October 30th Recapture!

 We had another really great Recapture on October 30th!

A big thank you to all of the people who participated and helped, and of course to our sponsors: 

Here's what we accomplished:

• We removed over 300 pounds of trash and recyclables from the ponds, including two bikes, a tire, a ski, and over 13 bags of other trash and recyclables.
• We filled out five pages of IOWATER test results.
• We had over twenty kids and parents show up to help.
• We had a great Capture the Flag game, and a party!
  
  

  Check out some pictures:

  
  
  
  

  

  Alpesh, Liam, and Shawn cleaning up trash at the pond nearest Mormon Trek Blvd.

  
  

  

  Alpesh and Ethan removing a tire from the pond nearest Mormon Trek.
  
  

  

  Liam and Shawn holding one of the two bikes we removed.
  
  

  

  Some of the kids who participated organizing trash and recyclables.
  
  

  

  All of the kids who participated with all of the bags of trash and
  recyclables, holding up a cross-country ski we found.
  The bags, gloves, buckets, and orange vests were generously donated
  by theCity of Iowa City government.
  
  

  

  Playing Capture the Flag in Willow Creek Park.
  
  

  

   Having a great party, with food donated by two of our sponsors:
  Fareway and Domino's Pizza.

Next Recapture: October 30th

Join PlanetRecapture on Sunday, October 30^th from 1:00-4:00 pm at the two ponds near Fareway (at the intersection of Mormon Trek and Westwinds) - rain or shine - for an afternoon of great fun, Capture the Flag (in Willow Creek Park), a party, and making the world a better place.   

NOTE: Drop-off at 1:00 at ponds by the Fareway parking lot. Pick-up at 4:00 near the playground by Benton Street in Willow Creek Park.

We’ll work together to clean up trash and recyclables from the ponds, and perform water quality testing. Researchers from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the IOWATER program are advising us, as well as faculty from the University of Iowa and Cornell College.  

After we do the trash cleanup and water quality testing, we’ll all walk to Willow Creek Park at 2:00 to play Capture the Flag and have a party with refreshments provided by our sponsors: Fareway and Domino’s Pizza.  We always have parents supervising all activities.

The Iowa DNR has assigned PlanetRecapture to be the organization responsible for monitoring water quality in the Willow Creek area.  We are uploading all data we collect to the IOWATER database. We’re expanding PlanetRecapture to monitor other waterways, parks, and natural areas. We need you, your family, teachers, and friends to help PlanetRecapture grow!

For questions, or to commit to participate, please call or e-mail:

Daniel or Andrew:      (319)-354-1622 

dburgess19(at)gmail.com                aburgessviolin(at)gmail.com

                                                                                                                                      

For questions from parents, please call or e-mail:

Jadvyga Gerasimovic   400-5028                jadvyga-gerasimovic(at)uiowa.edu

David Burgess 621-6653                                 david-burgess(at)uiowa.edu

October 8th Recapture!

We had another really great Recapture on October 8th!

A big thank you to all the kids and parents who helped us remove over 

300 pounds of trash and recyclables from the ponds, and a very special 

thank you to our sponsors, who donated the pizza, snacks, and drinks:

 

Here are some pictures:

A group performing water quality tests.

Ellie searching for wildlife to capture and examine.

Ellie's wolf spider "Tom" chilling out in his temporary home.

Performing water quality tests in a section of one of the ponds.

The kids, and some of the parents and friends who participated.

All the kids who participated with some trash we removed.

All of the trash we removed, including a brand new bike, a PVC pipe,

a relatively comfortable office chair, a basketball, and seven bags of garbage.

Not included are the several bags of recyclables we removed.

October 1st Recapture!

Many thanks to all the great kids and parents who helped us clean up the entire south end of Willow Creek, do more testing for the IOWATER program,
and have the best Capture the Flag game yet! 

Here are some pictures from the October 1st Recapture:

Preparing testing equipment. 

 Testing for dissolved oxegen levels.

Testing in the creek bed.

Some of us rode bikes to PlanetRecapture!

Catching fish in Maple Grove Strainer.

Plotting strategies for Capture the Flag.

Catherine and Annie chasing Gage.

Team Eagle's Jail. 

 Having a Party!



Next PlanetRecapture meeting

Come to our next PlanetRecapture meeting: Saturday, October 1st from 3:00-6:00 in Iowa City's Willow Creek Park, South end, Kiwanis pavilion. (For more details, scroll to bottom.)

Our first meeting on 9/11 was a great success!

• We had over 40 kids, parents, and friends participate!
• We removed a 75-year-old water heater from the creek that was recycled for scrap metal.
• We removed over five bags of litter and recyclables.
• We gathered several pages of data on water quality to upload to the IOWATER website. 
• Instead of playing video games about war or playing with toy guns, we played traditional Capture the Flag and had a blast.
• We had a great party!

Check out some pictures!

An area of Willow Creek before cleaning.

An area of Willow Creek after cleaning.

A strainer in the creek before cleaning

A strainer after cleaning.

Kids, parents, and our DNR advisors looking for aquatic wildlife 

to determine biodiversity levels in the creek. 

Kiara testing for oxygen levels.

Lynette Seigley from the Iowa DNR and the IOWATER

program in the orange shirt teaching us how to test properly

and Ms. Enloe helping to record data from water tests.

Dr. Mary Skopec helping us look for water creatures.

Mr. Goska and Mr. Pope removed this 75-year-old water heater

from the creek. It had been in the creek for years.

It was full of mud and rocks, and weighed at least 200 pounds.

The water heater after it was cleaned out and removed from the creek.

We talked to people from the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Departement,

 and that day they hauled it away for scrap metal recycling.

We have great parents in PlanetRecapture!

The recyclables and litter that we cleaned up,

and some of the people who participated.

Lynette Seigley and Mary Skopec of the Iowa DNR and the IOWATER

program are in the back row at the left.

Kendall and Joseph playing Capture the Flag

Catherine capturing Alpesh.

Team Awesome's jail.

Having a party!

Next PlanetRecapture meeting details:

Join PlanetRecapture on Saturday, October 1^st  from 3:00-6:00 pm in Willow Creek Park (South end, Kiwanis pavilion) - rain or shine - for an afternoon of great fun, Capture the Flag, and making the world a better place. At our first meeting on September 11th, over 40 kids, parents, and friends participated! 

For all those who love science too, we will survey the amount of litter in five sections of Willow Creek, and perform water quality testing. Researchers from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the IOWATER program are advising us, as well as faculty from the University of Iowa and Cornell College.  

After we do the water testing, we will take twenty minutes to clean up several sections of Willow Creek and document the amount of litter we removed. Then we’ll have a couple hours to play Capture the Flag and have a party with refreshments. Please bring some food or drink to share.

The Iowa DNR has assigned PlanetRecapture to be the organization responsible for monitoring water quality in Willow Creek. We are uploading all data we collect to the IOWATER database. We are also expanding PlanetRecapture to monitor other waterways, parks, and natural areas. We need help from kids, parents, teachers, and friends to help PlanetRecapture expand. We need you, and we need your friends.

For questions, or to commit to participate, please call or e-mail:

Daniel or Andrew:      

dburgess19 (at) gmail.com              aburgessviolin (at) gmail.com

PlanetRecapture members

What is our schedule? One meeting every few weeks.

We will post the date and meeting place on this blog, and try to call or email everyone.

Our first two meetings, we''l have a campfire, s'mores, and marshmallows, and on every meeting we'll have refreshments such as lemonade, ice water, and cookies.

If you want to become a member, just leave a comment containing your phone number, email, and what city you live in.

- Andrew

Commitments to Planet Recapture

These are all the commitments we will follow.

1.   Before each Capture, we will spend fifteen minutes cleaning up the area, and we will     recycle, reuse, or redeem (i.e. bottles, cans) everything we can

2.   No toy guns and no war games. No side is the “good guys” or “bad guys” and no one is “the enemy”

3.   Cooperation, not commands, with your own team; fair play and good sportsmanship with the other team

What to wear and bring:

1.   Wear regular clothes that you’re not afraid to get dirty, and bring a change of clothes

2.   Bring newspapers or an old blanket to keep the car seat or trunk clean (where we might need to put dirty recyclables)

3.   Recapture several used bags and bring those too

4.   Bring latex or gardening gloves

5.   Wear waterproof boots or shoes

Daniel and Andrew