In the mid-1980s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began reintroducing gray wolves into regions of the western United States where the wolf population had become endangered. The table that follows shows the approximate number of wolves in a certain region every 2 years since the reintroduction. Two models have been proposed for this data: [math]y = 59x + 10[/math] and [math]y = 16.9(1.22)^x[/math]. Which model best represents the data? Create a residual plot for the model you chose. Use your results to predict the estimated wolf population for this region after another 10 years.
[list=1] [*]Create a scatter plot of the data. [*]Determine which of the two proposed models is appropriate for the data. [*]Create a residual plot for the chosen model. [*]Plot the residuals on a residual plot and determine whether the chosen function is a good model for this situation. [*]Use your results to predict the estimated wolf population in this region after another 10 years. [/list] This applet is provided by Walch Education as supplemental material for their mathematics programs. Visit [url="http://www.walch.com"]www.walch.com[/url] for more information on their resources.