Apple farmers are currently having a very difficult time with pesticide-resistant insects. these insects are no longer being killed by the current chemical treatments, thus causing a lot of damage to the apple crops. in reaction to this, researchers are developing newer and stronger chemicals to control the bugs.

Astudent sees several ants walking up a wall following the exact same trail that an ant took earlier. she wants to apply the scientific method to determine how the ants detected the trail. which of these steps would come first in her application of the scientific method? perform an experiment by cleaning the scent away from part of the trail. draw a conclusion that the ants follow a scent trail. make a prediction about what the ants will do after she cleans away part of the trail. hypothesize that the ants are following a scent trail that the first ant left.