Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center & Aqua Ducks

Unit: Voyage to Albany: A Living History Program

Destination(s)

Albany Heritage Area Visitor's Center

(518) 434-0405 25 Quackenbush Square Clinton Ave. & Broadway Albany, NY 12207 http://www.albany.org/visitors-center/

County

Albany

Grades

7th Grade

Author

Kerri Evers & Erin Lewis, Albany City Schools; Carol Ann Margolis & Christine Garretson Persans, Albany Visitors Center

Summary

After learning about the early history and settlement of Albany in previous lessons, students leave the classroom to deepen their exploration. At the Visitors' Center, students learn about life in 17th and 18th century Albany through a three part interactive program. Aboard the Albany Aqua Duck, an amphibious vehicle, students tour the City of Albany and the .

Suggested Time Frame(s)

The visits to these two sites will take approximately one whole class day.

Narrative

At the Visitors' Center students learn about life in the 17th and 18th century Albany through a three-part interactive program. (1) A student re-enactment emphasizes the importance of trade between Native Americans and Dutch settlers. (2) An audio-visual presentation, A Voyage to Albany, details Henry Hudson's voyage and explorations as well as Albany's colonial history and how it shaped today's city. and (3) An interactive History Mystery Game in which student teams explore the center's exhibit gallery.

Next students board the Albany Aqua Duck, leaving the Visitors' Center in 's only water-land amphibious vehicle. Students tour the City of Albany and the Hudson River. They see and hear about the:

Quackenbush House, Albany's oldest structure original terminus for the Stephen & Harriet Myers Home, a stop on the Underground Railroad Ten Broeck Mansion (1798), home of prominent Albany families St. Joseph's Church (1860), an architectural gem Millionaire Row City Hall of Albany Building State Education Building the site of Fort Orange

Several of these sites can be found on the map on the THV web site. Post-Visit Activities: After completing the field trip, reinforce students grasp of essential information with a time line or oral history lesson.

Supplies Used

History Mystery Game (see attachments)

How do you assess student learning?

Participation and contribution to discussions Completion of the History Mystery Game

Site Tips

The Visitors' Center is a goldmine of advice and resources - use them. You may also want to visit the Ducks' web site, http://www.albanyaquaducks.com, and consult the web sites of other places you will see during the tour. These include:

Albany City Hall, http://www.albanyny.org/Government/CityHistory /CityHall.aspx Fort Orange, http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/albany/loc/fortorange.html NY State Capitol, http://www.ogs.state.ny.us/visiting/cultural/toursCapitol. html Saint Joseph's Church, https://tenbroecktriangle.org/st-josephs-church/ Stephen & Harriet Myers' Home, http://www.ugrworkshop.com/shmyers.htm Ten Broeck Mansion, http://www.tenbroeckmansion.org/ For background on the Erie Canal, http://www.canals.ny.gov/history/history. html