1. what approach did european settlers in america often take toward their physical environment?
2. what was the goal of the erie canal project?
3. what effect do you think the erie canal had on the development of industry in new york state? on other canal projects in the united states?
critical thinking
4. formulating questions why would the canal developers have studied the british canal system before they designed the erie canal? write four questions the developers might have asked during their studies.

1. I think they wanted to find the same conditions as they had before. Germans were farmers, so they were looking for the land for farming, Portuguese were fishermen so they were looking for coast to continue fishing.

2. As far as I remember a major goal of the Erie Canal project was to link Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes with the Atlantic.

3. I'm pretty sure that Erie Canal gave people an opportunity to use boats to deliver cargo and gave New York access to raw materials. And these goods were delievered to the East.

4. They knew that it's a useful experience to find out how the British canal system was built. I think they should ask something about what location to choose, about the benefits of different geography and climate.