regardingjohn

I’d always wanted to get the script to the Local Game Lab’s “Saving Lake Wingra” augmented reality (AR) game online so I could refer to it. So here it is.

If you’re not familiar with it, this is the AR game part of a 10-day classroom curriculum that we designed. It is one of a number of AR games that we created on MIT’s Outdoor AR game platform, as part of a STAR Schools grant. We’re closing up on the grant now, having created and played place-based AR games with about 1000 students in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, and Oconomowoc).

I’ve also used the OAR platform to create place-based games (Mitchville and Wild Moose ) that I’ve researched for my doctoral dissertation on how these technologies can mediate the cultural models of a community.

These are just game scripts, with a few images pasted in to give you a better sense of the narrative structure behind them. It’s a pale substitute to actually walking around a lake on a fall or spring day avoiding goose poop and mud, clomping on a boardwalk hidden among cattails that are blowing in the wind, and the call of the Red-winged blackbird reminding you that this is a real place.

Saving Lake Wingra Game Script 

version: May 2008

Introduction

Welcome to Lake Wingra! Your job today is to learn more about the lake — How do people use it? Is it healthy? How has it changed over time? The information you get on your PDA will help you answer these questions, but also remember to pay attention to what you see around you. 

Here is how you win: Get as much data as you can to build a plan for Lake Wingra’s future. This will help you get ready for the City Council meeting. 

In the end, the things you learn today will help you build your final presentation to the City Council. 

• Landscape Architects get the PDA for the Green Squares.
• Watershed Ecologists get the Blue Triangles.
• Environmental Historians get the Gold Diamonds. 

Each team member will learn something the others can’t. Trust your team: share your interviews, observations, and past experiences with them. 

Ready? Okay, the map on the next screen shows the lake and the park. Figure out where you’re actually standing. Look for landmarks (the bridge, the lagoon, the roads, and the lake). 

Julia Jones 

Julia works at a local coffee shop as a barista. At 40, she looks like 30 years old because she works out every day. She wants to invest in her friend’s new marina at Vilas Park[CH2], work at the coffee shop, and retire young.

Interview

Hi there! You’re a Landscape Architect? I’ve got some thoughts to share with you. I run here every day. Mind if I run in place while we talk?

Look at the lagoon on the east side of the bridge. It was designed by a landscape architect like you. In fact, none of this park is natural! The area we are standing on now used to be a swamp, but they filled it in with dirt. They also dug out the lagoon. The lagoon was nice once, but now it’s pretty nasty. It should be dug up again, so that they can put in a marina.

Someone needs to clean this place up. Look around:  there is trash everywhere. And the water — it’s healthy in the spring before people use it, but by the time the beach opens in the summer, it is dirty again. Take a look! People feed the geese, leading to more geese and more goose poop. Watch where you step, or you’ll get poop on your shoes. 

My friend wants permission to build a boat marina on the lake right here, and I’m investing in it. The marina would hire people to pick up the trash and make the lake more popular. It will also create jobs. 

Giant Canada Geese 

Giant Canada geese by the lagoon.

Details

The “Canada goose” (often incorrectly called a “Canadian goose”) was thought to be extinct because of over-hunting and wetland drainage, but they are back! In Madison, geese have greatly increased since the 1980s. This ground used to be marshland until the city dug out the ground to make the lagoon. The Ho-Chunk people lived on the shores of the lake and hunted ducks here. There are still many Native American effigy mounds in the Madison area. And many Canada geese!

Lataya Wade 

Lataya lives nearby, on Fish Hatchery Road. She and her family come to Vilas Park Beach to picnic and swim. She thinks the lake is healthy but wants a marina for her kids. [CH3]She would love to have a big bar-b-que by the shore.

Interview

Do I think Lake Wingra is healthy? Of course. The beach was closed all summer in 2003 because there was too much E. coli bacteria in the water. So I wasn’t about to let my kids swim here. It’s only been closed once since then, so it’s getting better.

Lake Wingra is in GREAT shape if you ask me. See all the beautiful geese? And have you noticed the water lilies floating by the bridge? And the arboretum across the lake? And those beautiful purple flowers — I don’t know what they’re called. I even heard there are some coyotes.

The only things that bother me are the goose poop and the algae stink in the summer. But I still love geese and enjoy feeding them. A few days ago some cranky jogger yelled at me for feeding the geese. Joggers are crazy!

Even if I don’t feed them, they will live and poop here. As long as they don’t attack my kids, I have no problems with them. The algae, on the other hand, is kind of nasty. Can you smell it? I heard it is from too many nutrients in the lake. Maybe the lake is TOO healthy!

Saul Bellow 

Saul is a land developer. He loves mottos, like “give me condos or give me death!” When he’s not selling land, he loves to fish with his friends.

Interview

Hi there! You’re a Landscape Architect? I’m a developer. We should talk! I’m interested in building condominiums on the lake. Too bad the only spots to build condos are near Wingra Park where those three houses are. 

Is Lake Wingra dying? Are you kidding? Look at all the fishing going on. This musky isn’t plastic! How can a lake be dying if there are almost four muskies per acre? 

Did you know these are the largest members of the pike family. They’ll eat anything that fits in their mouth. This is a sweet lake for musky. Almost nowhere else in the world can you find so many muskies in an urban area. You can walk out your backdoor and catch them. It’s crazy!

People have been using this land and lake for a thousand years. I’m just going to play my part in that history by building condos over there [he points to the shoreline just past Edgewood]. Madison should promote itself as a Lake City. As a city grows, it can get more and more spread out. That’s urban sprawl. No one likes sprawl. Even environmentalists like Carol Adams don’t like it because it adds traffic and pollution. So we need to build more housing and taller buildings near downtown. 

If we put in seven-story condos, Madison would be better off. And believe me — they will sell! Our slogan is “a piece of musky heaven.” 

Pete Vang 

Pete Vang, 17, a Hmong angler. After high school, Pete started working at a local Asian grocery store to help support his family. He likes fishing because he can hang out with his friends and bring home food for his family. He wants to get married someday and teach his kids to fish on Lake Wingra.

Interview

You’re an ecologist? Are you one of those people who want to make the lake “natural” again? What does that mean? I bet it means higher taxes!

If you fished here, you’d know the lake is healthy — lots of crappie, perch, bluegill, bass, carp and even musky. My friend Saul wants me to go musky fishing with him and keeps chanting, “Seize the musky!”

On the other hand, I’ve heard Saul talk about building seven-story condos and selling them to musky anglers. I’m not sure I like that idea. I’m worried that sort of development might be bad for the lake. Would I want to look at the opposite shoreline and see a bunch of huge buildings? I don’t think so.

I don’t think musky fishing is my thing. On the other hand, Saul won’t eat carp. I tell him. “Don’t ask if the carp is good enough for you to eat. Ask instead if you’re good enough to eat carp.” Food is expensive in Madison, so why not enjoy free meals?

Have you seen the fish enclosure thing over by Edgewood? Actually, I guess it’s called an “EX-closure” because it keeps carp on the outside. Saul says carp stir up the bottom of the lake and make it muddy. If they got rid of the carp, it might be better for the musky, but removing carp would take part of my life away. Many Hmong would be very upset about that. 

View of Wingra

What do you see when you look out across the water?

What does the horizon look like? Do you see Edgewood college?

How clear is the water here? Can you see the bottom of the lake? How far out can you see the bottom?

What does the shoreline look like? Is it eroding? How much?

What plants do you see in the water? On the shore?

Do you see any animal life around? People? What are they doing? Are there bikers? Fishers? Drivers? Runners? Picnickers? Anything else?

How do you suppose you would have answered these questions 50 years ago?

100 years ago?

Jane 

There’s a woman picking pretty purple flowers.

Interview

Hi there! Want some flowers? You have to promise to burn them when you’re done looking at them. Don’t just throw them out or they might grow again! I’m digging them out by their roots, so they don’t grow back! Wanna know why?

They ARE pretty — but this plant is BAD news! It’s called Loosestrife. It is VERY aggressive, and it can choke out wetland plants that are native to this area. It can take over a whole marsh in just one season! Just one flower spike can produce 120,000 seeds in a single season! And the seeds wait in water until a dry season, when they sprout and grow. Purple loosestrife came from Europe and Asia. It now grows in every state except Florida. Kind of scary, huh?

Do I think Wingra is healthy? Well, it’s pretty healthy compared to a lot of other lakes. We’re seeing a lot of invasive species, but they aren’t too bad yet. I would definitely move closer if there was affordable housing nearby, but I’m not sure I’d want them to put up condos for me. I don’t want to become an invasive species myself.

Mark Webber 

As a science teacher, Mark is very interested in how water flows and affects the ecosystem. 

Interview

Hello there! I hope that you’re enjoying your walk today. Tired yet? 

I love this lake! I canoe on it and watch the water closely. I also collect and tell stories about the lake. Oh, yes, anyway…

Is Lake Wingra dying? Tough question, my friend. Don’t jump to conclusions without understanding the stories of the lake. Science will help you tell good stories from bad ones. And you deserve a good story, too, for your curiosity.

In July 1832, John Wakefield, one of the first militiamen called to fight Chief Blackhawk, said Wingra was “crystal clear.” It sure is not clear today. What happened between then and now? 

Imagine you were a raindrop that landed near Lake Wingra — maybe on a rooftop, lawn, or even on a pile of goose poop. Your goal is to find your way downhill to Lake Wingra. What do you carry with you in this adventure? 

If you are lucky, you land on a tree, drip onto the ground, and “infiltrate” or soak through the soil. Then, you would enter the lake as cold and clean spring water. This would make the lake colder and cleaner, right? That’s good for the native fish! 

But the chances aren’t good. You’re more likely to land on a roof, car, street, or parking lot, pick up oil, fertilizer, or road salt, and then run down streets, storm sewers and finally into the lake. This would make the lake hot and dirty. 

Now go sit down and take some time to puzzle over what you’ve seen today. Once your friends are all back, you can play part two of the game.

Montgomery Williams IV 

Montgomery Williams is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood. He loves to drive. He wants to retire in the neighborhood, but can’t afford to.  yet. He also enjoys making his neighbors angry.

Interview

Hey there… get out of my way! [He stops his car next to you]

I could have hit you! What are you doing on the road? You know what roads are for, don’t you? Look at the signs! They’re not for standing or sitting. They’re for driving on!

This road was built in 1904 — for pleasure driving, you know? It’s in the name! I want this road to be expanded to go all the way around the lake! That would be a pleasurable drive!

This whole city is changing. If we want to control Madison’s growth, we need to build up this area. We need to put in condos along this pleasure drive. You know those people [he points down the road] have two acres of land for just three houses! Condos could house 50 or 60 families in that space.

This lake has always been either dead or close to dying. If you read the news, you’d see that the lake has improved since I was a kid. But even if it were dying, I’d say: “Put up some condos!” Because if it’s already dying, then why not put up condos? Tell that to nature girl, Adams. I think I ran her off the road!

This lake sits in the middle of a city, and you can’t change the city for a lake. As for the marina, I don’t really care. It would make some folks mad, so maybe I’d like it. But I don’t want a bunch of annoying motorboats and jet-skis buzzing all over, either.

Carol J. Adams 

Carol is an ecologist who believes that all beings have an equal right to live. “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold is one of her favorite books. She strongly opposes any development near the lake.

Interview

Hi! What am I doing? I’m looking for the effects of stormwater run-off. Look at the signs of erosion below this road. The new asphalt just makes run-off worse! Pollutants, like phosphorous, eventually wash into the lake. And there’s much more chloride (salt) in Lake Wingra than in the other Madison lakes. The city salts the roads in the winter to keep them dry. Why do we need to salt a dead end road?

I hear people talking about building a marina at the lagoon and condominiums at the end of the road. Both would be bad for the lake. Building new houses is fine if poor people can afford to live there. As a landscape architect, it’s your responsibility to do what’s best for the lake!

Landscape architects often try to fix problems with concrete, but sometimes we need to let nature do its job! For example, when the lagoon was a marsh, it cleaned the water before it went into the lake. What cleans the water now? Roads certainly don’t. A marina would mean more asphalt and more pollution, a disaster for the lake.

You know what I’m for? Increase taxes so that we have enough money to handle stormwater issues. Restore indigenous species and remove invasive species. We need to save the lake, not kill it with development!

John Woodman

As a wetland biologist and co-founder of the Muir Society, John specializes in plants, reptiles and fish at Lake Wingra. John loves digging into marshy wetlands. He has been teaching biology, ecology and evolution for the past 10 years.

Interview

Hello colleague! Come out to do some science? You probably hope that I know whether Lake Wingra is dying. But, I can’t say for sure. Disappointed? Ha! My students also hate it when I don’t give them simple answers.

This wetland and this lake are very complicated. You can study here for a whole lifetime and only understand a part of this ecosystem. Everything is connected-plants, animals, soil, water, weather, and people all impact each other. If Lake Wingra is healthy, then every part of it is also healthy.  Even the smallest parts tell us something about the health of the lake! Currently I’m researching little water critters-like daphnia, Bosmina, and copepods–that live at the shoreline. In my experiments, I’m collecting data on the impact that chemicals from storm sewers have on these zooplankton. For example, how much sodium chloride (in road salt) and how much phosphorus can daphnia live in?

Dan Schaaf

You see a college student digging a hole.

Interview

Hi! I’m Dan. I go to college here at Edgewood. I’m just planting a few different types of native trees in the woods. We’ve got some Red Bud, and some Red Maple, a few Hazelnut trees, and one or two others.

Look around on your walk and you might see some of the trees, and shrubs we’ve planted too. Most of them still have a red or yellow band on their trunks.

Boardwalk 

This boardwalk is a pretty cool way to see what’s in these cattails and reeds. But how did it get here?

Interview

The three Edgewood schools (college, high school, and campus school) recently got a grant to build the Edgewood Community Boardwalk.

Students and neighbors can now walk out here to learn about wetlands and lakes without damaging the Edgewood Marsh. Ecologists can also get into these wetlands more easily to collect scientific data and to remove purple loosestrife and other invasive species.

The boardwalk was designed to blend in with the landscape so that it cannot be seen from the water.

Trout Spring 

A hidden spring by the boardwalk. Can you find it?

Details

On a frozen December day in 2004, Edgewood professor Jim Lorman was riding his bicycle to work along the road just above here, when he noticed open water. But everything else was frozen. When he went to investigate, he found this freshwater spring. 

Why wasn’t the water frozen?

This spring is probably one of several that Governor Cadwallader Washburn stocked with trout in the 1870s, when he owned the Edgewood property. But no one had noticed it for a very long time. Maybe it disappeared and just now came back, or maybe there was no one near enough to see it until recently.

• Do you see any trout in there now? 
• What do you see in it? 
• How do springs affect the lake?

Storm Sewer Outlet 

Look for the storm sewer outlet by the trail. 

Details

Imagine stormwater running off streets and the the parking lots up at Edgewood college and washing pollutants straight into the lake. If you’ve already found the storm sewer outlet, see if you can find sand or other debris built up by the stormwater. Take a look at the video of Professor Jim Lorman talking about stormwater.

Mazzuchelli Center 

Built in 1957 before lakefront development was prohibited, it houses science labs, music rooms, and offices for Edgewood College.

Details

The Edgewood campus has changed a lot since Georgia O’Keefe went to school here as a 13 year old girl. Although known for her paintings from the Southwest, perhaps the famous artist first learned to appreciate nature when she practiced with watercolors on these shores in 1901 and 1902. In 1871, the 55 acres that the campus sits on was all woods, but developed over the years into a Girl’s Academy, college, campus school,  and high school. 

It seems that they haven’t lost the love of nature though. When Edgewood renovated the Mazzuchelli Center in 2005, they won an Environmental Excellence Award. Through rain gardens and other eco-friendly structures, they focus on recycling, reducing waste and energy usage, as well as water conservation.

Edgewood students planted wildflowers like bluebells, bloodroot, trillium, bunchberries, and jack-in-the-pulpit. Can you find any of those flowers?

Red-Winged Blackbird 

Beautiful blackbirds abound.

Details

The Red-winged Blackbird is perhaps the most abundant North American bird. Evidence suggests that healthy wetlands support more red-winged blackbirds, so it’s a good sign if you see or hear one. Look around. Are there any around now?

red-winged-blackbird

Fish Exclosure 

2.5-acre carp exclosure.

Details

The fish exclosure is an experiment designed by Dick Lathrop, a scientist from the Wisconsin DNR. He wants to see if removing carp from this part of the lake will make the water clearer and help native plants compete against invasive species.

Is the water in the FISH EXCLOSURE clearer? Why is that? 

This experiment is important because people like clear water. But that’s not the only reason. 

What else might this experiment tell us?

Red Osier Dogwood

An invasive species?

Tiffany Whitehorse 

As a historian, Tiffany looks at evidence and writes stories to explain human experience in the past. Dr. Whitehorse likes old photographs and documents. She thinks we need to understand the past before we plan the future.

Interview

Hi there! Out here enjoying nature? The nature you are enjoying now has changed a lot in the past 150 years. Look around and tell me what is “natural” and what is not. Is this boardwalk natural? If not, does that make it bad?

Is Lake Wingra healthy? I suppose that all depends on what you mean by “healthy.” Historians would change that question to ask, is Lake Wingra healthier or unhealthier than it used to be? Historical documents hold secrets to help us answer this question.

I first read to find the author’s main ideas. But be careful because different authors sometimes see things differently. They have have their own bias or opinion. Does a condo developer think about Lake Wingra the same way that a swimmer does?

It all comes down to evidence. For example, less spring water is entering Lake Wingra than long ago. Also, much more stormwater is entering the lake. We can say for sure that the water in the lake is less clean and less clear than it was a hundred years ago.

But every time historians answer one question, we think of many more! For example, is their any evidence that tells us whether the water in Lake Wingra is cleaner than it was five years ago? And I wonder, has the number of plant and animal species around the lake increased or decreased since Europeans moved to the area?

Racoon 

A raccoon sees you and scurries off.

Interview

A raccoon catches much of its food in and around water. Crayfish, minnows, and fish are on the menu. They’re actually great swimmers, but they prefer the shallow waters.

Do you see any footprints on the boardwalk or in the mud on shore?

Rain Garden 

Don’t get run over by the Edgewood students! Listen to Jim Lorman tell you what makes this building special.

Game Over! – Everyone 

Come on up!

Interview

Sweet! You’ve finished this part of the game. But the game isn’t over yet!

Compare your experience and observations with your team members. Now that you’ve investigated this place in person, you’re going to be doing more research into the different plans that people have for the future of Lake Wingra.

Remember what you saw, felt, and heard today as you continue your research! 

This experience might just help you pull all the pieces together for your final presentation.

Good luck to you!