Final answer:
The independent variable in an experiment examining the effect of waste production on a person's ecological footprint is the measurement of the amount of waste produced.
Step-by-step explanation:
In a controlled experiment investigating how waste production affects a person's ecological footprint, the independent variable is the one that is deliberately changed by the researcher to observe the effect it has on the dependent variable. In this case, the independent variable would be the measurement of the amount of waste produced (C). This is because the ecological footprint is calculated based on this waste production, thus making it the dependent variable, which changes in response to variations in the independent variable.
Control Variables are factors in the experiment that must be kept constant to ensure that any observed changes in the dependent variable are solely due to the manipulation of the independent variable. Examples of control variables in a plant growth experiment may include the amount of water, type of soil, and amount of sunlight provided to all the plants.