Grade Level: Duration: Location: Vocabulary: 6th - 8th grades
Two hours: one hour for prep and one hour for the activity. If students are not familiar
with a compass or clinometer, another hour will be required to practice.
Large space such as a gymnasium or stage.
Spelunking, foresight, backsight, compass rose
Let’s Go Spelunking
Introduction:
Exploring wild caves or spelunking can be an exciting but potentially dangerous activity. If a few simple rules are
followed, the risk of injury to the spelunker or to the cave is minimized.
1. Always tell someone on the surface where you are going, who you are going with, and the time you plan to return.
2. Never explore a wild cave alone.
3. Be sure to bring the proper equipment: a helmet with headlamp, 2 extra light sources (Be sure all lights have new
batteries in them), a compass, knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves. You should leave your cell phone behind. It
will not work in underground tunnels and can easily be lost or damaged.
4. Wear the proper clothing: long sleeves, long pants, and close-toed nonskid shoes.
5. Bring a small pack with water and food.
6. Be careful when entering a new tunnel. There may be swift changes in elevation, running water, narrow crawl
spaces, or dead ends. Be prepared to react quickly.
7. Be careful to not touch rock formations. The oil from your hands will be enough to stop their growth.
8. Leave nothing behind when you leave the cave.
In this activity, teams of students will simulate the exploration and mapping of a wild cave.
Engage:
One of the most famous cave explorers in Kentucky was Floyd Collins. While exploring Sand Cave, located near Cave
City, Kentucky, Floyd was trapped and died before rescuers could reach him. Have students visit the Floyd Collins
website to learn more about early cave exploration.
Materials per survey team:
• 2 compasses for measuring direction
• 2 clinometers for measuring height
• Tape measure for measuring distance
• 2 notebooks
• 2 pencils
• Graph paper
•Clipboard
• Flashlights (at least 2 per group)
• Description of the survey team roles:
• Lead Instruments
o Takes along the zero end of the tape measure
o Uses the compass (direction) and clinometer (height) to take backsights to the previous location
• Rear Instruments
o Keeps the smart end of the tape measure (the non-zero end or the end that is read) and measures
distance of the passage
o Uses the compass (direction) and clinometer (height) to take foresight measurements
• Sketcher
o Makes a sketch to scale of the cave passage
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o Marks the locations of the survey stations
Book
o Records measurements
o Checks the foresights and backsights to make sure they agree (usually within 2 degrees)
Preparing the cave materials:
•Desks
•Tables
•Chairs
• Large cardboard boxes
• Copies of rock formations
• Tarps or other dark material
• Duct tape
• Survey station signs (number of signs depend on the length and design of the cave)
Procedure for making the cave:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Use the tables, boxes, desks, and chairs to set up the passageways.
All turns should be right angles.
Cardboard boxes can be stacked on top of tables to increase the height of the cave.
Be sure to map the cave as you design it. Your map will be needed for the evaluation.
Width of the cave can be determined by using different cardboard boxes of different sizes or lining the
passageway with chairs or desks placed close together or far apart.
6. Chairs may be turned over to form obstacles which students have to crawl through or over.
7. Pictures of rock formations may be hung along the passageways.
8. Use your imagination to make the cave as interesting as possible.
9. Cover the entire cave with tarps or dark cloth to make it as dark inside as possible.
10.If some students are hesitant to enter small enclosed spaces, let them be part of the construction team.
11.Use your imagination and be creative.
Explore:
1. Divide the teams into groups of 3 or 4. Send the groups into the cave at 5 minute intervals.
2. Assign survey team roles.
3. Distribute materials and supplies.
4. Give the following directions:
a. Survey stations will be marked along the passageway.
b. At each survey station take foresight and backsight measurements for direction traveled, distance between
stations, width of the passage, and height of the passage.
c. Note the location of cave formations
5. Sketch your findings.
6. Remind students that caves have steep inclines and sharp declines. They should always use their flashlight to
look before they crawl or walk.
Explain:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Have the groups discuss the problems they faced inside the cave.
What was the most limiting factor to their exploration?
What type of rock formation did they find inside the cave?
Compare their foresight and backsight measurements.
If the measurements were not close (2 degrees or 2 inches), what was the reason for the discrepancies?
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Elaborate:
1. Expand the activity to include all students in the same grade.
2. Make the cave bigger and more interesting.
3. Add pictures of animals found in the cave.
Extension:
1. Get permission from the Principal to make this activity a school project.
2. The school will be transformed into a cave system and student survey teams will map the hallways (tunnels) and
selected rooms (cave rooms)
3. The art classes will research cave formations and make them as an art project.
4. Life science classes will research and make a food web for the organisms living in a cave.
5. The math classes will have at least one member on each survey team to help with the calculations.
6. Physical science and earth science classes will research and prepare presentations on the chemistry of cave
formation.
7. Social studies classes will conduct research on location and history of the closest cave to your school.
8. Physical education classes will help with the conversion of one or two storage rooms or classrooms into cave
rooms complete with cave formations and food webs for organisms.
9. Student technology teams will make a video recording of the project and conduct interviews with staff and
student participants.
10.Language Arts classes will write articles and prepare a newsletter to distribute to parents and to post on school
website.
11.All classes should have the opportunity to participate.
Evaluate:
Each survey team will use their notes to produce a scale map of the cave system. The map must include a compass
rose and be oriented in the correct position. The team will also make a map key to show location of formations and
other interesting features.
KENTUCKY CORE ACADEMIC STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
Language Arts
•W.6.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
• W.6.6: Use technology, including the internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and
collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three
pages in a single sitting.
• W.6.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the
inquiry when appropriate.
•SL.6.5: Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify information.
• W.7.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
• W.7.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.
• W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
• W8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question drawing on several sources and generating
additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Mathematics
• 6.G.A.3: Draw polygons in the coordinate plane given coordinates for the vertices; use coordinates to find
the length of a side joining points with the same first coordinate or the same second coordinate. Apply these
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techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
• 7.G.A1: Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and
areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.
• 8.G.A.5: Use informal arguments to establish facts about the angle sum and exterior angle of triangles, about
the angles created when parallel lines are cut by a transversal, and the angle-angle criterion for similarity of
triangles.
Science
• MS-LS2.1: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• MS-LS2-3.B: Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between
producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem.
• MS-LS2-4.C: Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time.
Social Studies
• SS-6-G-U-1: Students will understand that the use of geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, photographs,
models, charts, graphs, databases, and satellite images) and mental maps helps interpret information, analyze
patterns and spatial data, and solve geographic issues in the present day.
• SS-6-G-S-1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of patterns on the Earth’s surface, using a variety of
geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, charts, graphs, satellite images).
• SS-6-HP-S-1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the interpretative nature of history using a
variety of tools and resources (e.g., primary and secondary sources, Internet, timelines, maps): investigate and
chronologically describe (e.g., using timelines, charts, fictional and report writing, role playing) major events in
present day regions of the world, and draw inferences about their importance.
• SS-8-G-S-1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of patterns on Earth’s surface using a variety of
geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, charts, graphs, photographs, models): locate, in absolute or relative terms,
landforms and bodies of water.
Suggested Reading/Resources
1. How Limestone Caves are Formed (Claymation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j23TqoMNPY8
2. How are Caves Formed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUrWsJmKSMw
3. Mysterious Lives of Caves by PBS America
4. Cave Geology by Arthur N. Palmer
5. Geological Guide to Mammoth Cave National Park by Arthur N. Palmer
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