"Erie Canalway Connections" Program Now Offered | Schools

Buffalo, NY – Take advantage of a unique grant-based opportunity for you and your 3rd-5th grade students!

The Buffalo Zoo and Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society have partnered together to bring you “Erie Canalway Connections,” an engaging program utilizing two of Western New York’s treasured cultural institutions.

Your class will first explore the Historical Society to participate in guided museum tours of the Oishei Pioneer Life Gallery, where students can imagine the experience of life in Buffalo more than 200 years ago.  The class can than marvel at their hometown industry in the “Buffalo Made” exhibit. Through the use of interactive museum exhibits and a hands-on craft, students will discover ways the Erie Canal has affected human life in the Western New York community.

Students will then travel to the Buffalo Zoo, where they will explore the Delta Sonic Heritage Farm. This exhibit replicated a working farm found along the Erie Canal during the 1800s. While at the Zoo, students will observe live animal demonstrations and participate in hands-on activities that help them explore ways the Erie Canal has affected (and still affects) wild spaces.

Your class can participate in “Erie Canalway Connections” for only $100! All other fees, including admission to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society and the Buffalo Zoo, as well as all bus fees, will be covered by grant funds. This project is funded in part by the Erie Canalway Heritage Fund (www.eriecanalway.org).

Available dates to book this program in 2012 are:

April 20

May 11, 25, 29, 30

September 14, 21, 28

October 12, 19, 26

November 2, 9, 16

If you are interested in booking this program for your class or you would like some more information, please call the Buffalo Zoo’s education department at (716) 995-6143.

About the Buffalo Zoo

Founded in 1875, the Buffalo Zoo is the third oldest zoo in the United States. The Buffalo Zoo welcomes more than 450,000 visitors each year and is the most visited attraction in Erie County. Located on 23.5 acres of Olmsted's beautiful Delaware Park, the Buffalo Zoo houses approximately 1,200 endangered and exotic animals and offers visitors a variety of events and educational programs year-round. The Buffalo Zoo’s philosophy is to exhibit animals and plants in naturalistic settings that represent their native habitats. The Zoo is dedicated to providing visitors with a better understanding of nature, including how animals relate to each other, their environment and to humankind. For more information, please visit www.buffalozoo.org.

About the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

Since its founding in 1862, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society has been Western New York’s premier historical organization, serving to collect, research, interpret, and share the Niagara Frontier’s rich history. Its collections include more than 100,000 artifacts, 200,000 photographs, and 20,000 books. The Historical Society annually presents a wide array of programs, exhibits, tours, outdoor events, and activities for all ages that utilize many of these resources to tell the stories of both ordinary and extraordinary people of Western New York. For more information visit www.buffalohistory.org.  

About the Erie Canalway Heritage Fund Grant

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor spans 524 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York, encompassing the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, as well as more than 230 canal communities. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission, in partnership with the National Park Service, collaborates with government agencies, communities and organizations to protect and promote the canal corridor for all to use and enjoy. The Erie Canalway Heritage Fund is dedicated to charitable, educational, and civic purposes within the confines of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. In January 2012, the Buffalo Zoo, in partnership with the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, received $5,500 to develop a new education program to focus on the interconnectedness of people, the local environment, and the Erie Canal, both past and present. The program challenges students to consider how the Erie Canal affected (and continues to affect) not only people and society, but also domestic animals, wildlife and natural habitats in New York State. Other organizations from Albany to Buffalo that received funding include: Albany Institute of History and Art (Albany), Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum (Chittenango), Erie Canal Museum (Syracuse), New York Folklore Society (Schenectady), Schenectady Museum & Suits–Bueche Planetarium (Schenectady), and The Public Broadcasting Council of Central New York/WCNY (Syracuse). For more information, please visit www.eriecanalway.org.