'Explore the River' this summer

River Action's Summer Education Program

June through September

In 2009, River Action will observe its 25th Anniversary!

To celebrate and continue to build our common riverfront and our common future, plan to take part in EXPLORE THE RIVER, a summertime education program, with some new sessions. Classes are taught by professionals in river-related topics from biology to river folktales, Sylvan Island to Arsenal Island history.

To download a brochure with registration form, CLICK HERE.

To register online for Sunday Tours, CLICK HERE.

To register online for Monday Fun Days, CLICK HERE.

To register online for Channel Cat Talks, CLICK HERE.

To register online for Riverine Walks, CLICK HERE.

All sessions meet at different locations - be sure to see program details for specific information. Make registration checks payable to River Action, 822 E. River Drive, Davenport, IA 52803. All sessions are RAIN OR SHINE, no refunds. If you have questions or comments, call 563.322.2969 or send an email to riveraction@riveraction.org.

Sunday Tours

Tours are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Come prepared with your own refreshments. Meet at the River Action office, 822 E. River Dr., Davenport (between Tremont and Federal Streets) at 12:45 p.m. to board bus. Tours will depart promptly at 1 p.m. Cost is $12 each or $10 each if an individual registers for four tours or more.

• June 7, City of Buffalo (barge/fleeting industry, new sand beach, museum.)
• June 14, City of LeClaire
• July 12, Village of Rapids City
• July 19, Village of Hampton
• August 2, Village of Port Byron
• August 16, City of Princeton

To register online for Sunday Tours, CLICK HERE.

Monday Fun Days

These sessions are for the entire family and include hands-on activities. The sessions are from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., and meet at various venues around the Quad Cities. Fee is $5 for each child.

• June 1, Bug’s-Eye View, LeClaire Park, Davenport: Keeping the environment clean and safe, build bug creations with recycled/reused materials and draw a landscape from the bug’s point-of-view. Held in collaboration with the Figge Museum.
• June 8, Float Your Boat, Pigeon Creek Park, Bettendorf: ‘Float Your Boat’ is a boat building workshop that involves origami paper boat construction and foil boat building. Participants will learn classic newspaper boat folding and an origami table top sail boat. Participants design a boat that will carry a load of marbles. Discover which designs will carry the highest load limit.Held in collaboration with the Family Museum.
• June 15, Catfish Caper, LeClaire Park, Davenport: Does a catfish look like a cat? Does a dragonfly look like a dragon? Kids will participate in fun, interactive discussions about nature and names followed by an imaginative mask-making activity featuring oversized masks. Held in collaboration with the Figge Museum.
• June 22, Plant Identification, Black Hawk State Park: Step out of the urban environment and learn how to identify various flora and fauna with Education Coordinator Marilyn Andress of the Rock Island County Soil and Water Conservation District.
• June 29, Leaf Rubbing, Tree Identification & Drawing, Pigeon Creek Park, Bettendorf: An interactive class of exploring nature, collecting leaves, and identifying species. Learn how to make rubbings of leaves and start a scrapbook that can be used year round. Held in collaboration with the Family Museum.
• July 6, Scott County Farm with Harlan Meier: Tour a farm using best soil and water management practices.
• July 13, Mississippi River Critters, Sunset Marina, Rock Island: Ever wondered what lives in and around the river? This will be a fun and informative hands-on look at the fish, animals, and other critters found in our Quad Cities’ waters and riverfronts. Held in collaboration with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
• July 20, Seed Your Mind, Sylvan Island Natural Area, Rock Island: Different types of seeds and how they survive and move in order to reproduce, seed races, take a plant project home. Held in collaboration with the Quad City Botanical Center.
• July 27, Nature Detective, Nahant Marsh: Have you ever wondered what animal made those tracks? Look for clues including tracks, scat, nests, etc., as you hike through prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats. Held in collaboration with the Putnam Museum of Natural History.
• August 3, Wonders of Water and Wetlands, Nahant Marsh: Wetlands and the wonderfully weird creatures that make them home. Nature hike to discover their importance, look for live animals, net and sift through wetland to identify some more common water critters like fish, frogs and insects. Held in collaboration with the Putnam Museum of Natural History.
• August 10, Buggin’ Out, Sylvan Island Natural Area, Rock Island: Learn about bees, butterflies, and pollination. Held in collaboration with the Quad City Botanical Center.
• August 17, The Nature of Nahant, Nahant Marsh Education Center: Explore different parts of Nahant Marsh to experience the natural wonders of wetlands, different plants and animals that call wetlands home, and learn why wetlands are important for our survival. Dress weather appropriate with long pants and sneakers/boots and expect to get dirty! Bring sunscreen and insect repellent as well. Held in collaboration with the Nahant Marsh Education Center.
• August 24, Mississippi River Birds, Credit Island: Discover the fun of birdwatching and identification of birds along riverfront. Held in collaboration with the Quad Cities Audubon Society.
• August 31, Rock Island Farm Bureau, Taylor Ridge, IL: Tour a farm using best soil and water management practices including terracing and water detention ponds.

To register online for Monday Fun Days, CLICK HERE.

Channel Cat Talks

Tuesdays and/or Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.. All sessions aboard the Channel Cat Water Taxi near the Celebration Belle Landing on River Drive, Moline. Sessions are $12 each, and all sessions are individual, but offered more than once throughout the summer.

• June 2, June 4, July 14, July 16, Photography of Mississippi Flora and Fauna: Photo opportunities at local wildlife areas, question-and-answer session about wildlife photography and photography in general. Bring your own camera (film or digital). Optional items are zoom, wide angle and telephoto lenses.
• June 9, June 11, July 21, July 23, Mississippi Folktales and Folksongs: Storyteller, folk musician, folklorist will impart talk and songs of the times relating to life on the river, a potpourri of lore and custom from the early days.
• June 16, June 18, July 28, July 30, Biology: Habitat diversity and productivity in large river ecosystems. Explore the importance of the land/water interface and how terrestrial habitat and wildlife are important to each other, polnar grabs to view sediment shifts, the importance of substrate to mussels and other invertebrates.
• June 30, July 2, August 11, August 13, Lock & Dam: A brief history of navigation on the Mississippi River, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ role in operation and maintenance of the navigation system, water level control and dam operation, lock operation including actual lockage through Lock and Dam 15.
• July 7, July 9, August 18, August 20, Arsenal Island: It’s History: Explore the history of Arsenal Island from past to present, learn about many of the Island’s historic hot spots including the first railroad bridge to cross the Mississippi, Colonel Davenport’s Home, Arsenal Quarters No. 1, and the old Moline lock. Nice opportunity to see the Arsenal from a different perspective while touring the backwaters of Sylvan Slough.
• August 6, A River Landscape Mosiac: Changing Shapes, Changing Times. This excursion studies variations in channel characteristics, shoreline conditions and river uses in Pool 15 from Arsenal Island to Campbell’s Island.

To register online for Channel Cat Talks, CLICK HERE.

Riverine Walks

Wednesdays 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and/or Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Be sure to dress for the weather and for walking!All sessions are outside. Sessions are individual, but offered more than once throughout the summer.The cost is$5 each unless you are a River Action member, in which case the sessions are free. To become a member of River Action, see the order form below and complete the appropriate information.

• June 6, Green Roof College: Presentation on green roofs, including costs, construction, and steps to install a green roof, and a tour of the green roof at the Davenport Police Station. Meet at the Davenport Police Station.
• June 17, July 29, Historical Walking Tour of Downtown Moline: Late 19th and early 20th century migration of the commercial center away from the river. How have activities changed in the last 100 years? What evidence of earlier activities remain on the landscape? Architectural and institutional highlights of downtown. Meet at 310 15th Street, Model Printers (east of John Deere Pavilion).
• June 20, Clock Tower Tours: History about the use of the building when it was built as the first building to be a part of the Rock Island Arsenal. Learn how the building has changed and what it is used for today. Climb to the top of the tower to see the inner workings of the clock (six large flights of stairs).
• June 24, June 27, Nahant Photography: Wildlife photography at Nahant Marsh, basics of camera operation and rules of composition, lighting, etc. Bring your own camera with zoom or telephoto lenses recommended. Meet at Nahant Marsh, 4229 Wapello Avenue, Davenport.
• July 15, July 18, Sylvan Island: Industrial site becomes recreational gem: A peninsula becomes an island. Quarrying, ice-making, and steel manufacturing use the space. The industrial ruins host hiking trails and fishing piers. Learn the history at this interpretive site. Meet at the entrance to Sylvan Island, 1st Street and bike trail, Moline.
• July 22, July 25, View of the River: Local history and pre-history of the river and Quad Cities area, river navigation, past and present river development. Class is limited to seven registrants as this will be on the water in a boat. Meet at the large pavilion east of Potter Lake, Sunset Park, 18th Avenue exit, Rock Island.
• Aug. 5, Aug. 8, Sylvan Slough Natural Area: The process and benefits of bioremediation, a method of cleaning contaminated soil. See how demolition waste was salvaged and used as fill, paths, risers and walkways. Discussion of innovative stormwater management techniques including bioswales, permeable concrete and natural plantings to retain rainwater on-site.
• August 12, August 19, River Vision and other Re-Inventions Field Trip: The perspective from Rock Island: Review current projects and consider the various “visions” associated with the RiverVision process, discuss the on-going Armory Park plans and future plans for the Sylvan Slough / Columbia Park region. Meet at the Black Hawk mural between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in Rock Island.
• Aug. 22, Black Hawk War and the Origins of Midwestern Identity: From Saukenuk to Rock Island: Algonquin and American land use patterns, a long view of the American Revolution from 1763 to 1832, the consequences of the Indian Removal Act and the Black Hawk War of 1832. Meet at Black Hawk State Park.
• August 26, August 29, Stormwater Management Practices. Follow a drop of rain through its travels to the river. Meet at Rock Island Public Works, 1309 Mill Street, Rock Island. Tour five rain gardens and learn about options for your residence with Tom Ridder, assistant director of public works with the City of Rock Island.

To register online for Riverine Walks, CLICK HERE.