Galpayage and co-workers disinfected the wooden balls after each experiment. If they had not included this step, how might this have impacted their interpretation of the data?

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the purpose of disinfecting the wooden balls, which is to eliminate any residual bacteria or contaminants that could influence the outcome of subsequent experiments.
2. Consider the potential accumulation of bacteria or other microorganisms on the wooden balls if they were not disinfected. This could introduce variables that are not controlled across different experimental trials.
3. Analyze how the presence of these uncontrolled variables (e.g., different types or amounts of bacteria) could affect the results of the experiments, potentially leading to inconsistent or misleading data.
4. Discuss the importance of consistency in experimental conditions to ensure that the data collected is solely due to the experimental treatment and not due to extraneous factors.
5. Reflect on how failing to disinfect could lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn from the experiment, as the observed effects might be attributed to the experimental treatment when they are actually due to contamination.