Environmental scientists can use a similar lab kit to test collected water samples from bodies of water. In lakes and streams, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) causes alkalinity,
which allows it to function as a buffer, neutralizing any acid rain that may enter the
water supply. A buffer is a substance that serves to resist small changes in acidity or
alkalinity in a solution.
Environmental scientists monitoring pollution levels are measuring buffer levels in
two specific lakes. They found that Lake B had a greater ppm of calcium carbonate
than Lake A.
Which of the two lakes would be able to neutralize a greater amount of acid rain?
Explain your answer.

1. the question asks the most appropriate, which seems to rule out "all of the above." your choice appears to be the correct one.

2. the protocol described is good for identifying correlation, but not cause and effect. for cause/effect, you need to devise a protocol that will assign the treatment (or not) to groups that have essentially the same "demographics" with respect to all the other variables. your choice regarding control group seems appropriate. random assignment of treatment (choice d) may be appropriate also. (i think you can argue that b and d are just different descriptions of the same method.)

3. d will randomize the birds, but may not guarantee there are 10 in each group. e will do both, so seems the better choice.

comment on question 2

based on the problem statement, it seems clear that confident, attentive drivers are more likely to use daytime running lights. so, the protocol might need to be devised in such a way that the lights would be turned on or off without the driver's knowledge. (an attentive driver will figure it out.) assigning a confident, attentive driver to a group required to drive without running lights might mess with his/her confidence and attentiveness. you don't want your experiment to do that. (nor do you want the experiment to subject a driver to greater risk of accident as a consequence of driving without running lights.) experiments involving human safety are always problematic.

b. accuracy of the data matters alot more than its number of digits, organization or amount of detail. quantitative observation is more accepted than the qualitative observation.

b.

the accuracy of the data.