Chapter 3 Lesson 9

This lesson is about how life in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands has changed over time.  Development of the St. Lawrence Seaway is one of the biggest changes people have made in this region.

The Seaway is a system of locks and canals that link the Atlantic Ocean, the St. Lawrence River, and the Great Lakes.  Before it was completed in 1959, large ships could not travel upstream from Montreal.

On the Seaway, ocean-going ships can travel to the centre of the continent.   They bring imported goods or take grain and other exports to other countries.

Targets

In this lesson you will learn:

• about the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway
• why it was built
• about locks (not the kind that open doors!) and how they work
• how building the St. Lawrence Seaway affected people who lost their homes to flooding
• how building the Seaway improved the movement of goods
• about the effect of the Seaway on wildlife and what people have done about it

Introduction

This photo shows one of the many huge changes in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region over time.