A biology student wants to determine if using a
fertilizer would help promote growth of new babies in
spider plants. The student has access to 90 spider
plants of three varieties: green, variegated, and curly.
They all are potted in the same amount and type of
soil, given the same amount of water, and exposed to
the same amount of light. After one year, the shoots
will be counted for each plant.
Which of the following describes a random block
design for this experiment?
O The plants are numbered 01-90. Using a line from
a random number table, the first 45 two-digit
numbers, ignoring repeats and the numbers 91-99
and 00, represent the plants that will receive
fertilizer. The remaining 45 plants will not receive
fertilizer.
O The plants are paired together based on similar
size and numbered 1 and 2. Within each pair, a 6-
sided number cube is rolled. If it lands on 1, 2, or 3,
plant 1 receives the fertilizer and plant 2 does not
receive fertilizer. If the cube lands on 4, 5, or 6,
plant 1 does not receive fertilizer and plant 2