Last month, the zoo held a special "Eat Like an Animal" fundraiser program. Visitors could choose animals from a list and get a taste of the safe human foods those animals eat at the zoo. To join the program, visitors had to pay a fee.

Question

Once in the program, visitors could pick animal diets to try for $15 per animal. Justin participated in the fundraiser, trying the lion, flamingo, and panda diets. He paid $66 for these selections, but he can't remember how much the fee was to join the program.
In #4, what are the two variables? Which one is independent and which one is dependent?

Justin's budget is the independent variable, and the cost to join the program is the dependent variable.

The number of animal diets is the independent variable, and the total cost is the dependent variable.

The size of the animal is the independent variable, and the cost for the animal's diet is the dependent variable.

The total cost is the independent variable, and the number of animal diets offered is the dependent variable.

Answer 1

In the scenario provided, the best choice for the two variables is:

The number of animal diets is the independent variable, and the total cost is the dependent variable.

Here’s the reasoning:

• The independent variable is the one that you can control or manipulate; in this case, it's how many animal diets Justin chooses to try out (lion, flamingo, and panda). This number is what Justin can decide based on his preferences and the program offerings.

• The dependent variable is what you measure in the experiment and what is affected by the independent variable. In this case, the total cost Justin incurs is dependent on the number of diets he chooses, as each diet has a fixed cost associated with it ($15 per animal). The more diets he chooses, the higher the total cost.

Therefore, this aligns with the correct relationship in the context of the fundraiser program.