Question

Marissa is testing a hypothesis through experimentation. She believes that immersing ocean coral in carbonic acid will slow the coral’s growth. Which of these actions will prevent Marissa from introducing confounding variables into her experiment?

Answer 1

Marissa can prevent confounding variables in her experiment on the effect of carbonic acid on coral growth by keeping all conditions constant except for the acid exposure, and by having a control group.

Step-by-step explanation:

Marissa is testing the hypothesis that immersing ocean coral in carbonic acid will slow the coral’s growth. To prevent introducing confounding variables into her experiment, Marissa should ensure that all other conditions are kept constant except for the exposure to carbonic acid. This includes maintaining consistent temperature, light, and water quality across all test groups. She should also have a control group of corals that is not exposed to carbonic acid to provide a comparison for growth rates. By doing so, she can more accurately determine if ocean acidification specifically affects coral growth.

Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been shown to increase ocean acidity, which can interfere with the calcification process needed for coral to build their calcium carbonate structures. Proper experimental design will help Marissa isolate the effect of carbonic acid on coral growth from other potential variables.

Answer 2

The answer choices to this question are:

A) She releases cement particles into a random number of the coral samples.
B) She uses three different types of coral to establish her dependent variables.
C) She treats the coral samples identically with varying levels of carbonic acid.
D) She obtains her coral samples from coral reefs surrounding different continents.

Best Answer is:

A) She releases cement particles into a random number of the coral samples.

Theory:
It has been researched that ocean acidification caused by carbon dioxide emissions causes a decrement in the coral reef growth and this will keep slowing down unless steep and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are made. And the Coral reefs offered economic opportunities would advantage the surrounding communities from fishing and tourism.