Because caves seem mysterious, they are a fascinating topic for middle school students. Some kids might have had the opportunity to visit one of the many caves that feature lights and tour guides and may be eager to talk about those. You might motivate kids by talking about Tom Sawyer's adventures in the cave or other books and movies with cave settings.
Famous Caves
Divide students into groups and assign each group a famous cave in the United States, such as Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Jewel Cave and Wind Cave in South Dakota and the Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico. Assign students to research their cave, finding out such things as its history, features and size. Then give them the opportunity to create a paper mache model of what the cave looks like from the outside.
Cave Paintings
Give students the opportunity to learn something about cave paintings and other man-made graphics. Provide students with drawing paper and ask them to replicate graphics they find from caves in Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, India and Europe. On the back of each sheet, ask them to write a short sentence about the time period in which the work was done.
Interview a Spelunker
Find a local spelunker who would be interested in talking to your students or contact the National Caves Association for someone who might be willing to do a telephone or online interview. Prepare kids with some basic information before the interview so their questions are appropriate and will provide plenty of material for a written report.
Animal Life in Caves
Teach kids the difference among the kinds of animal life related to caves: the trogloxenes, who live near caves; the troglophiles, who live in caves but leave to find food; and the troglobites, who never leave the cave. Ask students to make a chart and list the names of specific animals that fall into each group.
Caves as Homes
Students may be surprised to learn people still live in caves today, such as some Chinese people who enjoy the natural coolness of caves in summer and the warmth of caves in winter. Provide students with maps of the world and have them do some research and then mark areas where people live today or in the past have lived in caves. They should color code these marks and then use the colors as a key on another sheet of page where they record a short description.
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