Britain’s Beaver Boom
WORKSHEET
1. Suggested Use
Environmental focus, followed by closed practice B1+-level vocabulary and grammar activities.
2. Suggested Activities
A. Project-based learning
Students work in small groups to design a campaign to discuss an endangered native species of their country, or any country. They research how the species helps the environment and what challenges there are with the endangerment of the animals. Students prepare a short presentation or short video to explain why the animal is important, how it helps the environment and what people can do to help protect them. Students present their ideas to the class, with time for Q&A after each presentation.
B. Mediation task: Translating a written text
Students imagine they volunteer at one of the places mentioned in the video, and they need to explain the beaver project to visitors. However, the visitors have a low level of English. Have students watch the video again and take notes of the most important information, e.g. where the beavers live, what changes they make and how they help other animals and people. They need to explain their ideas to a partner in clear language. Their partner checks if the information matches the original text.
C. Pronunciation task: /ɜː/ sound
Have students identify words in the video with the sound, e.g. return, birth, beaver. Drill, model and practise the sound. Contrast with short vowels, e.g. bit / bird, hat / hurt. Have students write their own tongue twisters with the sound to give to another pair to practise.
3. Vocabulary
Nature and environment
beaver
dam
stream
wetland
mud
branches
roots
flooding
habitat
woodland
wildlife
countryside
diversity
environment
loch
Adjectives
natural
rich
sustainable
heavy (rain)
fantastic
clever
underwater
surprising
Phrasal verbs
bring back
shift about
slow down
come out of
4. Grammar
Tenses:
(future perfect) … will have been transformed …; (present continuous) … a similar project is bringing beavers back …; (present perfect) … the beavers have built many dams in the area.; (future continuous) … 10,000 beavers will be living …
Passive:
… but they were hunted to extinction here …; appearance was caught on camera by …; … are known as …
TRANSCRIPT
Britain’s Beaver Boom
NARRATOR:
In some parts of Britain, people have a new chance to connect with nature and it's all thanks to a surprising animal: the beaver. Beavers once lived across the UK, but they were hunted to extinction here over 400 years ago. Now, conservationists are bringing them back and they’re already having a big impact.
Beavers are known as nature’s engineers. They build dams from branches, roots and mud. These clever structures slow down streams and help stop flooding. In Scotland, the national reintroduction project is well under way. In the Cairngorms National Park, a baby beaver, called a kit, was born just months after its parents arrived. By 2030, conservationists hope around 10,000 beavers will be living in Scotland and many of their habitats will have been transformed into rich wetlands.
SOUNDBITE - Jonathan Willet:
“They've created these channels underwater and shifted the mud about in the bottom of the loch. So they're just creating lots and lots of diversity and lots of little places for lots of other animals to go and live.”
NARRATOR:
In Essex, a similar project is bringing beavers back to help protect the countryside. Since their return, the beavers have built many dams in the area. These dams help stop water from reaching people’s homes during heavy rain. The wetlands also hold water and release it slowly during dry periods. The project is now also celebrating the birth of two new kits! Their first appearance was caught on camera by wildlife photographer Russell Savory.
SOUNDBITE - Russell Savory:
“They just came out of this little burrow, but the kit was in the mother’s mouth and sort of round the mouth and sitting on top of the head and then just swam away and took them to the lodge. And it was just fantastic. It was one of those… one of those moments, really.”
NARRATOR:
As they return to woodland areas across Britain, beavers are helping to shape a more sustainable environment — one where people and nature can live side by side.