Susan Campbell is a local science teacher and founder of Science Safari.

Science Safari is in the business of presenting lively, interactive science enrichment programs to children and their families.

For over 16 years Campbell has educated, enriched and entertained thousands of burgeoning scientists in schools, recreation centers and libraries throughout Dallas.

So when she contacted us about the status of Dixon Branch Creek, following the summer incident involving illegal dumping there, we were happy to point her in the right direction.

In preparation for her presentation last week at the Mesquite Public Library's North Branch, she was looking for a few answers.

Read on to find out exactly what Campbell was able to discover.

On the hunt

In searching for all the necessary equipment for the wetland program I’d be presenting at the library, a number of subject threads were running through my head.

Specifically, my collection of articles featuring freshwater fiascos was at the top of my checklist:

• Ft. Worth Japanese Garden’s 2009 chlorinated-water koi kill
• White Rock Lake fish kill in 2007
• and, most importantly, the LHJH custodians’ floor stripper/Dixon Branch pollution incident

"I should print the photo showing the Dixon Branch’s white water to show the kids," I was thinking when it hit me.

I could visit the exact site, now – some three months later, to see how it looks.

"I could sample it and compare up and downstream and also sample a similar site for comparison. Hmmm," I thought, "I need to find out exactly where that photo was taken."

A brief Google search yielded the photo. The Dallas Morning News attached the photo to my letter to the editor that they printed. This search also yielded a surprise. I discovered the story was originated not by the News, but by writer JJ Pair in the Lake Highlands Today online newspaper. It received no citation in the DMN article.

"Wow, I believe I’ll add that to my program, too, since it’s in a library, and it will show kids why their teachers require citations and references in their bibliographies!" (I did.)

At 11:02 a.m. I emailed the Lake Highlands Today editor who quickly connected me to the writer, Ms. Pair. In our interesting conversation, I believe I have a new friend. She directed me to the site: McCree Park.

I threw things in my van as quickly as I could, but, alas, even with my accelerated packing, considering the 4:00 p.m. program start time, I was only able to survey the Dixon Branch Creek site at McCree Park for about 20 minutes and then it was a rushed 10 minutes at Lakewood Park’s creek.

I wasn’t able to conduct a rigorous investigation.

But, what I saw at the McCree site gave me hope that the effect of the dumping has not been one of lingering devastation, at least not at the original site.

Sharing the lessons learned

Once set up at the library, I decided against having the children in my program work with the Dixon Branch sample, just in case, so I told them all about it.

I read my letter to the editor to them and showed the photos of the results of the spill that trickled down the storm sewer from Lake Highlands Junior High to the creek.

I introduced my video-microscope to the twenty or so 2-12 year-olds, plus the few moms in my program, by showing my muddy blue jeans – magnified huge with my ‘scope on the Library’s projecting screen.

They were excited to get started, eagerly accepting their equipment – a white specimen bowl, eyedropper and a bottle cap to use as a microscope well slide.

Dressed in my muddy jeans and white, steel-toed creek boots, I toured around the group, depositing a turkey baster-load of Lakewood Park’s creek water in each white bowl, adding algae (they learned it’s not allergy!) and decomposing leaves, as they chorused, "Grooooooss!"

Life abounds - what fun!

Within moments though, their disgust turned to greed for more, as one-by-one, they began to see the tiny life in their samples.

I love this very predictable behavior. It happens in every single one of the "pond water" programs I’ve presented in my 17 years as a science presenter!

Peals of "I’ve got a fish!" "No, I didn’t capture any fish," I tell them.

"Oooooh, there’s a worm, and it’s red and wiggly."