Adventures in Time and Place

Adventures in Time and Place
Grade 4: New Jersey
Infographic #5: The Morris Canal
Page 143

Name___________________________________________ Date________________

1. The Morris Canal, one of the grand engineering feats of the early 1800s, brought coal from Pennsylvania to be sold in New York and New Jersey. Normally canals move boats up or down hill with locks. A lock is an enclosed area with gates at both ends which is filled with water or drained to raise or lower the boat. But the Morris Canal had to rise 914 feet by its end, which would have required 200 locks. To solve the problem, engineers used both locks and a system of inclined planes. To see what an inclined plane looked like and to view the canal as it was and is today, go to Morris Canal Pictures.
http://www.users.fast.net/~nanjim/index2.html

Click the pictures listed here and answer the questions below.
Use the Back arrow to return to the picture index.
    South Main Street, Phillipsburg
    Another South Main St. postcard
    View of Lock St. Phillipsburg
    Another view of Lock St.
Click More Canal pics on Page 3.
Click these pictures and continue to answer questions:
    Plane car atop Plane #8
    Boat at the top of Plane #10W
    Plane 10W near Phillipsburg
    The Powerhouse at #10 Plane
If you have time, go back and click other pictures that interest you.

Online Activity: Picture Perfect
Study the pictures and then answer the questions. Type your answers in the boxes below the questions.

   South Main Street, Phillipsburg
   Why do you think this picture was made into a postcard and what does this tell you about the importance of the Morris Canal?


   Another South Main St. postcard
   The Andover Furnace Company in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, built its factory next to the Morris Canal. Why do you think this was a good place to locate a business?


   View of Lock St. Phillipsburg
   What clues do the pictures give you about how the canal boats moved along the canals between locks or inclined planes?


   Plane car atop Plane #8, Boat at the top of Plane #10W, Plane 10W near Phillipsburg
   Inclined planes are like small railroads. Explain how they are like railroads. What do you see in the pictures that tells you?


   Why do you think the Morris Canal is no longer used?

2. Learn more about one of America’s greatest engineering feats at The Morris Canal: Gone but Not Forgotten.
http://members.aol.com/chrisell/canal.html

Read the page with your teacher. Click the images to see close-ups, then use the Back arrow to return to the article.
Under "The Locks," click collection to go to the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
Click Keyword.
Type "Morris Canal" in the box; then click Search.
Click a picture's description to see it. Click again to enlarge. Click the Back arrow twice to return to the list.

Offline Activity: Write a Letter to a Relative
Imagine that you are part of a family living in a small town in the 1800s within sight of the Morris Canal. Write a letter to a relative or friend who lives in another town and has never seen a canal or canal boat. Describe what the mule-drawn canal boats are like and the benefits that the Morris Canal has brought to your community. Explain the inclined planes or other interesting sights along the canal.