The Topic:  Caves Easier - A cave is a large hole. It may be underground, in the side of a hill or mountain, or under a cliff. A cavern is a large cave.   Caves are natural shelters. Animals often live in caves. A person who lives in a cave is called a cave dweller. During prehistoric times, cave dwellers painted pictures on the cave walls.   Harder - A cave is an underground hollow or passage that is formed when water runs through an area with enough force to dissolve or wear away rock. Over many years as the water evaporates and simply drips, it leaves tiny deposits of calcium carbonate (calcite). These drops form rock sculptures that look like icicles called stalactites and stalagmites. Stalactites hang from the ceiling and stalagmites form from the ground up. To remember the difference, stalactites have a 'c' in the word for 'ceiling' and stalagmites have a 'g' for 'ground.' If they come together in the center, they become columns.     Caves Theme Page from Gander Academy http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/cave.htm This comprehensive website for caves includes cave types, animals and plants, cave uses, exploration of caves, cave features, teacher resources, and more.   Exploring Caves from the U.S. Geological Survey http://www.usgs.gov/education/learnweb/caves/intro.htm This website describes the different types of caves, their care and protection, defines cave dwelling animals, and shows where caves are located in the U.S.   Underground World of Caves  http://cdis.missouri.edu/previews/6252/6252.htm This online class examines the geology and ecology of caves. The course also describes safe methods of cave exploration.   Virtual Cave  http://www.goodearthgraphics.com/virtcave.html Browse the mineral wonders unique to the cave environment! Here are collected images from around the world, combined to generate an 'ideal' cave . . . one that contains an example of every major type of speleothem, or secondary mineral deposit.   Choose one or more of the following cave projects or activities.   Try Some Cave Fun. Try some cave activities at the Kentucky Caverns Student Activities and Cave of the Winds sites. You might also want to explore a cave at Pathways (Part of the Mysteries of the Caminos Reales ThinkQuest Project) to find a fictional treasure.   Create Your Own Cave Art. Check out some of the ancient cave art at sites like La grotte de Lascaux (move your pointer/flashlight), and Virtual Tour of Cave Painting. If you lived in a cave, what would you paint? Go to Ancient Cave Paintings and follow the directions to create your own cave art.   Virtual Tour. Explore the Virtual Cave, The Armchair Caver, Colossal Cave, Mulu, Limestone Pavement, and Ruby Falls Virtual Tour. Create your own cave tour using HyperStudio. Create a stack that contains examples of stalactites and stalagmites, columns, waterfalls, and other cool features.   Complete a Cave WebQuest. Follow the procedures at one of these webQuest sites:  1) Bats,Bats, Everywhere http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/ 2) Bat WebQuest (Grade 2) http://www.wcboe.k12.md.us/mainfold/schoopag/elementary/param ount/class_webs/2/batwebquest.htm 3) Cave Art by C. Royal (Grade 6) http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/lewis/caveart/ 4) Cave Exploration in Wisconsin (Grade 4) http://www.west-bend.k12.wi.us/webquest/caves/caveweb.htm 5) Going Batty by N. Cope http://webtech.kennesaw.edu/ncope/webquest.htm 6) Spelunking Fun!! http://www.esc9.net/c&i/Caves/caves%20web.htm   Write A Cave Story. After learning about caves, write your own story about a cave. Illustrate it with your own artwork. Share it with friends.   Complete An Online Cave Course. Go to the Underground World of Caves and study the geology and ecology of caves and safe methods of cave exploration.   Website By Kids For Kids Caves and Caverns ( 2001 Junior Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112123/ Learn about different types of caves, how caves are formed, cave creatures, and formations.   Goin' Batty http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/5813/?tqskip=1 This site contains information and illustrations of all kinds of bats.   Lava Tube Caves Near Bend, Oregon http://bend.k12.or.us/jewell2/caves/index.html Learn about cave exploration, safety, formations, and lots more at this site by fourth grade students in Oregon.   Spelunking Wonderland: Caves, Caverns, and Crevices (2000 ThinkQuest Junior Project) http://library.thinkquest.org/J002339/ This website takes visitors on visits to a variety of U.S. caves and caverns as well as some abroad. Explore the different natural formations and animal life that live there.   Underground in the Deep and Dark (1998 ThinkQuest Junior Project) http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3893/ This site covers caving, and tunnels.   More Websites on Caves Armchair Caver http://web.ukonline.co.uk/arthur.vause/ Explore clickable maps that link to photographs of the cave. The maps are just hand drawn and don't show all passages.   Biospeleology from the Illinois Natural History Survey http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~sjtaylor/cave/biospeleol.html Within caves a diverse biota may be found, exhibiting varying degrees of adaptation to the subterranean environment. Here you find information and links about cave habitats and fauna, as well as cave protection and related topics.   Cave Dwellers http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/25/0258c000.htm Learn more about cave dwellers, a term used to designate ancient people who occupied caves in various parts of the world.   Cave of the Winds http://www.caveofthewinds.com/test/kidpage.html The site includes cave terms, a full glossary with pictures as well as a cave quiz and bat quiz!   Caving by G. Baddeley http://home.mira.net/~gnb/caving/ This site contains a small collection of articles and papers on caving, photographs, and links to some other caving resources.   Conservation Goes Underground by R. Johnson and M. McGimsey  http://conservation.state.mo.us/conmag/1995/dec/johnson.html This article reminds us that caves have unique rock formations, fragile species of wildlife, and cool, clear, flowing waters . . . all needing protection.   Expedition Rescue Guide from the Oxford University Cave Club http://www.mcs.le.ac.uk/~glowe/Caving/rescue/rescue.html This is the site of a brief online guide to carrying out a cave rescue.   Formation of Caves at Kentucky Caverns http://www.kdu.com/caveform.html Here you learn how caves are formed. Related Websites: 2) Cave Ecology http://www.kdu.com/caveecol.html 3) Caver's Glossary and Tips http://www.kdu.com/caveglos.html 4) Formation of Caves by J. Stanley http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/StanleyJ/Default.htm 5) How Caves in This Area Were Formed from Mammoth Cave Online http://www.mammothcave.com/howformd.htm 6) Glossary of Cave Terms from Mammoth Cave Online http://www.mammothcave.com/glossary.htm   Glossary of Speleological and Caving Terms Australian Speleological Federation Inc. http://home.mira.net/~gnb/caving/glossary/index.html This Australian caving glossary was developed form the earlier publications of J.N. Jenninngs (1960, 1985) and M.G. Meth (1998).    Limestone Pavement http://www.ambleside.schoolzone.co.uk/ambleweb/virtual/limestn.htm Find the cave entrance, click and enter for a brief fun trip into a cave in the potholing region of North Yorkshire.   National Speleological Society http://www.caves.org/ This is the comprehensive website of an organization dedicated to cave study, conservation, and exploration. Related Websites: 2) Wisconsin Speleological Society http://www.caves.org/grotto/wss/   Our Caves and Subterranean Habitats from Oakland Museum of California http://www.museumca.org/caves/onli_realm.html Take an online tour of sea caves, mud caves, lava tubes, talus caves, and wind caves.   Visit Online Caves Caves of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia  http://www.saudicaves.com/index.html Here you can view cool reports and pictures of the caves of the Saudi Arabian desert.   Kartchner Caverns State Park  http://www.pr.state.az.us/parkhtml/kartchner.html Kartchner Caverns State Park is a wet 'live' cave where water still percolates from the surface and calcium carbonate features are still growing.   Kungur Ice Cave http://www.showcaves.com/english/misc/showcaves/Kungur.html Learn about a legendary cave whose known passages stretch under the ground for over 6000 meters. This is only the part which has already been explored. To this day old slides and crumblings make it unsafe to determine the total length of the passages.   La grotte de Lascaux (Cave of Lascaux)  http://www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/fr/ (French) http://www.culture.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/ (English) Take a virtual tour of this cave in the Pyrenees renowned for more than 1500 Paleolithic paintings on the walls. Related Cave Painting Websites: 2) Cave of Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/chauvet/en/ 3) Paleolithic Painted Cave of Lascaux http://www-sor.inria.fr/~pierre/lascaux/ 4) Lascaux: A Virtual Reality Installation http://www.earthchannel.com/gallery/ben/ben08.htm  5) Virtual Tour of Cave Painting http://www.hbschool.com/activity/cavepaintings/cavepaintings.html   Murciélagos que viven en España (In Spanish)  http://www2.uca.es/huesped/giex/murciesp.htm Explore the caves of Spain and learn about bats. Identify different species. Find out why they live in the caves, and how they are protected by law.   Park Geology of Cave and Karst Parks (National Park Service)  http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/tour/caves.htm This page lists parks that have a common geologic theme (caves) and links to webpages about each park's geologic features Related NPS Website: 2) Cave and Karst Resources http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/geology/caves/index.htm   Ruby Falls Virtual Tour http://www.rubyfalls.com/about/virtual/entrance.html Here you find information on caves and how they form. Related Webpage: 2) Geology http://www.rubyfalls.com/about/geology.html   Cave Creature Websites All About Bats! by K. Mitchell/  http://www.homestead.com/bpe/bats.html This website has information, activities, and lesson plans on bats. Other Bat Sites: 2) Bats http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats/ 3) Bats from Jaguar Paw http://www.jaguarpaw.com/Bats.html 4) Bats, Bats Everywhere http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/ 5) The Bat Cave http://www.torstar.com/rom/batcave/index.html 6) Bat Conservation International http://www.batcon.org/ 7) Fun Facts About Bats http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/adv/kidspage/bats/bats.htm 8) Introduction to Bats from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service http://endangered.fws.gov/bats/bats.htm 9) Let's Learn About Bats from Riverdeep http://www.xcursioncentral.com/Xcursions/dynamic/splash.cfm?id=1171   Bats at Collossal Cave Mountain Park, Tucson, Arizona  http://www.colossalcave.com/bats.html Colossal Cave Mountain Park serves as home or way station to almost half the bat species found in the state of Arizona, including some rare and threatened ones. Other Sites on Cave Bats: 2) The Bat Cave http://www.torstar.com/rom/batcave/ 3) Bats Bats Everywhere http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/ See also Creatures of the Night   Blind Creatures from Cool Fact of the Day  http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/09/03.html Here you learn about animals that spend their entire lives in underground caves, living in complete darkness. Similar Websites: 2) Cave Critters http://www.umsl.edu/~joellaws/ozark_caving/mss/cavelife.htm 3) Biospeleology http://www.utexas.edu/depts/tnhc/.www/biospeleology/   Websites For Teachers About Bats, Caves, & Deserts from the National Park Service http://www.nps.gov/cave/home.htm Here is the teachers guide (Go to Teacherguide) to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.   Caves (Grade 4)  http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/ParkerA/lesson_plan.htm This lesson plan has some built-in resources and a classroom activity.   Exploring Caves from the U.S. Geological Survey (Grades K-3) http://www.usgs.gov/education/learnweb/caves/intro.htm This site contains lesson plans and activities for learning about caves.   Goin' Batty! (Grade K) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2221/bat.html Here is an extensive plan for a unit on bats. Other Bat Lessons and Activities: 2) Bats - Helpful Creatures of the Night (Grade 3) from Access Indiana's Teaching Learning Center http://tlc.ai.org/lessons/batlp.htm 3) Thematic Lesson on Bats (Grade K-3) by K. Mitchell and B. Parker  http://www.homestead.com/bpe/batplan.html   Lessons from Environmental Education Committee (EEC), National Speleological Society http://www.caves.org/committee/education/lessons.htm Here is a collection of lesson plans.   Student Activities at Kentucky Caverns http://www.kdu.com/kcsch.html Here are several lesson plans for caves.   stalactite stalagmite cave-in limestone chamber spelunker cave dweller cave painting cavern water carbon dioxide carbonic acid calcite onyx flowstone cave coral sinkhole soda straw popcorn column drapery bat speleothem 'show cave' carbonate gypsum flower sea cave lava cave ice cave sandstone cave 'creatures of the night" trogloxene troglobite blind crayfish cave beetle cave salamander camel backed cricket halite biospeleology karst topography karst subterranean guano lava tube darkness entrance passageway safety       Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, Updated by Nancy Smith, 9/01.