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Every once in awhile we like to give you our takes on how and where you can learn about the geography of New York State. Since summer is approaching, and many of us are planning "stay-cations," this is a good time to update you. No matter where you are in the Empire State, you can do geography while you STAY in New York!
* If you want more ideas about summer vacation geography, visit this webpage from National Geographic!
1. Best Interactive Museum - Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead (Long Island) - Long Island is New York's gateway to the Atlantic Ocean, so it is very appropriate that Riverhead (on the Peconic Bay) is the home to this relatively new aquarium. There are many hands-on exhibits, such as a tidal pool that includes creatures that live along LI's shoreline.
2. Best Book About Geography - Teaching Geography by Phil Gersmehl - This is not meant as a light summer read, but it is a "must" for those of you who are serious about teaching geography on any level. Phil is at the New York Center for Geographic Learning, which will soon be headquartered at Renaissance Charter School in Jackson Heights (Queens). This is the second edition of the book, and it contains updated information on how the brain interprets spatial information. Isn't htat what geography is all about? There are great ideas for lessons, and there is a CD included, which alone is worth the purchasing price. (NYGA has a few books that we will sell for below cost, if you are a member, and you promise to write one lesson based on what you learned from Phil's outstanding book).
3. Best Walk in the State - The Upper Gorge of Robert Treman Park (Ithaca) - There are many candidates for this award, but I am partial to the Finger Lakes, since I am a Cornell alum. Since "Ithaca is Gorges," a walk through a glen is mandatory for all visitors to the region. There are dozens to be found around all eleven lakes. The Enfield Glen is one of the most scenic. The creek that carved it is a "hanging valley." The gorge contains around six waterfalls, many rapids, and breathtaking views. The best way to walk through it is to have someone drop you off at the top and walk down the gorge. They can meet you at the bottom for a swim in the plunge pool below the Lower Falls.
4. Best Drive in the State - The Veterans Memorial Highway on Whiteface Mountain (Adirondacks) - The largest park in the United States outside of Alaska is the Adirondacks! It is a very special wildnerness, since it is only a day's drive from most of the urban centers of the US and Canada. Of course, while in the "ADK" you should hike and get out on the water, but if you are looking for an incredible view with little pain, then drive up to the top of Whiteface Mountain, near Lake Placid. Here you can get a perspective of the Ice Age's impact on the physical geography of our state. Don't overlook the alpine tundra garden!
5. Best Traveling Museum Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Champlain-Hudson - Day Peckinpaugh - This is the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain. This also marks the return of the canal barge Day Pecinpaugh to the waterways of New York State. This year the good ship (a floating museum owned by the NYS Museum under the leadership of Craig Williams) will be making visits to ports on the Champlain Canal and the Hudson River. In years to come, she will sail the canals of New York, too.
6. Best Site on the Historic Erie Canal - Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct (Camillus) - You simply cannot understand New York Geography without a discussion of the Erie Canal, both old and modern. This 363-mile ditch transformed the state and the nation in the 1800s. One place (out of many) where you can learn about the heritage of the canal is in Camillus, just west of Syracuse. Here is a short watered section of the old canal, complete with a country store and other exhibits. But the BIG attraction in 2010 is the rewatering of the Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct. You can now take a boat ride over the creek, for the first time in a century!
7. Best Boat Ride in New York - Staten Island Ferry (NYC) - Speaking of boats, it is imperative that you enjoy the waterways of the Empire State this summer. There are many rides that you can take all over the state - on the rivers, the lakes, the canals. Certainly one of the most enjoyable (and FREE) rides is on the Staten Island Ferry, that connects Staten Island to Lower Manhattan. Go at night. You can enjoy a nice view of the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline. You will appreciate why the harbor of America's First City is so important.
8. Best Historic Place with an Obvious Geographic Connection - Old Fort Niagara (Youngstown) - We New Yorkers are proud of our historic heritage! As geographers we should be interested in how our special landscapes relate to important events in the past and the present. There are many great museums all over the state, but Old Fort Niagara shows the connection between geography and history best. Why is it located at the mouth of the Niagara River at Lake Ontario? Because it controlled traffic moving inland along the Great Lakes. Of course France, England, and America fought over it!
   
   
Photos: Top Row - Holding a horseshoe crab at the Touch Tank at the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium; Phil and Carol Gersmehl work with a teacher preparing for the Atlas of the Erie Canal and New York State; the Enfield Gorge at Robert H. Treman State Park (near Ithaca, NY); view of Lake Placid from the top of Whiteface Mountain. Bottom Row - the pilot room of the Day Peckinpaugh; Liz Beebe talks about the Nine Mile Aqueduct in Camillus, NY; the view of the Manhattan skyline from the Staten Island Ferry; Old Fort Niagara with the flags of France, the United States, and Great Britain. |
Geography Awareness