Beavers are natural engineers. They build dams across streams or lakes. It is a fascinating process. The beavers first choose a site towards the narrow end of a stream. Then they start to fell trees. The beavers stand on their hind legs and gnaw at the tree trunk with their sharp chisel-like teeth. They cut off the tree branches to dam the streams. They use broken branches, stones and mud to make the dam watertight. The dams create a pond, in the middle of which the beaver family constructs an island made of more branches. Beaver dams can be 10 feet (3 meters) high and up to 1,600 feet (500 meters) long.
The beaver uses the lodge to store food as well as to raise its young. Since lakes and rivers freeze in winter, the lodge becomes a refuge from preying animals. Due to its underwater entrances the beaver can come and go as it pleases under the ice. Beaver dams also act as channels to control the flow of water in a stream or lake.
Activities:
1. Imagine how the beavers fell the trees and build the dams. Draw pictures to illustrate it.
2. Do you know how human beings build dams across the rivers or lakes? Watch the video to learn more about how dams are built. Discuss with your partners about the similarities and differences in building dams between human beings and beavers.
