An environment is the place where living things live. Many living things change their environments by building homes, digging in the ground and moving things around.
To better understand how living things change their environment…
LET’S BREAK IT DOWN!
Animals build their homes in their environment.
Prairie dogs dig tunnels to create burrows. Burrows are shelters under the ground. When prairie dogs build tunnels, they change the shape of the land.
Beavers can flood areas of land.
Beavers build dams using trees, sticks, mud and rocks. The whole beaver family works together to build the dam. The flooding causes huge changes to their environment.
Animals make changes to the environment by eating.
When a macaw eats seeds, it will fly somewhere else and then eventually poop the seeds out. This helps plants grow in new places and changes their environment.
Plants can also change their environment.
Sometimes the roots of plants can grow into cracks in rock or concrete. The roots can make the cracks get bigger. You may have seen sidewalk cracks made bigger by plants.
People can change their environment in good and bad ways.
People can help their environment by cleaning up trash and recycling. People sometimes hurt their environment when they cut down too many trees or litter.