Lock (water transport)

High school (ages 12+)
Transportation

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/lock-water-transport

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the type of infrastructure?Hydraulic engineering structure for waterway navigation
2. What is the historical origin?Earliest known sophisticated designs developed in China around the 1st century AD
3. What is a lock in a waterway?A lock is a special structure with gates that creates a chamber where the water level can be raised or lowered so boats can move between different water heights.
4. How does a lock lift or lower a boat?Water is let into the chamber from a higher level, raising the water and the boat; then water is released to a lower level, letting the boat sink back down. Sluice gates control the flow.

Pound Lock: A lock chamber that uses gates to impound water, allowing vessels to be raised or lowered between different water levels.
Mitre Gates: Pairs of gates that meet at an angle in the center of the lock chamber, commonly used in lock construction.
Hydraulic Engineering: The branch of engineering concerned with the movement, storage, and use of water and related fluids.