Living Things Change Their Environment

Some animal homes are bird nests, a bee hive or a snake hole.

A bird builds a nest by taking branches from trees and making it into a specific shape. When it moves around these sticks, it is changing its environment to help it survive.

Animals need a safe place to sleep, hide and raise babies.

Sometimes roots get big and push the soil up. Cracks in the sidewalk can be made bigger by roots growing in them. Plants can also block sunlight from hitting the forest floor, which affects what can live there.

When animals build homes, they change their environment. They also dig burrows and can move things around.

People build houses, pave roads and dig for natural resources. We can also do things like recycle and clean up a beach to make positive changes to our environment.

Prairie dogs dig tunnels underground. When they do this they move around a lot of dirt.

The burrows can help grasses to grow by aerating the soil. They also help create homes for other animals when they move on to new areas.

Beavers build dams in rivers or streams and change the flow of the water. This can flood areas of land, which is a very big change to the environment.

Some birds eat seeds and then poop them out in other places. This helps plants spread their seeds and grow in new areas. Another way birds change their environment is by building nests.

People can change the environment by picking up trash and recycling. They can also ride their bikes instead of driving in cars.

People can harm the environment by polluting rivers with plastics and trash. They can also choose not to recycle, which results in more garbage in the landfills.