Have you ever done a survey of your class to find out how many students have ridden in a boat in their lives? Despite living on a series of islands, you'd be surprised to find that many New York students do not get the chance to get out on the water. I found that to be the case last week when I brought two fourth grade classes onto the Staten Island Ferry to experience the daily commute of Staten Island residents to the city.
Our trip was designed to enliven the students' investigation of the Steam Ferry, which served as the primary mode of transportation across the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan in the 19th century before the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. Not only did many of the students experience riding on a boat for the first time, they also got a hands-on geography lesson of New York Harbor, distinguishing Lower Manhattan from New Jersey to the west and Brooklyn to the east not to mention Staten Island to the south; pointing out the Statue of LIberty, Ellis Island, Governor's Island; examining the various cargo and passenger ships in the harbor, the giant cranes all along both the Brooklyn and New Jersey waterfronts, and the deep sea vessels out in the Atlantic beyond the Verrazano-Narrows; and identifying the series of bridges that now connect Brooklyn and Manhattan, the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge.
For our trip we enlisted the guidance of two educators from the Staten Island Museum who were able to add historical and geographical details, and to help smoothly guide the transition off the boat on the Staten Island side and back on the boat to return to Manhattan (it's a short window of time that requires hustling your group right along, because the boat won't wait). If you have the time to do a little background research and/or a test run, it would be alright to go without a guide. Admission is free, and the boat runs every half hour.
This is a great trip for classes learning the history of immigration and the geography of New York Harbor. For educators who are interested in further exposing their students to New York waterways and maritime history, additional resources include: the South Street Seaport Museum's various school programs on shipping throughout the 20th century (we drove past Pier 17 with the students on the bus in order to point out the Seaport's stationary shipping fleet); the Brooklyn Waterfront Museum, which has a great program on the history of the Tug Boat; and the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, which runs public programs to educate students and community members on the history of the Gowanus Canal in order to revitalize the Gowanus, Red Hook, and DUMBO shorelines.
Hearing how many students had not been on a boat before makes me think that getting children out on the water for an educational purpose is even more crucial for their exposure to new environments. Can anyone recommend other water-based educational programs in the city?
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