Visit to Old Croton Aqueduct: Water in Urban, Suburban, & Rural Landscapes Students explore where their water comes from and how rural and urban communities rely on each other in their efforts to conserve clean watersheds. We use an interactive watershed model to examine these relationships. Maps New York’s early water supply system used the natural resources (clay, stone, water) of the Hudson River valley to solve some of the City’s biggest problems. Water supply structures and the growing population they served also changed the social and ecological landscape in many ways. We will use maps of the region to trace and discuss how Manhattan & the Hudson River Valley changed over time Designing Dams & Aqueducts Students look at some of the basic design concepts that made the original water supply system possible. We use tubes, balls, and water to illustrate the physics of gravity-fed aqueducts, waste weirs, gravity dams, arches, and spillways. Students make predictions, note observations, and discuss key findings. Upon leaving the tunnel: The Haunted Tunnel: Storytelling & Creative Writing Workshop While historians view the tunnel as an engineering marvel, kids naturally see it as a place where creepy, rotting creatures may be lurking in the darkness. We use sound effects and their imaginations as a way-in to poetry, storytelling, and creative writing ideas. The dripping walls, endless darkness, and mysterious history of this underground tunnel provide fertile ground for spooky stories. Social History & Primary Sources These structures were built in the 19th century when New York was the industrial center of the US and immigrants were moving to the Hudson River Valley in unprecedented numbers. The social history of the construction of the New Croton Dam helps us to understand the working conditions and labor laws that shaped the lives of immigrants who moved here to build the water supply system.

Educational analysis of "Visit to Old Croton Aqueduct: Water in Urban, Suburban, & Rural Landscapes Students explore where their water comes from and how...