Two students completed an experiment to determine if pesticide use at local farms was causing fish kills in a local pond. The steps of the experiment are listed below. Select one location to collect water samples in the pond. Collect a 5-mL water sample at 8 am for two days. Measure the amount of pesticide present in each sample using the same measurement tools. After analyzing their data, the students conclude that pesticide runoff from farms is not causing the fish to die in the pond. Which of these statements best describes why their conclusion is not reliable?
1)The pesticide measurements were the dependent variable.
2)The samples were collected at different times.
3)The samples were only collected for two days.
4)The time of sample collection was not an independent variable.

The aim of the experiment was to determine whether the pesticides caused the fish kills. In this scenario, the dependent variable should have been the fish kills and not the pesticides. The amount of pesticides were supposed to be the independent variable.

Independent variables are the variables that change and cause an effect on the test subject or the dependent variable.

The dependent variable is not manipulated, but changes depending on the independent variable.

ajeigbeibraheem ajeigbeibraheem · Answer 2 · 2021-09-04T10:52:24+02:00

In a scientific inquiry, we often seek to investigate the impact of one variable on another. These variables in the study are known as dependent and independent variables.

In experimental research, the independent variable also known as(cause) is unaffected by other factors in your research.

The dependent variable is affected depending on the changes occurred in the independent variable, as such they are dependant on the independent variable.

In experimental research, the person carrying out the experiment manipulates or changes the independent variable to see what influence it has on the dependent variable.

From the given question, the experimenter wants to test and deduce whether the pesticides kill the fish in the farm pond.

Dependent variable = pesticides

However, the reason why they failed to get a reliable result in their conclusion is that they attribute the dependent variable which is the fish kill to the pesticides.

So, the true variables should be:

The independent variable ⇒ is the pesticide
The Dependent variable ⇒ is the death of the fish

Therefore, we can conclude that the best statement that describes why their conclusion is not reliable is in Option (1).

Learn more about experimental research here:

https://brainly.com/question/18242205?referrer=searchResults