Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I need to find the area of the area of land that receives more than 280 inches of rain per year. (Only the area in the very center--the summit of Mt. Waialeale)

http://www.oregonphotos.com/Resources/k ... er-map.gif


I do not have access to a sensitive scale, and the project is due on Tuesday.

I would really appreciate any advice or methods on how to find this area. (Any computer programs?) Please help!

Thank you in advance!

I don't have a great answer for you. That's a pretty small area, so it will be difficult to measure the area accurately. Here's what I would probably do if I were you:

1. Put a piece of graph paper into your printer, and print out the GIF image onto the graph paper.
2. To get a higher resolution just near the center part of the island where the rainfall is >280, divide up the graph paper squares yourself into smaller squares, both horizontally and vertically. For example, perhaps each of your graph paper squares could be divided into 16 smaller squares (if you have a really sharp pencil and a steady hand!).
3. Count up how many small squares are covered by the bright pink area.
4. Figure out how much area (in sq. miles) is covered by each small graph paper square. To do this, you would need to know the "scale" of your printout. The whole island is about 31 miles wide horizontally, and 24 miles wide vertically, so that should help you determine your scale.

--Rajeev

Thank you so much for your good advice!

I did end up enlarging it and then used a scale and such to create triangles to find an approximate area.
Not so great. . .but it's due very soon. . so oh well. Haha. . .Thank you again for taking the time to answer!