How to Build a Model of the Panama Canal

Middle school teachers have always been fond of models. A common geography assignment is to build a model of a country or landmark. When studying Central America, a topic of discussion is the Panama Canal. If you have ever been assigned to make a model, you know the groan the assignment brings, but if you are assigned to do something on the Panama Canal, worry not.

Sketch Panama. The Panama Canal runs through Panama and connects the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. The first thing you need to do is find a map of Panama and sketch the map onto the center of the blue display board. The display board is the ocean.

Mold the Play-Doh. Take the green Play-Doh and flatten the Play-Doh on the section of sketched board. This is the land of Panama and Central America. Spread the Play-Doh out very thinly for the landmass of Central America. The landmass is quite large, so you can spread the Play-Doh to be a film over the board. The mountains are a different story. Take two ping-pong-ball-size balls of Play-Doh, and flatten the ball into a line that you can use to form the mountains bordering the canal. Use your fingers to make the ridges of the mountains.

Let the Play-Doh dry. It should take a at least 24 hours for the Play-Doh to dry completely.

Draw the canal. Take the map of the Panama Canal and your Sharpie and draw a line from one patch of blue to the other across the Play-Doh in the route of the canal.

Label the counties and oceans. Write the Atlantic Ocean on the right-hand side. Write the Pacific Ocean on the left-hand side. Then, write in the names of the countries.