Chapter One Lessons

Lesson 1.2 What Is a Cave?

Activity Summary
In this activity, students will explore their existing concepts of caves and match them with a working definition to use during the unit.

Educational Goals
Students will be able to:

• Define the word "cave."
• Name the two types of rock formations in which most American caves occur.
• Define "show cave" and "wild cave."

Materials Required

• Samples of lava, limestone rock, and marble, if possible.
• Lava and limestone gravel can be obtained at hardware stores or lumber yards.
• Large newsprint pad

Procedure

1. Write "What is a cave?" on the blackboard.
2. Ask students to brainstorm words they associate with caves. Use the following questions to stimulate some of the information:
   • Where do we find caves?
   • Are special kinds of rocks found in caves?
   • Do certain kinds of animals live in caves?
   • Do people use caves for some activities?
   • What makes caves?
   • Name some famous caves you have visited.
3. Refer to the poster (side 1) as children discuss what they already know about caves.
4. From the discussion, write a definition of caves that the class agrees upon. (Explain to younger children what a "definition" is.)
5. The class definition should include the following points:
   A cave is:
   • A hole, tunnel, or series of branching openings. These are often called caverns or rooms.
   • Underground or underwater, mostly in darkness.
   • Usually formed in rocks called limestone, marble, or lava.
   • Usually created by water dissolving limestone (over periods of thousands of years). Rivers and streams sometimes go underground as part of their course. Then, they are called "sinking streams."
   • Often the site of unusual rocks (stalagmites, stalactites, flowstone)formed by water dripping onto or flowing through a cave.
   • Often home to people and animals, including some animals that can live without light (bats, crickets, blind fish).
   • Often very large.(One cavern in Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico, is longer than 14 football fields. A series of caverns in Flint Mammoth Cave, Flint, Kentucky, is roughly 190 miles long. The deepest cave in the world, Reseau Jean Bernard, in France, is 5,035 feet deep - nearly a mile underground.)
   • A place sometimes open to the public, on government-administered land or in commercial areas for pay. Such public caves are called "show caves." Some caves are on private or other land where the general public cannot go. These are called "wild caves."
6. Write the class definition on newsprint. Post on the wall for the duration of the unit.