Melanie wants to observe the effect of two new fertilizers on the growth of plants. Three identical plants having a height of 15 cm were used for the experiment. No fertilizer was added to the first plant, 100 g of Fertilizer A was added to the second plant, and 100 g of Fertilizer B was added to the third plant. All other growing conditions of the plants were kept constant. Which step of the scientific method did Melanie do here?
a) Drawing a conclusion
b) Testing with an experiment
c) Doing background research
d) Analyzing experimental data
b) Testing with an experiment
The step of the scientific method that Melanie did here is "b) Testing with an experiment." She conducted an experiment to observe the effect of two new fertilizers on the growth of plants by adding different fertilizers to the plants and keeping all other growing conditions constant.
The correct answer is b) Testing with an experiment.
Explanation:
In this scenario, Melanie designed an experiment to test the effect of two different fertilizers (Fertilizer A and Fertilizer B) on the growth of plants. She used three identical plants for the experiment, one without any fertilizer, one with Fertilizer A, and one with Fertilizer B. By keeping all other growing conditions constant, Melanie is able to isolate the variable being tested, which is the effect of the fertilizers on plant growth.
Testing with an experiment is a step in the scientific method where researchers design and carry out experiments to gather data and evidence. In this case, Melanie set up the experiment, added the fertilizers, and observed the growth of the plants. This step allows her to collect empirical evidence to support or refute her hypothesis, which is the next step after conducting background research (c).
Once the experiment is conducted and data is collected, the next step would be to analyze the results (d) to determine the impact of the different fertilizers on plant growth. Finally, the scientist would draw a conclusion (a) based on the results of the analysis.