Cheyenne Creek Conservation Club 2008-2009 Calendar
Cheyenne Creek Club Dates
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Fall *08
August 25 Creek Club Applications available
August 29 - Applications due back to Mr. Eick
September 11*Creek Club 1st Mtg 3:20 - 4:30 (changed due to staff mtg.)
September 23 Sampling meeting 3:20-4:30
October 3-4*Training Retreat at Bear *Trap Ranch - (strongly recommended)
October 7*Fish Census 3:20-4:30
Cancelled***October 21*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30 Cancelled***
October 28th Sampling mtg.3:20-4:30
November 4*Sampling unknowns mtg 3:20-4:30
November 18*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
December 2*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
Spring *09
January 7 - River Watch Site visit and accreditation, 1-3 p.m.
January 13*Meeting 3:20-4:30
January 27*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
February 10*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
March 10*Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
April 7 **Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
Date TBA (April 18?)Spring *Earth Day* Service Project (tentative) 9-1
May 5**Sampling mtg 3:20-4:30
Watch this website for updates and details about these meetings.* All meetings subject to change to fit school and teacher's availability. Additional meetings are possible. Watch the Canon Newsletter and listen to morning announcements for details.
2008 SUMMER SCHEDULE
Below was our 2008 summer schedule. We occasionally visited the "Lux land" conservation easement, which is just southeast of the school across the creek. We also sampled the creek each month, even when we only had 6 club members present. At our June meeting we had 12 students, in July we had 6 members present, and in August, we had 8.
Friday, June 6 9:30-11:30 - We've been invited to demosntrate and help teach a class for younger kids at Starsmore Discovery Center, upstream! Meet at the school, and we'll carpool. I may need 1-2 parent volunteers to help this day.
Monday, July 7 9:30-11:00 Bring a water bottle
Tuesday, Aug. 12 11:30-1:00 Bring your lunch and we'll picnic!
About Cañon's Cheyenne Creek Conservation Club
Cheyenne Creek Conservation Club at Canon is continually learning how to scientifically monitor Cheyenne Creek, which flows behind our school to the south. The club was started in 1996, and is actually a throwback to the earlier heritage in the CMSD, when teachers used the area near the school along the creek as an environmental education center and a nature center for the community.
This environmental club, supported in part by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, is currently open to fifth and sixth graders. Students meet twice a month to do creek water testing, flow tests, water quality testing, and study the Riparian habitat. Most members of the club and several teachers participate in a training retreat the first weekend of October at Bear Trap Ranch. Mr. Rhodes came along a few years ago to chaperone, video tape and learn about our creek.
Students interested in the water quality of rivers in our state, who enjoy chemistry experiments, like the outdoors, and like to help our community and state, will enjoy being a member of this club. Students apply for membership, and pay a small fee to cover the training retreat, mailing costs, guest speakers, and other supplies. Advisor are given a small stipend at the end of the year for all their work with this program.
The Cheyenne Creek Conservation Club passed it's annual review from the Colorado Division of Wildlife in December. Soon, we will be visited by the DOW again, and the creek will be tested again for metal, ph, hardness, flow and alkalinity. Meeting times are also used to clean up the creek banks and observe seasonal changes in this riparian habitat.
Our club has also recently been chosen to collect nutrient and macroinvertebrate samples for the state.
Parents and others interested in learning more about this growing club should contact Mr. Eick or Ms. Hasegawa.
"Dump no waste...drains to stream."
APRIL 21. 2007
DOW Aquatic Biologist, Gary Dowler, coems each year as a Creek Club guest speaker. He had the Creek Club members take a fish census in 2004. In a 100 foot sampling of Cheyenne Creek, we found 6 trout. The largest was about 10 inches, and the smallest just over 3 inches. The fish, all brown trout, weighed between 1 and 175 grams.
Unfortunately, this is less than has been found in past samplings. We believe the drought, which has lowered flow levels over the past three years, may be adversly effective trout populations in our stream. Early summer flash floods may also have washed out some of the fish who live in the stream behind the school.
Despite the low numbers, students enjoyed helping DOW with weighing and measuring the fish for the record.
Club members will be involved in collecting water samples and testing for dissolved oxygen, hardness, alkalinity and pH. We will also collect a metals sample each time to be sent to the D.O.W. During months where there are two meetings, we may have guest speakers, clean ups, or other projects to do.
Parent volunteers are encouraged to attend and help out at any of our meetings.
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