Task Statement: (Sadie)

On October 12th, 2017, our junior class took a field trip to Silverton, Colorado to test the water
quality in three different streams that combine to make the Animas River. Each class tested one
of the streams (Cement Creek, Mineral Creek, and the Upper Animas) for several important
water quality parameters: discharge, pH, temperature, turbidity, and conductivity. The task of
this exploration was to use our class collected data to predict the measurements of the Animas
River below the confluence.

Introduction (Alma)
As we measure and observe our changing world, an important metric is the health of our rivers
and streams. By understanding the quality of our waterways, we can gather a broader picture of
the well-being of local ecosystems. When we travelled to Silverton as a class, we measured
some water quality indicators for three tributaries of the Animas River. The 3rd Period Chemistry
class sampled the Upper Animas around 10:30 am, 5th Period sampled Mineral Creek around
12:00 pm, and 6th Period sampled Cement Creek around 1:30 pm. In each class, there were 5-
6 groups that took measurements for each of the parameters.

This investigation centered around predicting the water quality of the Animas River downstream
from the confluence. The Animas River runs through Downtown Durango and is a significant
part of our community. We tested its tributaries so that we could model its water quality. Our
class measured five things: discharge, turbidity, pH, conductivity, and temperature. Discharge,
also called streamflow is a measurement of how many cubic feet of water are travelling
downstream, per second. This is calculated by measuring how fast the water flows, the average
depth of the stream, and the width of the stream. Turbidity is a measure of the clarity of the
water. Murky, opaque water is very turbid, and very clear water is not turbid at all. pH measures
how acidic or basic the water is. Perfect water has a pH of 7. Conductivity is the ability to Commented [1]: What are the units on conductivity
transfer energy. In order for something to be conductive, it must have freely moving charged and turbidity?
particles. Temperature measures how hot or cold something is. We used the unit Celsius for our
tests.

Each group performed as many tests as they had time for, and then inserted their data into a
shared document for the whole grade. We each analyzed the data, determining the mean, or
average value; median, the middle value; maximum, the greatest value; minimum, the least
value; and range, the difference between the maximum and the minimum. We used a variety of
spreadsheet functions to perform these calculations; we also calculated the standard deviation
of the data set. This is a measurement that analyzes how close together the data points are.
This is useful for identifying outliers and central tendency. Understanding weighted averages
was also an important piece of this investigation. Regular averages give equal weight to all the
numbers they represent. A weighted average gives more weight to certain parts of the data set
than others. After we had thoroughly analyzed our data using these metrics, we could begin to
predict the water quality of the Animas River.
Visual Representations: (Sadie)
Class Data (Figure 1)
This is all of the data our class collected testing the three tributaries.

Pivot Tables (Figure 2)

The pivot tables show the average, median, and standard deviation that we calculated for the
discharge, conductivity, temperature, pH, and the turbidity for each of the three rivers. Under the
three rivers is the estimations we made for the parameters of the Animas River.
USGS Data (Figure 3)
This is the data from a professional monitoring system that calculated the parameters in the
Upper Animas, Cement Creek, Mineral Creek, and the Lower Animas on October 12th.

Methods/Process: (Sadie) Commented [2]: What were your methods of gathering

In order to predict the Animas Rivers quality by using data from the three tributaries, we went water samples?
through several calculations. To begin our calculations, we needed to collect data from the three
tributaries. Each class had their own river and in those groups, we divided into smaller sections
to test the conductivity, discharge, pH, temperature, and the turbidity. We used devices to
determine these parameters.

After gathering the data, we created pivot tables in google sheets to find the average, the
median, and the standard deviation of our data sets for the three rivers. To calculate the
average, you add all of the data points together and then divide by the number of points. For
example, 302 + 315 + 313 = 930, 930/3 = 310. For median, you find the middle number: 302,
313, 315, so 313 is the median. For standard deviation, a new term we learned in Math 3, you
use the equation ( )2 . Where x equals the data point in our set, y is the average, and
n is the total number of values in the data set. We used the functions of the spreadsheet to
calculate all these values.

Then, we evaluated the reliability of our data by comparing the average, median, and standard
deviation to each other. If the average and the median were similar, this meant the data was
reliable; if the standard deviation was small relative to the average, this also translated to
reliability. If the results were opposite, then we would review our data set, look for outliers or
questionable data, and throw out any data points that we believed to be inaccurate. We did this
for the discharge, conductivity, temperature, pH, and the turbidity of each tributary.

With this information, we could predict the Animas Rivers turbidity, conductivity, discharge,
temperature, and pH by going through more calculations. For discharge, we added all of the
averages together. For conductivity, we found a weighted average: we multiplied the
conductivity average for Cement Creek by the discharge average for Cement Creek. We did this
for Mineral Creek and the Upper Animas also. Then, we added up those answers and divided
by the prediction made for the discharge. We did this process for the rest of our predictions
made, substituting the other parameters for conductivity.

Solutions/Predictions: (Alma) Commented [3]: Hi Hannah,

We predict that the Animas River will have a discharge of 85.87 cubic feet per second, a In this section, I didn't give example calculations for
each calculation we performed. I think that is more
conductivity of 588.34 microsiemens per centimeter, a temperature of 7.24 degrees Celsius, a appropriate for the Methods/Process section, so we
pH of 5.79, and a turbidity of 9.77. In order to make each of these predictions, we relied on our included it there instead. Thanks!
class data collected from the three tributaries of the Animas River: Cement Creek, Mineral
Creek, and the Upper Animas. Before we actually calculated our predicted values for the
Animas River, we reviewed the data points and hypothesized on which ones could be accurate.
We thought that the streamflow would be fairly accurate, the conductivity would not be very
accurate, the temperature would be very accurate, the pH would be very accurate, and the
turbidity would be very inaccurate. After the calculations, we determined that we were mostly Commented [4]: Why would these measures
correct, except that pH was less accurate than we thought and turbidity was more accurate than mentioned be very accurate or very inaccurate?
we thought.

We believe that all our mathematical calculations are correct. Although some of the values
predicted are not very accurate, we believe that is due to mistakes in data collection and not in
our calculations. We used pivot tables in a spreadsheet to calculate the mean, median, and
standard deviation; then we compared our values with other groups in our class. However, we
are more confident in some values than others. We were able to compare our predicted values
with values from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), which tests the Animas River
every 15 minutes for all the parameters we tested. This data assisted us in assessing the
accuracy of our predictions.

We are somewhat confident in our predicted value for discharge. The average and median from
Cement Creek (the average was 28.94 cfs, the median was 30.57 cfs) and the average and
median of the Upper Animas (the average was 20.60 cfs, the median was 24.40) were similar
but not very similar, which leads us to believe that the data is fairly variable and not extremely
precise. This is most likely due to unintentionally incorrect values from some groups. When we
were analyzing the data, we decided to throw out a value that we believed to be an outlier (from
mineral creek, 77.25 cfs) so our data is slightly more accurate because of that. Our value is
close to the measurement taken by the USGS: they found the discharge to be 102 cubic feet
per second, while we predict 85.87 cubic feet per second. So, we have concluded that our value
is similar to the actual value, but it is not exact.
We are not very confident in our predicted value for conductivity. Only one group tested Mineral
Creeks conductivity, which means that we dont have any other data to compare that value to;
we are not sure if it is accurate. For Cement Creek, the standard deviation is very high, meaning
that the data is quite variable, so its not very accurate. We decided to throw out another outlier
from this data set, a value of 865 us/cm that was reported for the Upper Animas; other than that,
the Upper Animas values were reasonable. We could not compare our predicted value to the
USGS data point, because their instrument to measure conductivity was iced over. However,
our value would not fit within the long term trends of the data, so we are not very confident in it.

We are very confident in our predicted value for temperature. It is nearly identical to that
measured by the USGS and the standard deviation is very small, meaning that the
measurements taken by all the groups were similar.

We are somewhat confident in our predicted value for pH. The data for the pH of Cement Creek
and Mineral Creek are fairly reliable. They both have low standard deviations and their averages
and medians are similar. The data from the Upper Animas is a little less reliable, but still pretty
close. Again, the instrument that measures pH at the USGS monitoring system was iced over,
so we cant compare our predicted value.

For the final parameter, turbidity, we have nuanced confidence in our predicted value. It almost
exactly matches the USGS recorded value, yet the class data was not very accurate. All three
tributaries had high standard deviations, and dissimilar medians and averages. So, we are not
confident in the data used to obtain our value, yet we know our value is almost exactly correct.

Evaluation: (Together)
We thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, because of its real-world relevance and how it
allowed us to be in nature. The main thing we would like to change to make this
project/experience better is the method by which we gathered data. We think there should have
been more instruction on how to accurately use the instruments for data collection, such as the
devices for reading pH, conductivity, and turbidity. There was a lot of inaccurate class data for
those parameters, so more time and more instruction would have been beneficial. Although
there was some uncertainty regarding the data, we still feel that it was educationally worthwhile.
The task of predicting the water quality parameters for the Animas River below the confluence
allowed us to think critically and apply our knowledge of data analysis in a real situation.

The Importance: (Alma)

It may seem unimportant and pointless to measure the health of our rivers. However, rivers are
the life of a community and an important resource for our sustained prosperity. We use the river
to have fun, water crops, eliminate waste, water community parks, and drink. Monitoring and
understanding the quality of our river is an important piece of being an engaged citizen. All of
the water quality parameters that we measured, such as conductivity and pH, are essential to
understand the overall health of a waterway. For example, they can tell us what is dissolved in
the streams and if the water can support life. Additionally, we can compare the Animas River to
other rivers around the country, and determine how clean or contaminated our water is, by
comparison. That being said, its important to constantly think about keeping our river clean and
healthy. There are simple things we can all do to ensure that our river and the surrounding
ecosystem thrive. If you visit or use the river, dont litter. Remind your friends and family of the
importance of the river ecosystem. Advocate to local government when you disagree with
environmental practices involving the river. Be involved with the discussion about the Superfund
Site in Silverton. In general, shows the river some love--and it will love us back for many years!

Self-Assessment: (Together)
We think that we should receive an A on this project. We feel like we learned the Math 3 content
well (standard deviation, weighted average, median) and applied these skills to accurately
analyze the data from Chemistry. Although some of the values do not match that of the USGS,
we are confident in our processes. Additionally, we worked well together, split the work evenly,
and frequently discussed and refined our work.