.
c. Place assorted plants and animals at intervals along the line. This demonstrates to students
how the line is set up to use in a community survey.
5. Making a map of a community
a. The papers students have will become the map of the community.
b. Students draw a line across the middle of their papers and label 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 meters on
the map to represent the line transect string.

0M

5M

10M

15M

20M

c.

All items along the line transect must be identified, measured, and counted and then
mapped.
d. Discuss various methods for identifying items with a symbol. Pictures, letters, or shortened
words may be used. This is a chance for creativity.
e. Do a sample transect with your students.

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ACTIVITY

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1) Go to the 0-meter mark on the line, identify the first population for the students.
Locate the 0-meter spot on the students papers, and label the population found there
with an appropriate symbol. It is helpful to survey the entire line transect, first recording
plant information (height should be measured in centimeters and recorded), and then
returning to look for animal information.
2) Each plant population should be mapped at its appropriate position, identified, and
measured.
3) After completing plants, go back and record animal information. Animals are not
measured.
4) Check to make sure students have recorded all information you have given them.
5) Discuss the method with students, and make sure they understand the method for
survey of any community.
6) Point out to your students that a major difference between this demonstration and the
outside experience is that inside you are providing only a few plants and animals.
Outside, across a grassy lawn, through a grove of trees, or over a vacant lot, the students
will encounter hundreds of plants, insects, and possibly several animals.
7) Roll up the line transect.

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ACTIVITY

Line Transect:
Using the Line Transect Method in the Field
Please read the instructions for Activity 20 before beginning this activity.

From the NSESp. 123

Skills necessary to become independent inquirers of the natural world.

Objective
The student will use the line transect method to map the biotic factors (plant and animal
populations) of a community.

Materials

Line transects, one per student group

Meter sticks, one per group
8 long pieces of surveyors tape or brightly colored ribbon
Plain white paper, one piece per student
Clipboard or folder provided by each student
Pencils
Appropriate outside dress
Optional whistle

Preactivity Preparation
1.

2.

3.

Before you take your students outside, go out yourself and choose the community sites your
students should survey. Identify each site with the surveyors tape or ribbon. Tie it on a
convenient branch at eye level. These are the points for the beginning of the surveys. Students
will place nails in the ground at these points and roll the lines out to their full extents.
Students will return to the tape markers each day.
Prepare the line transects. (See Activity 20.) You need one transect per group. The class
should be divided into four groups, 5 to 7 students per group. Each group should select coleaders to share organizational responsibilities. These groups will work together for the
in-school activities as well as the major field trip. (See Grouping, page 196.)
Collect meter sticks. Although rulers will work, meter sticks are easier to use.

Teacher Instructions (before leaving the classroom)

1.
2.

114

Assign students to groups. Go over health and safety concerns.

Pass out a line transect and meter stick to each group, pass out plain paper to each student,
and make sure each student has a pencil and a clipboard.

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ACTIVITY

3.

4.

5.
6.
7.

21

Have students review the concept of the line transect method and how to lay out the line.
Emphasize that the nail is the zero mark and that they should push it into the soil to hold the
line. The handle is the 20-meter mark.
Have students draw the map line on their papers before going outside. They will record all
plant and animal population information along this line. Recording this information may
take students one to three class periods, 30 minutes per outside time, to complete.
Assign sites to each group.
Ask for questions.
Tell students the outside rules.
a. Students must not run or shout.
b. Emphasize that this is a science project and students have a task that must be completed.
c. Students may not visit other groups under any circumstances.
d. All members of the group must help with the work.
e. One person must be responsible for each piece of equipment.
f. Students must obey signals to return to starting point. (A whistle is helpful.)

Teaching Tips
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.

The transect (survey site itself) is 20 meters long, 2 meters wide, and as high as the sky.
All populations within this space must be identified, counted and measured, and then recorded
on the map. If students cannot identify a population immediately, encourage them to draw or
write descriptions, or possibly collect a sample for field guide study when they have returned
to the room.
The use of a legend is very effective. Symbols represent populations and are placed on the
line at the proper mark. All members of the group must agree on the symbols used. (See
Sample Line Transect A and Sample Line Transect B. In these samples, the legend is built
into the line transect itself.)
Measure large populations by estimating. Count a specific area, then multiply by the number
of areas being considered. Estimate tree height by holding a meter stick against the trunk and
estimating the number of meters to the top of the tree.
Anything that flies or leaps across the line is countedbirds, insects, squirrels.

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Sample Line Transect A

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ACTIVITY

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Sample Line Transect B

GRACKEL
GREY SPIDER, FLIES, BUTTERFLY

0 GRASS, BUTTERCUP, MOSS, CLOVER

SPIDER
TINY BLACK FLEA

BUTTERCUP, GRASS, WILD STRAWBERRY

ANT, RED SPIDER, FLEA

ANT, FLEA

5 BUTTERCUP, WILD STRAW., CLOVER, GRASS,

DANDELIONS

DANDELION, CLOVER, FERNS

DANDELION, GRASS, CLOVER, FERNS, WILD
STRAWBERRIES, MOSS
GRASS, MOSS
FLOATING
BLACK SPIDER, LEECH
BUG
WATER BOATMAN, PAINTED TURTLE, LEECH
ORB SNAIL
WATER BEATLE, FROG
LITTLE GREEN BUG
FROG, MOSQUITOES

GRASS, HAY, MOSS

HAY, MOSS, WATER LILIES
10 GRASS, WEEDS, MOSS
MOSS, GRASS, WEEDS
GRASS
GRASS, CLOVER

DRAGONFLY
MOSQUITOES, FROG

GRASS, WEEDS, GOLDENROD, DOCK

15 THISTLE, GRASS

RED SPIDER

THISTLE, GRASS
GRASS

FLIES
GRASS, WEEDS
FLEA, BLACK ANT
MOSQ., LEECH, GREEN BUG

GRASS, WEEDS
20 GRASS, WEEDS

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21

Name _______________________________ Date _____________________

Line Transect:
A Method for Surveying a Small Community
The line transect is a method ecologists use to investigate any community. This
method surveys a small section of a natural area. You will be able to locate, survey,
and map the important parts of a community using the line transect method.
Define a line transect: _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Explain the purpose of the line transect: _______________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Your teacher will demonstrate how to set up and complete the map (the map
is actually a cross-section drawing) of any community using the line transect
method. You will practice recording information on your paper while your teacher
demonstrates. All plants and animals should be located, identified, measured (plants
only), and counted. Your completed map will provide a picture of the populations
in a community.

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Name _______________________________ Date _____________________

21

Instructions for Outside

A. Identify and count plant populations
l . Begin at the zero-meter mark (the point where the nail is in the ground).
Identify plants along the first meter (and one meter to the sides) of the
line.
2. Record the information on the map. Use a symbol to identify each species.
Dont forget to count and measure the size of each plant population and
record this information.
3. If the same species is found at other places along the transect, use the same
symbol at each spot along the line.
4. Continue until all of the plant populations have been identified, counted,
and recorded.
B. Identify and count animal populations
1. Repeat steps number 1 through 3 above, locating animals.
2. Animal size is not measured.
3. Look closely on tree trunks, dig under ground, and look carefully under
logs or dead leaves for animals and insects.
4. Birds, insects, and animals may be counted if they cross or fly over the line.
5. Continue until all animals are named, counted, and recorded on the map.

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