Beaver Unit Study

Paddy the Beaver from the Baldwin Project 

Read about Paddy the Beaver

A WORKER AND A ROBBER

Jerry Muskrat can dive and swim under water a long distance, though not as far as Paddy the Beaver.

The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess - Project Gutenberg

Download the free eBook: The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver by Thornton W. Burgess

Beavers Change the Environment 

Beavers build Dams

Photo Credit: Beaver
Free ClipArt from CskInfo.com

As a child I remember walking down to the beaver dam with my dad. The dam was built with sticks and mud so tightly that no water ran through it. There were tree stumps all around the pond with pointy tops from where the beavers had chewed through and toppled the trees.

We would walk down to the dam each day. It was surprising how quickly the water began to rise in that dam as the beavers built it higher and higher.

The beaver's lodge stood out of the pond on the further side with water all around it.

One day we sat very quietly for a long time watching the beavers work. They carried sticks back and forth from the shore to the top of the dam, building it higher or maybe repairing a leak.

Suddenly the wind shifted and the beavers sensed our presence. SPLASH One of the beavers slapped it's tail and they all dove under the water for the safety of their lodge.

Rogue Turtle: Brother Beaver

Beavers can have both a positive and a negative impact on the environment. When beavers build dams, they create new wetland environments for other species. These wetlands can help slow erosion, raise the water table and help purify the water. Beavers can play a major role in succession, when beavers abandon their lodges and dams, aquatic plants will take over the pond and eventually, shrubs and other plants will grow and the area will become a meadow. The shrubs in the meadow will provide enough shade to allow tree seedlings to grow, once the trees grow, they will take over and the land will turn into a woodland area.

The Beaver Lodge 

Beavers build a Home in the Pond

Beavers build lodges in the middle of their ponds to protect themselves from predictors. The entrances to the lodge are underwater but the room where they live and raise their young always stays above water.

They build a thick wall to protect themselves from extreme temperatures, rain and snow.

The stacks of sticks beside the lodge are their winter food supply. Beavers eat the bark off the sticks.

My Dad taught me that beavers have a sixth sense that tells them when a winter will be extra hard. In those years they build their lodges extra thick to protect themselves from the bitter cold.

Beaver Dam

Beavers build dams to live in.

Beaver Lodges

A beaver lodge turns the world we know on its head. It shuts the light out and opens to an
underwater realm. Understand a beaver lodge and you will understand why beavers are so level headed, so unlike humans who aspire to the heavens.

When beavers awake they open their eyes in darkness and then ease themselves into the surrounding water. Any light above is defused throughout their water world, and when they are thriving the surrounding water is made opaque by the fine grains of suspended dirt from the mud they constantly dig to find roots and plants for food.

Beaver Habitat 

Nature Walk to find Beavers

Photo Credit: Beaver Lodge
on Flickr, Creative Commons.

Walk out to the beaver pond. Find a spot where you can sit quietly. You may get the chance to watch a beaver family at work. The key is to stay silent and be downwind.

Animals and Habitats: Beaver and Bear

Understanding the relationship between raccoons and bears and traditional Native American culture in Glacier National Park. (Blackfoot)

Classroom activities. Research suggestion.

More Beaver Songs 

Sing a Song of Beavers

Beaver Song

Beaver Song

Oh, I'm a beaver
You're a beaver
We are beavers all
And when we get together
We give the beaver call.
nya nya x28

I'm Proud To Be A Beaver

Song Lyrics & Sound Clip

Beaver Crafts 

Make a Beaver

Spring Printables: Beaver Mask - and More Great Family Fun Printable Ideas

Kids will love making and wearing this fun printable beaver mask. Find tons of spring printables at FamilyFun.

Beaver Unit and Lessons from Alaska

Become familiar with the physical characteristics of beaver and to know why these are important to the beaver's way of life.

Become familiar with the beaver's habits and habitat: life cycle, food, shelter, environment.

Become aware of both the historical and present day importance to the beaver.

Become familiar with some traditional stories and beliefs about the beaver.

Beaver Poetry 

Beaver Poems

Beaver poetry submissions

Beaver poetry competition

Vote on your favorite Beaver Poem

Beaver Teeth 

Learn about Beaver Teeth

Beavers have teeth so sharp and strong that they can cut down trees.

Broccoli looks a lot like trees and children can have fun pretending to be beavers by using their teeth to cut down broccoli trees.

Beaver

Like most rodents, beavers teeth grow continuously throughout their lives. The large incisors have a special coating of enamel, which wears away more slowly than the rest of the tooth. This gives the beaver a sharp biting edge. A beaver's chewing force is 176 pounds per square inch, compared to man's 88 pounds.

Draw a Beaver 

Beaver Art

Posting examples of how to draw above the art table helps children with illustrating their stories. After several unit studies children start seeing the similarities and become more confident in their artistic abilities.

Whenever you visit a beaver pond or visit a museum this ability will help the children to record their observations.

Summer Printables: How To Draw a Beaver - and More Great Family Fun Printable Ideas

Kids will love this learn to draw page. Find tons of summer coloring pages at FamilyFun.

Beaver Coloring Pages 

Color the Beavers

These outline drawings of beavers are not only good for coloring but are also good for tracing. As children trace the outlines of the beaver they are working on fine motor coordination and starting to experience the proportions of the beaver and will soon be able to draw beavers freehand.

Beaver

Beavers cut down trees with their teeth. They use the trees to make dams and a house called a lodge. The beaver eats the bark and branches from trees. This busy rodent creates a wetland where many other animals can live.

Mother Beaver and Babies

Beavers are mammals coloring page.

Beaver Worksheets 

Know Your Beavers

Beaver Worksheets

Activities and worksheets for teaching about beavers and dam building.

Spot the Beavers

Hidden Picture and Coloring Page: (Printable Activity for Kids) - and More Great Family Fun Printable Ideas

Beaver Crossword

10 simple definitions and answers for the Beaver Unit Study.

Beaver Math 

Cooking Up some Beaver Math

Little Drawings: Beaver's "math cafe"

The beaver owns the cafe!
His favorate dish is "Fibonacci Biscuits" served in the sequence of Fibonacci series.
You only get 1 for the first order, then 1 again, then 2, 3, 5, 8 ...

Be sure to check out elephantom's blog for more wonderful drawings.

Beavers in the News! 

What's Up with Beavers?

Lessons of life on the Yellowstone River

Curious beavers swim beside us, smack their tails against the water and disappear. Beneath the surface is home to 45 species of fish, including two primitive rarities, the paddlefish and the shovelnose sturgeon.

Students learn about adapting to beaver's life

The children outfitted their student mentor with various items -- flippers, ear plugs, nose plugs, goggles, big teeth, paddle tail, gloves, a brown towel, perfume and an oil can -- and discussed the importance of each item to a beaver's survival.

Leave it to beavers - Bolton, MA - The Bolton Common

Beavers are skilled dam builders; their lives depend on it. They spend 80 percent of their time in their ponds, from which they access their lodges. But it is not unprecedented for an active beaver dam to fail. Even beavers can't anticipate a 25 or 50-year storm.

Essex has beavers killed | burlingtonfreepress.com | The Burlington Free Press

A colony of beavers deemed a nuisance at Indian Brook Reservoir was destroyed this week.

The Humane Society of the United States recommended beaver water flow control devices, Myers said. One device allows water to flow in pipes through a beaver dam, to control water levels without alerting the beaver, who would instinctively try to patch leaks, according to the organization.

Ten million years ago beavers were seven foot long but are now only about forty inches. But they are very good natured, gentle, clean and strict vegetarians.

Beavers Helping Frogs And Toads Survive

Though considered a pest because of the culvert-clogging dams it builds on streams, the beaver is an ally in conserving valuable wetland habitat for declining amphibian populations, a University of Alberta study shows.

Creating a Unit Study on Beavers

I like to create unit studies around a favorite book, animal or special interest of the children. One day I read the book Paddy the Beaver by Thornton Burgess. My children liked it so much that we started a unit study on it.

As in the case of the previous comment, I look for activities in each of the classic disciplines and find ways to tie them into the topic of the unit study.

Beaver Appreciation Day! 

Celebrate Beavers!

Photo Credit: Beaver Appreciation Day /a>
on Free ClipArt Now.

May 1 is National Beaver Appreciation Day!

As all Canadians know, May 1 is National Beaver Appreciation Day. It is always an action packed outdoor extravaganza. Every store shuts its doors, all the businesses let their employees go home early, and children get the day off from school.

Canada wide, we will all gather at the banks of streams, lakes, rivers, swamps or even swimming pools and celebrate.

It's pretty much still winter up in Canada and with any luck, the beavers will come out and play, and we won't have two more weeks of winter.

This Beaver Unit Study is in the Four Wheeler's Online Unit Study Directory 

Thank you to the Four Wheelers for including the The Beaver Unit Study in their Online Unit Study Directory.

Internet Directory of Unit Studies

The Four Wheelers Internet Directory of Unit Studies contains a list, roughly arranged by subject, of links to unit studies that are published on the Internet.