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Unlocking Canal Locks

Canals and other waterways use locks to raise and lower watercraft between different water levels. Students will explore how these work and create a 3D depiction of a lock system.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Recycled Cardboard

Steps

  • Step 1

    A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats,, ships, and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels. Have students learn about how and why this is done. How does a pound lock, the most common lock used on canals and rivers, operate? How do the gates regulate the levels of water? What are the rise, the pound, and the cill? Where do the lock keepers live and what are some of their other duties?

  • Step 2

    Have students work in small groups to create a model of a watercraft proceeding through a series of locks. They can use recycled cardboard as the base, which can be bent to create different levels of water. They can then add features, such as the locks, gates, watercraft, etc., using paint and Model Magic.

  • Step 3

    When the team's model is complete, have students present it to the class and demonstrate and explain how locks operate.

Standards

SCI: Design pictorial or graphic representations/models that are useful in communicating ideas. 

SS: Science, Technology, and Society: Identify how technologies such as communication and transportation have evolved and how people have employed advances in technology to modify daily lives including health and economics. Explore historical examples and imagine future technologies. 

Adaptations

Have students explore the history of the Panama Canal, which is a lock-type canal and is one of the two most strategic artificial waterways in the world. When was it built? What waterways does it connect? How did it impact global trade? 

Canal locks have been used since ancient times. Have students learn about the history of the lock system, which began in the Middle East thousands of years ago.