Get Outside!

Beaver Ecology

Class Description:

In this animal ecology class, students begin by participating in a beaver dress-up activity that illustrates the physical adaptations of the beaver. The majority of class time is spent on a hike along Sawmill Creek, which offers an excellent opportunity to observe the effects of beaver activity on the environment. Students may encounter dams, lodges, cut trees, canals, drags or caches. A skit of fur trade era characters offers insight into human and beaver interaction in the past. Discussion will help students understand the beaver's role today.

Outcomes:

Upon completion of the Beavers class students will be able to:

  • Define physical and behavioral adaptations.
  • Identify physical and behavioral adaptations that allow beavers to survive in their environment.
  • Recognize and interpret beavers signs such as dams, lodges, canals, food caches, etc.
  • Trace the history of the fur trade era and describe how beavers and humans interact in modern times.
  • Evaluate how the beaver influences the ecology of both forest and aquatic ecosystems.

Minnesota Graduation Standards

Wolf Ridge has aligned the Center's entire curriculum to Minnesota Department of Education Academic Standards. As the primary student audience at Wolf Ridge is from 4th-12th grade, the matrices address these grade levels. Teachers may request that their students focus upon a specific benchmark while attending Wolf Ridge. The Wolf Ridge Curriculum Standards Matrix addresses benchmarks in

  • Science
  • Math
  • History and Social Science
  • Language Arts
  • Arts

Wolf Ridge Curriculum Concepts:

  • All living things possess physical and behavioral adaptations which help them to survive in their environment.
  • All living and non-living components of an environment interact with one another to form an ecosystem.
  • The natural environment has many obvious and subtle impacts upon human history and culture.
  • See entire Wolf Ridge Curriculum Framework


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Time
3 hours total
2 1/2 outdoors

Audience
4th grade - adult

Activity level
strenuous

Travel
1-1/2 mile

Total uphill travel
320 feet







150 px wide please