Question

P.P. Pumpkineater, the renowned agricultural geneticist, has mutated previous varieties of pumpkins and produced two new strains, ScaryFace and CandleBreath. Because he has limited marketing funds, he must decide which strain is the most "jack-o-lanternable." Having been in the jack-o-lantern business for a long period of time, he has developed the PPPJOL Test to compare different strains. The plot of land available for planting is on the side of a hill with a large number of trees on top and a stream near the bottom. He is quite concerned about the effects of sunlight and water on the growth of the pumpkins. He has 60 seeds of each variety available for testing. Design an experiment that will help P.P. determine which strain to market.

Answer 1

You start with two location alternatives:

1. lot 1 (near the trees on the top)
2. lot 2 (downhill, near the stream)

Since Pumpkineater has 60 seeds of both scary face pumpkins and candle breath pumpkins, he will plant 30 seeds of each in lot 1 and lot 2.

If he wants to determine how sunlight and water affects the growth of each type of seed, he should plant them randomly and record what happens.

After the plants have grown, he should perform his PPPJOL test on the new pumpkins to see which ones are better.