Panama Canal 2020

Explore the Panama Canal: its history, construction challenges, and impact on world trade!

Panama Canal The Panama Canal is a 48 mile long man-made waterway that crosses the Isthmus of Panama. It uses a number of locks on each side to lower and raise ships to allow them to pass between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The Panama Canal was built to lower the distance, cost, and time it took for ships to carry cargo between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. Before the canal, ships would have to go around the entire continent of South America. A ship traveling from New York to San Francisco saved around 8,000 miles and 5 months of travel by crossing at the canal. The Panama Canal was a huge boost to world trade and the economy. Before the Panama Canal Draw the route ships carrying goods between New York City (East Coast of U.S) and San Francisco (West Coast of U.S) would have had to travel prior to the building of the Panama Canal. After the Panama Canal Draw the route ships carrying goods between New York City (East Coast of U.S) and San Francisco (West Coast of U.S) now take! Which of the following is true about the Panama Canal? It is 8000 miles wide. It is man made. It is located in North America. It hurt the world's economy. In a complete sentence, describe the 3 benefits of the building of the Panama Canal. Panama Canal-Where and when? The Isthmus of Panama was chosen for the site of the canal because it is a very narrow strip of land between the two oceans. Although the canal was still a huge engineering project, this was the "easiest" place to build it. The French began work on the canal in 1881, but failed due to disease and construction difficulties. In 1904, the United States began to work on the canal. It took 10 years of hard work, but the canal was officially opened on August 15, 1914.Read more at: Who were the first people to attempt to build the Panama Canal? British American French Spanish In a complete sentence, describe why the French were unable to complete the Panama Canal. Who eventually completed the construction of the Panama Canal? French British American Spanish Construction of the Canal Building the canal was not easy. Workers had to battle disease, mudslides, poisonous snakes, scorpions, and poor living conditions. The completion of the canal took some of the best engineering skills and innovation of the time. There were three major construction projects involved in making the canal:Building the Locks - Locks on each side of the canal lift and lower boats a total of 85 feet. The locks are immense. Each lock is 110 feet wide and 1,050 feet long. They have huge concrete walls and giant steel gates. The steel gates are over 6 feet thick and 60 feet tall.Digging the Culebra Cut - This section of the canal had to be dug through the mountains of Panama. Dealing with landslides and falling rock made this the most difficult and dangerous part of the canal's construction.Building the Gatun Dam - The designers of the canal decided to make a large artificial lake through the center of Panama. To do this they constructed a dam on the Gatun River creating Gatun Lake. Ships traveling through the canal from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean would first go through the locks and be raised 85 feet. Then they would travel through the narrow Culebra Cut to Gatun Lake. After crossing the lake, they would travel through additional locks that would lower them to the Pacific Ocean.Read more at: Lock System Which part of the construction of the Panama Canal do you think was most difficult and why? Panama Canal Today In 1999, the United States transferred control of the canal to the country of Panama. Today, the canal remains an important part of international trade. Around 12,000 ships travel through the canal each year carrying over 200 million tons of cargo. Around 9,000 people currently work for the Panama Canal.Read more at: Expanded Panama Canal reopens Watch the video on the link provided and contribute the discussion that follows. Which of the following is true about the Panama Canal Expansion project? The expansion project includes making more locks. The new canal will be able to handle ships that are longer and taller. The new canal will be able to handle ships that are much heavier. All of the above Create a picture that shows the changes that were made in the Panama Expansion Project.