My Understanding of the Skill

My understanding of the skill Reasoning Analytically is to make claims, statements, or judgements that have facts, reasoning, evidence, or data to back them up. It also means breaking problems into different parts so you can examine them more closely, making the problem easier to solve. Using your background knowledge is also important if you don’t have data or evidence to help you come to the best conclusion. For certain decisions you might not always have scientific evidence to prove things, so you will just have to use your best judgement to make the decision. At times, your best judgement is all that you have. You need proof and accurate data to help you solve a problem and to understand the cause. In order to avoid hurting others and spreading misinformation, it is important not to make statements that aren’t true or supported by evidence. When making claims or judgements, and stating opinions, they should be reasonable, trustworthy, and should have data and evidence to back them up.

An example of not Reasoning Analytically in my life is making claims based on what I hear, without actually having any real evidence to prove what I say. For example, if I am presenting research from unreliable sources, my audience could get confused. When you aren’t Reasoning Analytically, it could mean reading something online and believing its true without checking if it’s accurate. If other people are influenced by this inaccurate information, it could be harmful if they make a decision based on the misinformation.

This skill is important to me because to correctly do school assignments, I need to make sure my information is from a reliable source. If I have wrong information, then I will probably get a lower grade for writing information that is inaccurate.

My Growth in the Skill

When I first heard about Reasoning Analytically in 7th grade, I never paid much attention to it. Skills like Managing Effectively and Collaborating Productively stood out to me because I thought they were beneficial to me. I was probably the perfect example of not Reasoning Analytically; I’m a very gullible person and I believe almost anything anyone says if they sound convincing. If I trust a person and think they are more intelligent than others, I’m likely to believe their statement because of my personal perception of them. When a source is attached to a statement, I am likely to believe it even though the source may not be accurate. Being gullible is difficult to live with because I often get fed the wrong information. I have also given others the wrong information because when I heard it I thought it was true. When you spread information that has no evidence, reasoning, or data to back it up, it could be wrong, and this is circular reporting. An example of this is in my ELA class, we learned about a fact that people had been spreading called the Tales of Eight Spiders. On the website Just Facts, someone said every year we swallow approximately eight spiders in our sleep. We researched this and found there was no real evidence behind this, and it isn’t true. It has become a wide-spread statement, and I had believed it before learning about it in class.

As an 8th grader, I don’t believe everything I hear, and I always check my facts online or ask a trusted adult. When I research online, I make sure to look at multiple sites and perspectives. I resonate with the saying, “Take everything in with a grain of salt.” because we should not believe everything we hear. As I grow in my understanding of this skill, I find myself less lazy and more motivated to solve problems by breaking them into smaller parts.

Before I share what I’ve learned, it’s important that I make sure the source is reliable and trustworthy. As time passes, I notice myself incorporating Reasoning Analytically more and more into not only my school life, but my personal life as well. For example, when I’m with my friends and they inform me about something, I don’t believe what they say like I used to. Now I question where their facts are from and if there is any real evidence or data to prove what they are saying. I can still increase my understanding of this skill because it is easy to believe what others tell you right away, because you trust them. Just because you trust them doesn’t mean what they tell you is always true.

A part of Reasoning Analytically that I still struggle with is finding credible sources online, and identifying if they are accurate or not. I think I can improve on this in the future by asking trusted adults and learning how to have better judgement on what sounds believable. I can do this by practicing doing my research on topics, and using my best judgement to find evidence.

​Reasoning Analytically helps us to be more effective communicators and better problems solvers in the future. When we analyze a situation, we can come from a place of understanding and reasoning.

My Project

In my 8th-grade Physical Science class, our final project of the first semester was to write a Water Quality Report. We learned about a town called Willow Grove and its water sources. Willow Grove’s residents had concerns about the water, so we decided to find out if the water was safe and write a Water Quality Report. In this project, we collected data from several experiments testing water from three different sources in Willow Grove. The three water sources were the Fenton River, Willow Lake, and the well water. This project was broken down into many steps, and we needed to gather accurate data and evidence to see if the water was safe to drink.

Our first step was to read about and collect information on Willow Grove. We used a document to make observations and inferences from reading about Willow Grove. We read a story about a resident in Willow Grove named Carla. Her teacher expressed concerns about possible water pollution. Carla decided to learn about Willow Grove’s water sources.

Carla learned about the water sources and where her water came from, and she was concerned about a few things. She was walking her dog by Willow Lake and her dog got sick after supposedly drinking the water. She also noticed it had a funny smell. Her grandparents were concerned about a company called ACME Metals that was expanding. The company used a lot of water and put it’s wastewater back into the Fenton River. Carla’s grandparents were worried about the river water possibly being contaminated. ACME Metals claimed they were treating the wastewater but didn't reveal how they were doing it. Carla and her family were also worried that their well water was contaminated, and decided to find out as much as they could about the water in Willow Grove.

These were all pieces of information for us, but we needed to test their credibility with scientific evidence. We did an experiment where we tested a sample of water from each of the sources in Willow Grove. This was our first round of testing the water. We followed the Federal Water Quality Standards as we collected data to see if the water was safe. One of the important factors we were testing in the water was the pH levels. This was important because if the water was acidic, it could create problems with the water and our bodies.

We were testing for specific contaminants that could be in the town’s water and how to resolve the issues. We needed to consider new additions to the town, such as the ACME Metals company, and the new park built by the lake. The water samples were tested for five contaminants, which included the turbidity or odor of the water (affected by contaminants), nitrates/fertilizers, iron, copper, and pH/acidity of the water (also affected by contaminants).

Some evidence we collected was that nitrates were found in our well water, Fenton River, Willow Lake, and the ACME Metals wastewater. ACME Metals said they were testing their wastewater, but we decided to test the water before it got tested by them to see what type of contaminants were in it. Here is our data table:

This evidence is trustworthy because we tested the water with reliable scientific materials, and followed the water quality standards. Through these experiments we learned that ACME Metals wastewater had nitrates, was acidic on the pH scale, has a strong chemical odor, and we decided that the water definitely wasn’t safe to drink. It was important for us to make sure that ACME Metals wastewater was safe because they were dumping it back into the Fenton River, and residents of Willow Grove continue to use water from the Fenton River. After our class tested the water, we made some observations about how the water samples compared to the Federal Standards. Here were my observations.

“Fenton River: The water was clear, and free of suspended materials, there was no smell, the ph level is orange (4), and there are no metals or nitrates present. The river water almost met the standards, except the ph level is 4 and it should not exceed 3. This makes it lower than the federal standard.

Well water: The well water was also clear, free of suspended materials, and had no smell. There were no metals either. However, we found that nitrates were present in the water. Also, the pH level of the well water was also orange (5), which is too acidic for the standards.

Willow Lake: The lake water looked clear, but had a fishy, rotten smell. I wasn’t there to smell it, so I don’t know if it had a “noticeable but acceptable” smell, but my teacher said it was very smelly. There were no metals (copper & iron) or nitrates present in the water, and the pH level was around a 6, making it just below federal standards.”

Next, we needed to think about what could have caused contamination in these water sources. Here were my ideas.

“Fenton River: The river water was acidic somehow, and I think ACME metals wastewater could be the problem. We don’t know exactly how they’re treating their wastewater, and it could have a contaminant in it that’s making it acidic.

Well water: We found that there are nitrates in the water, making it acidic. I think that somehow fertilizers must have gotten into the water.

Willow Lake: The lake smelled very bad, and since there is a new park built by it, that brings more people, animals, and trash that could cause odor.”

With all of our observations, data, and evidence, we needed to come up with a treatment plan for Willow Grove’s water sources. Before learning about Willow Grove, we learned about water treatment plants and how to treat water with chemical contamination (dissolved metals) through the process of coagulation (using alum) and filtration. To treat acidic water, we learned we needed to add a base to neutralize the pH of the water. And to kill biological contaminants like viruses and bacteria, we needed to go through the steps of distillation, coagulation + filtration, and adding chlorine to kill bacteria.

Then we wrote a short report about the safety and problems of each water source looking at the data table above. Here is what I reported, based on the scientific evidence and data I collected by testing the water.

“Fenton River: The river water is acidic, and does not meet pH standards. However, everything else was safe, according to the federal water quality standards.

Well Water: The well water has nitrates and doesn’t meet the nitrates standards (maybe fertilizers got into the water?). But, everything else was safe according to standards. Nitrates can also be harmful to humans if we drink the well water.

Willow Lake: The lake has an odor, (not meeting odor standards), but everything else is safe according to the federal standards. Personally, I wouldn’t drink this water because of the stench. My teacher described it as a rotting, foul smell.”

In the final step of this project, I chose to write a report and treatment plan for Fenton River. Here is my final report:

“I choose to treat the following water source because there is a pH problem in the water. I believe it could be from ACME Metals dumping their wastewater into the river. I think that something in the wastewater is making the river acidic. Acidic water is very harmful to those who drink it, and to the life in the river. I plan to make the wastewater neutral so we can solve the pH problem.

The following steps should be taken:

1. First, we add alum to the water to coagulate the contaminants back together. The alum makes the contaminants clump together and this process is called coagulation.

2. Then, we shake the water with the alum in it and let it settle. This makes it easier to get the contaminants that have settled out of the water. This process is called flocculation.

3. After that, we put the water through a filter to get the contaminants out of the water, and this is called filtration.

4. Finally, we added calcite, which is a base to neutralize the pH of the water.

5. Some people decided not to add chlorine, but I decided to add it to kill any biological contaminants. I refer to the quote, “Better safe than sorry”

I think these treatment plans will help solve the pH acidity problem in the Fenton River. After testing their wastewater, we found out that ACME metals are not treating their wastewater effectively, because there are still nitrates present. Low pH (acidity) is usually caused or affected by contaminants. After we found out about the nitrates, we knew what was causing the pH to be acidic. Usually, the way to treat acidic water is to add a base to neutralize it. That is most likely not going to solve the problem, because if the nitrates are still in the water, it will probably just lower the pH level again. So, the way to properly fix the issue would be to treat the water for nitrates, and then we can neutralize the pH of the water. That is why I recommend this treatment.

​How can we stop this problem from happening again? I have a few ideas. My first steps would be to talk to ACME Metals, and tell them that they have nitrates present in their wastewater. They may have treated the metal contamination in the water already, but I think they should be responsible enough to also treat the nitrates. I would ask them if they could use this treatment plan to get the nitrates out before they dump the water into the Fenton River. Also, I think another way for us to solve this problem is to ask them to stop dumping their waste water all together, though it is unlikely that they will. But, I think that they should definitely at least treat the nitrates because they could possibly be harmful to people, plants, and animals. If ACME Metals doesn’t want to comply, then we have to take matters into our own hands, and add a base to the water ourselves and then put it through the treatment plant. That should be our last resort, because the river would still be acidic, and the life in the river would be in danger.”

How Does My Project Connect To This Skill?

In this project, we were then asked to determine a plan or treatment for the water source that was backed up by evidence and data. I chose to clean Fenton River because I wanted to see if I could solve the problem of nitrates that were causing the water to become acidic. The evidence to support my claim was when we tested the river water for pH, it was red and acidic on the pH scale. This shows I was Reasoning Analytically because I gathered evidence and data without making assumptions, judgements, or giving misinformation. One specific time I used Reasoning Analytically was when I collected data and evidence in my data table. As Ms. P was making observations, I made sure to record them all accurately.

If I was not Reasoning Analytically then I might have made assumptions instead of actually testing the water. This would not be reasoning with evidence because I wouldn’t have any real data or facts that could be proven about the water. The impacts of this would be Willow Grove’s residents would get wrong information, and if they drink water that isn’t treated properly, then they could get sick.

It is important to Reason Analytically because it helps us determine what choices to make to help fix a problem and find a solution based on evidence and reasoning. This project taught me how to Reason Analytically better because I learned how to test water samples, and how to collect evidence and data with a data table.

This project shows my growth in Reasoning Analytically because I learned how to back up my statements with evidence from the experiments that I did. I learned so much more and now I can safely report to the citizens of Willow Grove real data about their water.

View Other Sustainability Skill Reflections:
Managing Effectively
Communicating Powerfully
Collaborating Productively
Thinking Systemically