Troubleshooting
When testing, there is always a possibility of error and other problems. We ran into several problems while testing. Our soil was very rocky in one of the plots we tested in, and this made it difficult to take soil samples and place thermometers. We broke three thermometers in the rockier plot. One broke when we were trying to put it in the ground, the second thermometer snapped because a rock fell over and hit it and the last thermometer broke in the ground and caused the alcohol to rise to the top of thermometer, which obviously meant the thermometer could not take accurate temperatures. The weather also threatened our experiment, as our test was temperature-dependant, we needed sunlight for varied soil temperatures between the two soil plots. The first day we tested, the weather was cloudy, therefore, our temperature remained primarily constant all day. However, weather is always unpredictable and a researcher has no ability to make the weather cooperate. Toward the end of our experiment, we also miscounted the yeast (we used an incorrect counting method).
There are always problems you can run into while testing, so be prepared by having extra supplies ready and being prepared for any situation that can occur.
In the picture above, there is a group member reading data. The first time our group read yeast data, we did not use a correct counting method, and had to recount the yeast on the petri films.