Pick Your Classes
School groups usually divide into three groups, one on each deck, to do small-group activities in rotation. Thus each student participates in 3 activities, each activity being approximately 30 minutes. “Steamboat Technology” is included on every trip. Choose 2 other classes for your trip. A typical trip is “Steamboat Technology” “What is a Watershed?” and “River Chemistry” make up a trip.
What is a Watershed? Water Ecology
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River Chemistry
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Shad Migration & the Environmental History of the Delaware River (For School Groups, 30 minutes)Learn about the history of our watershed from the perspective of the “local hero”, the American Shad. Shad may swim up to 2,000 miles each year. Shad also played an important role in the lives of the Lenape and in early history of our nation.
What were the causes of the collapse of the Delaware River Shad fishery in the last century? How did federal legislation, habitat restoration, fishery science and management, and angler groups such as DRSFA help turn the situation around? See Lewis Island, the last remaining N.J. commercial shad fishery on the non-tidal part of the Delaware River (there once were 5 fisheries in Lambertville-New Hope alone) Draw inspiration from the early environmental activism of founder Fred Lewis. Sail over the deep channel where shad continue their northward migration (and one of the great spots on the river to catch shad) |
Steamboat Technology (Always included. For school groups/adult groups, 30 minutes)This class is conducted by the Coast Guard-certified Engineer who is operating the engines on your trip. The engineer will point out pistons, cams and levers. Models are used to demonstrate how the linear motion of the piston is converted to the rotary motion of the paddlewheel. What is the difference between fire-tube and water-tube boilers and what kind does Splash have? If you ask the engineer, “Who invented the steamboat, John Fitch or Robert Fulton?” you will get a boatload of information about “America’s First Great Invention” and its vital role in our nation’s history.
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River Critters
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History of Lambertville & New Hope
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History of the New Hope Impressionists
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History of the Delaware & Raritan Canal
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Beginning Birding
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Photo credit: Michael Mancusco
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