The beaver and its habitat
Experience Report:
To start, we watch a movie about beavers, get to look at a beaver up close, and play a game to learn how dangerous a road crossing is for them.
The next day we go to the Vils to see what we learned in reality. First Caroline shows us what the Vils looks like without beavers. There are many big stones and it flows fast. She shows us what trees or branches look like that have been cut down by this impressive rodent. With the help of a jaw of the animal we also understand how the tracks in the wood are made.
I wonder what the beaver's looseness smells like? One student is so brave and dares to sniff it carefully... Hmmm..., not bad at all! Of course! Nothing can stink... Soon we discover the first traces of the beaver.
But we have to put the branch back. The beaver will take it during the night and gnaw off the bark. In the fall, he builds up a winter stock with such logs and branches. This stock is called a food raft. It is located very close to the burrow in the water. So that it can be reached by the beaver swimming even when the ice cover is closed.
And then we see the beaver lodge! We have to be quiet! The beavers sleep during the day. Maybe they have cubs, too. In the beaver lodge there is a sleeping chamber where the little beavers are. In front of it there is a feeding and cleaning chamber. The entrance is always under water. So they are well protected from enemies. Enemies of the adult beavers are wolf, lynx and also man. The small beavers have to beware of foxes, birds of prey and large predators.
The beaver is not only a fascinating master builder, but also a great landscape planner. The so fast flowing river became a beautiful floodplain by the beaver, which we walk through in amazement
After that, the children are given the task of recreating everything.
Cars and dogs stay outside the beaver territory. People look at everything quietly at some distance and do not trample on the structures. There is also a food raft next to the castle. Fish get new habitats in the basins that the animal landscape planner creates with his dams.
We now know exactly and on top of that these days have been so much fun!
Come again, dear beaver!
Yesterday, March 12, Caroline Winklmayr as beaver representative of the district Reutte as well as Yvonne Markl as representative of the Nature Park Tiroler Lech visited the Nature Park Elementary School Pinswang for a varied morning in the classrooms!
We dedicated this school day to a special fellow: the original Tyrolean beaver.
In a playful way, the children learned what beaver life feels like by acting out the story of the little"Zwergerl".
Everyone tried out how long they could hold their breath and estimated how long a beaver could probably dive. The class record was 1:32 minutes!!! The beaver record is still far above that....
Various games to participate in, experience, learn and touch enlivened the lessons and during the final film, ears were pricked up as the nailing sounds of the beaver triggered collective delight.
...we will continue soon with the outdoor excursion"The beaver and its habitat"!
Expert visit on the topic of stones in the VS Pinswang, on 21.11.19
The children should
Before we go to the lech, Sabine Resch explains how the stones have to be shaped so that we can work them well with the grinding sponges. She tells the children about the different degrees of hardness of the stones and sponges. Thus it becomes clear to all why we can grind stones with sponges.
And already we are on the way to the Lech. Eagerly everyone looks for stones and soon the right ones are found with the help of Sabine. That is not so easy!
Sabine explains to us once again in which order - from coarse to fine - the sponges must be taken. We also learn that it is very important to work precisely. Everyone is very eager and many of us work up a sweat!
We can tell how much of the stones are ground down by the water in the bowls, which turns gray pretty quickly. The children are fascinated by how smooth their stones become.
Burrows of mud-eating animals in the spotted marl, fossil corals, the colors of radiolarites, conglomerates and breccias become even more visible. Sabine explains us on the basis of these when and how the rocks were formed. Unbelievable how old they are!
We also learned that main dolomite stinks when you hit it together. That even stone oil can be extracted from it, which used to be mined at Frauenbrünnele.
At the end we proudly look at our works. Sabine explains the different types of rocks to us once again. Now we all have a little Lech jewel!
We are a nature park school!
For the 119th time, the Association of Nature Parks Austria awarded the title of Nature Park School - to our elementary school Pinswang in the Nature Park Tyrolean Lech!
At the ceremonial presentation of the certificate, not only politicians were pleased, but also the team of the Nature Park Tyrolean Lech as well as the schoolchildren and their families were particularly proud of the successful start.
As a highlight of the event, the pupils of the elementary school Pinswang shone in the self-written play "The mighty cross toads".
We are looking forward to a successful and friendly cooperation in the future!
