Caught in the Web

Can you estimate the mass of insects caught by spiders in the UK each year?
Age
14 to 16
Challenge level
filled star empty star empty star
Exploring and noticing Working systematically Conjecturing and generalising Visualising and representing Reasoning, convincing and proving
Being curious Being resourceful Being resilient Being collaborative

Problem



The mass of insects caught by spiders in a year in the UK is approximately equal to the mass of the human population of the UK.

Assuming this population is 60 million and the average mass of a human is 70 kg, what is the mass, in tonnes, of insects caught by spiders per year in the UK?

If you liked this problem, here is an NRICH task which challenges you to use similar mathematical ideas.