Value of Beaver

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Submitted by mccukay2 on Tue, 2015-06-09 00:00

The paper by EcoNorthwest that Mike Settel was talking about that compiled data about the value of beavers for ecosystem services is posted to the Teacher Resources tab.

Lets have people braistorm different activities from different disciplines.  What type of activities could be done with data like this?  Can we design our own data collection activites for students for another species?

Comments

Taylor Terlson's picture

Submitted by Taylor Terlson on Tue, 2015-06-09 23:33

I love this idea! I will be taking it and using it in my classroom!

Shannon Barry's picture

Submitted by Shannon Barry on Wed, 2015-06-10 10:46

I love the idea of both considering the value of species and the cost of invasive species in an area. My big question is about how the value or cost are actually calculated. I haven't read all of the materials posted yet, so some of those answers I might find there, but I imagine that there were several factors included in coming up with the overall value numbers. Of course, different monetary values can be calculated based on which factors are deemed most/least important. I imagine that this is an issue for anyone who is attempting to put monetary value on things that are not traditionally associated with an actual cost or value.

Wade Schvaneveldt's picture

Submitted by Wade Schvaneveldt on Wed, 2015-06-10 20:10

An easy math lesson could be to determine the circumference of trees/logs the beavers use to build their dams.  Also to compare measurements with trees/logs above and below the surface of the water. Students could conjecture on the amount of water each tree/log contains based on findings.