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A beaver's dam and lodge do different jobs

People often talk about a beaver's dam and a beaver's lodge as if they were two words for the same pile of sticks. In a pond habitat, they do completely different jobs: the dam is an engineering barrier built across a stream to raise the water level, while the lodge is a sheltered home that can be built in the pond or along its bank.

2–3 min

Questions you could explore

  • How does the water level affect the usefulness of the lodge?
  • Why does a dam change the habitat rather than simply provide a place to sleep?

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