“Building ’s Canals” is a traveling exhibit from the National Canal Museum . The exhibit blends history and science content through contextualized hands-on activities that place the student in the role of a canal engineer. Each activity bench is accompanied by interpretive graphics that provide important historical information about canal engineering. Students can explore the science behind suspension bridges and build their own canal aqueduct.  They can experiment with different types of cranes or make their own. Students will discover the most efficient route for their canals. They will build an aqueduct supported by a masonry arch and learn to build and operate a lock.

Students will also take part in an additional curriculum-based education program.  They will be able to “explain how canals changed settlement patterns in Ohio and how Ohio ’s economic and political status changed” by using copies of original primary documents from the time period. Descriptions of travel by passengers and reports on the raw materials and goods carried by the canal boats give clues about how life changed in the canal era.

What was it like to take a long trip on a canal boat? What was produced in Cleveland that the farmers needed? Where did products go from the port of Cleveland? Journals, letters, account books and newspapers from the time provide the answers.