Ordering sentences within a paragraph — SHSAT practice questions

Counting Pollinators Above the Street

(1) Rooftop gardens can provide flowers high above streets, but researchers did not know which pollinators regularly reached these isolated patches. (2) A university ecology team partnered with six building owners to compare gardens at different heights and distances from parks. (3) The team designed a survey that recorded not only insects but also the flowers and weather present during each observation. (4) At every roof, researchers marked a fixed route and walked it for fifteen minutes at the same time of day.

(5) They photographed bees, butterflies, flies, and beetles rather than trying to catch every unfamiliar insect. (6) One observer watched flowers. (7) A second entered each visit, landing, and photograph into a shared record. (8) Because wind can reduce insect activity, the team postponed surveys when gusts exceeded its chosen limit. (9) Because some roofs were inaccessible after rain, missed surveys were marked as missing rather than replaced with zeros. (10) This distinction prevented lack of observation from being mistaken for lack of pollinators. (11) Researchers also counted open blossoms, since a roof with more flowers might naturally receive more visits. (12) By comparing fixed routes with flower and weather data, the study tested several explanations for pollinator visits. (13) Early records showed many small bees on low roofs but surprisingly frequent bumblebee visits on two taller buildings.

(14) The team resisted declaring height unimportant because those tall roofs also had large patches of lavender in bloom. (15) Researchers compared later weeks when different plants flowered and found that visitation changed with the available blooms. (16) To improve identification, an insect specialist reviewed photographs without seeing which roof produced each image. (17) This blind review reduced the chance that expectations about a site would influence the identification. (18) Because the team photographed insects instead of capturing them, researchers used painted bee models of known sizes so observers could estimate length consistently from a distance. (19) The team ultimately reported that roof height alone did not explain the pattern; flower abundance, plant type, weather, and nearby green space also mattered.

(20) The study's careful comparisons showed why observations from urban gardens need context before they can support broad conclusions. (21) The final dataset includes photographs and method notes so another researcher can review uncertain identifications or repeat the routes. (22) Gardeners received seasonal summaries comparing their roofs.