One bad apple spoils the whole bunch. An ethylene experiment

[Lanjo1023]

Good morning. My son is working on the bad apple: ethylene experiment that he found on Science Buddies but we are unsure why the experiment calls for 4 control bags and 4 experiment bags. Is anyone able to provide some insight? We would greatly appreciate it.


[Administrator note: project URL: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... lene-spoil ]

[CarissaP]

Hello,
This is a great project! I believe that the reason for using multiple bags for each type is to make the results more reliable by removing any bias from small changes in the bags or the fruits. Furthermore, if you want to test if wounds or bruises trigger the production of ethylene, you could bruise the fruit in each bag differently and monitor the effects.
Carissa

[Lanjo1023]

That makes sense. Thank you for your input.