The school guided tour incorporates the fourth grade New York State Curriculum Standards for Social Studies in the areas of geography and immigration. Highlights of the tour are an introduction to the Canal's location using a map of the State of New York, a life size line boat located in the Museum's weighlock chamber, a scavenger hunt designed for children to learn Canal facts using the changing exhibition gallery, and an introduction to the salt industry in Syracuse and its relationship to the development of the Erie Canal.

Tours are lead by Museum Docents who have completed a comprehensive training course in the history of the Erie Canal, the State of New York, and techniques in using museums as learning tools. Many of the Museum's Docents are retired fourth grade teachers and all docents have a passion for teaching and educating the many school children who visit us each year.

Tours are approximately one and one half hours long. Please allow an extra half an hour to accommodate the Museum Shop. Dates for guided tours must be reserved a minimum of two weeks in advance.

Dates in March through June tend to fill up, so we suggest that you reserve dates in this time period as soon as possible. Please call the Tour Coordinator at (315) 471-0593, ext. 10, to make your reservations.

Tours can start at 10:00 a.m. and can be booked through 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Tours can accommodate up to 50 children per visit. Tours consisting of more than 20 children will be split into smaller groups to create a better learning environment.

There is a $3.00 per child fee for guided tours.

• Teachers, chaperones, bus drivers and other adults associated with the tour are free.
• Some schools qualify for Regional Arts in Education Co-Ser Funds (BOCES). Please see your arts administrator to determine if your school is eligible for these funds.
• There is free bus parking on the Erie Boulevard (North) side of the Museum. Please see the contact us page for specific directions and a local map.
• There are no lunch facilities at the Museum. Weather permitting, your class may eat their lunch in the Locktender's Garden.

There is a guided tour curriculum guide that is designed to prepare your students for their tour of the Museum. The Pre-Visit activities include vocabulary exercises and a project on how and why a weighlock building operated. Post-Visit activities include follow up questions and a map project. The guide is free as part of the tour fee. Curriculum guides are only available for schools participating in a guided tour.

The new State Curriculum Standards call for students to be able to use a group of related primary source materials to draw conclusions about the subject of the materials. The Erie Canal Museum has an excellent collection of photographs, diary entries, books, and Canal related documents. To make arrangements to view the Museum's primary source materials, please call the Curator at (315) 471-0593, ext. 13. Please allow a minimum of two weeks for the Curator to gather materials relevant to a specific subject.

Original primary source materials may not be taken out of the Museum, however copies of photographs and other materials can be made at your request for a small fee. Currently, the Museum is developing projects which incorporate these materials. We hope to have them available for 2005.

This curriculum guide has five complete days of curricula designed for the fourth grade and satisfies the New York State Curriculum Standards for social studies. Students learn about the Erie Canal using primary source documents such as maps, diary entries, and photographs. This curriculum guide is available through the Museum Shop. Cost is $15.00 plus shipping and handling fees. To order the guide, call the Museum Shop at (315) 471- 0593, ext. 12, or see the Museum Shop's page on this site.