Final answer:
The water level in the bucket is decreasing at a rate of -1/16 inch per hour when exposed to direct sunlight for 6 hours.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is measuring how fast water evaporates in a bucket in her backyard. In 6 hours in direct sunlight, the water level changes by -3/8 inch. To find out how fast the water level is changing per hour, we divide the total change in water level by the number of hours.
-3/8 inch ÷ 6 hours = -1/16 inch per hour
Therefore, the water level is changing at a rate of -1/16 inch per hour. This means that for every hour that passes, the water level goes down by -1/16 inch. It's important to understand that the negative sign indicates that the water level is decreasing, and this rate is consistent with the observed change in the student's experiment.