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2-3 Station 2: Beaver Dam
2-3 Station 2: Beaver Dam
Class discussion:
What does a beaver dam do?
A beaver dam floods a stream, river, or wetlands, to create a pond or other body of water that is flowing very little, if at all
Why do beavers build dams?
Many people think that beavers build dams to live in-- but in fact, beavers build dams so that they can flood an area and create a safe place to build their homes, called lodges. Beavers want their lodges to be surrounded by water, so they build dams to create small ponds first.
Are floods "good" or "bad?"
A beaver would say that a flood is good because flooded land creates deep water to keep him safe. Floods that occur in human communities can be very dangerous, while floods that occur on farmland can help keep the soil healthy. Floods can be both 'good' and 'bad!'
Class Activity: Water Words
Adapted from Project WILD: Aquatic WILD
Materials: writing materials, small whiteboard and marker, river copy pages (https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0OI2sM2sfzjQ1hTNGVTWGd5Qms)
- Ask students to think about ways that they have used water today; ideas may include drinking water, showering, washing hands, flushing a toilet, etc.
- What are other ways that people use water that are not as obvious as using plumbing?
- To wash clothes, to water plants and animals that we eat, to water plants in our yard, for pets to drink, etc.
- What are other ways that people use water that are not as obvious as using plumbing?
- Ask students to think of as many words that have something to do with water as possible!
- Students can write their words on blank paper, or the instructor can record words on a small whiteboard
- Think of words that describe water or how it is important to people and wildlife
- Use the small whiteboard to create Word Trees using words they have written (see example below)
- After creating several word trees, have students look at them and create definitions of water in their own words, or poetic definitions
- Have students record their definitions of water on the river copy pages, which can be arranged by numerical order to form a river (two of same number stand face to face)
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