Would Beavers Make Good Firefighters?
Scientific Reports
Grades3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Biology, Earth and Space Sciences
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Provided by Science Journal for Kids
What it is
- In this article from Science Journal for Kids, students will learn how beavers change their environment in ways that help reduce the impacts of wildfires.
- Students explore how beaver dams and waterways increase water availability, support ecosystems during drought, and help landscapes remain less damaged during fires.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This resource includes a variety of other components to help support students’ understanding of the material covered in the report.
- Students will love being able to read about a formal scientific study in a kid-friendly format.
Prerequisites
- Teachers may want to go over the terms in the glossary before having students read.
- The worksheet portion asks students to do research about beavers using websites or books. Teachers may want to have a few books in the classroom and a few links that students can use to complete this research.
- Teachers will need to enter some information, such as name and email, to access the teacher key.
- Students should understand the importance of water for plant life.
- The link for the Ecosystem Engineers lesson is broken
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can use this article to begin a conversation about climate impacts, such as increased severity of wildfires, and how we can look at nature-based solutions to solve the problems.
- Teachers can make additional connections to climate change by using this resource to show students how climate change will impact Wisconsin beavers, and likely beavers in other places.
- Teachers can use this article to make connections to UN Sustainable Development Goal 15, Life on Land.
From the scientist review
This resource clearly presents the findings of a peer-reviewed article analyzing how beaver dams can help their surroundings survive wildfires. Key points are clearly highlighted in the text. One small criticism is that the article for students fails to discuss beaver dams as a climate resilience strategy while this is a major topic in the source article. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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