Step 5: Analyze It!
Once the plans have been implemented, team members should be able to show what their testing revealed. At this point, they should know whether their solution impacted the problem they identified and how they know. They should share what made their plan work (if appropriate); any challenges they met along the way; how they overcame those challenges; and what adjustments were necessary. They should also share how they may have done things differently if given the opportunity.
Suggested Timeline:
Two to three days
Step 5 Checklist:
Does your analysis include:
- Measurable evidence of how the solution impacted or is expected to impact the problem?
- Positive outcomes that were achieved or that you hope to achieve?
- Challenges and how they were overcome and/or how you plan to overcome them?
- What you learned and how you might do things differently?
Sample Analysis:
- The nitrate levels had dropped and kept getting lower each time it rained, according to our data. There are many factors that could have caused the difference in the nitrate levels. Rain amounts could have been significantly different each time. The amount of fertilizer or animal waste in the field could have changed. However, we believe that we are seeing an improvement in the water quality of the ditches because of the planting. We know that riparian buffers help more when the root systems take hold. We are hopeful that a test in one year will show us even more improvement in the nitrate levels. (Reducing Runoff in the Environment)
- The count was not what we had expected. We were a little disappointed that only a little over half of the number of mercury containing items we wanted were picked up. Even so, this is a 10% reduction in the amount of mercury in homes and businesses in our community. It is possible that the estimate of the number of mercury containing objects in our community is wrong. We are hopeful that this is the case. (Reducing Mercury Poisoning)
- We were disappointed that we did not get all of the students who lived within one mile of the school to walk to school instead of drive. Even so, our data show that the average number of students being driven dropped from 326 to 252 per day. The average number of cars dropped from 132 to 96. This represents a reduction of 6 metric tons of carbon emissions each year. (Take a Hike!)
Suggested Steps:
The following sequence is designed to help you introduce and guide students through Step Five of the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. The sequence is designed to be flexible and can be easily adjusted to your schedule and the class time available.
Session One: The Debrief
- Have student teams gather and present all data. Then have them consider and record the answers to the following questions:
- Did our solution impact the problem statement we identified?
- If so, how do we know it did?
- If not, how do we know it didn’t? Why didn’t it work?
- Did our solution positively impact our community?
- What were our biggest challenges?
- How would we do the plan differently if we were to do it again?
- What advice would they give to another group who wanted to impact a similar problem in their community?
- What further tests could help us?
Resources:
