Nick's grandmother suggested that soaking berries in hot water might help prevent the berries from getting moldy. To test this idea, Nick harvested fresh blackberries and divided them evenly into eight bowls. He filled four of the bowls with room temperature water and the other four bowls with water heated to 125°F. Nick let all of the berries soak in the water for 30 seconds. Then, he poured out the water and dried the berries. Nick placed the two groups of bowls in the refrigerator, keeping each group separate. After five days, Nick counted the number of moldy blackberries in each bowl.

Which of the following was an independent variable in this experiment? (Hint: An independent variable is a variable whose effect you are investigating. A dependent variable is a variable that you measure.
AThe number of moldy blackberries.
BThe temperature of the wateR