Today’s Walking Classroom focuses on the history of the Erie Canal and how its completion affected transportation in New York State. The Erie Canal was built between 1817 and 1825 using only manpower and horses. The canal helped open up transportation and trade between the eastern and western parts of the United States.
Character Value: Persistence
Click for Standards Alignment
Common Core
L–Language | SL–Speaking and Listening | RI–Reading: Informational | RL–Reading: Literature | W–Writing | RH–6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies | RST–6-8 Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects Elementary School:RI.3.1, RI.3.2, RI.3.3, SL.3.1, SL.3.4
RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, SL.4.1, SL.4.4
RI.5.1, RI.5.2, RI.5.3, SL.5.1, SL.5.4
Middle School:
RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.3, SL.6.1, SL.6.4
RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, SL.7.1, SL.7.4
RI.8.1, RI.8.2, RI.8.3, SL.8.1, SL.8.4
RH.6-8.4
Next Generation Science Standards
PS–Physical Science | LS–Life Science | ESS–Earth and Space Science | ETS–Engineering, Technology and the Application of Science Elementary School: 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-3Middle School: MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3, MS-ETS1-4
Supplemental Resource Links and Downloads
Quiz: (Make sure you're already logged into your Gmail account, then click to copy this Google form to your Google Drive. Quiz keys are here.)
The Erie Canal Google Quiz
Slide Deck:
The Erie Canal Slide Deck
Shows footage of traffic into and out of the Port of Amsterdam and the North Sea Canal in the Netherlands.
Experience stories of the Erie Canal past and present from Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.
Test your knowledge of Erie Canal vocabulary with this quiz from PBS Learning Media.
Create a postcard based on a visit to one of the three locks on the Ohio & Erie Canal in this activity from Ohio State University.
Answer passage based questions from this printable packet from Camillus Erie Canal Park.
Predict where the Erie Canal was built using primary source maps from Syracuse University.
Take a virtual tour of the Erie Canal.
Test knowledge of the Erie Canal with this online quiz from Ducksters Education Site.
Explore how the canal changed the geography of the area in this free resource from the Erie Canalway National Heritage Center.
Interact with maps to analyze the geography of New York in this activity from National Geographic.
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