We had a great turnout for this free public event, which officially ran from 10AM-3PM (although we ran from 9:45 to 3:30 to accommodate the strong turnout). A big thank you to Alf Hawkins for sharing his photos:
This wonderful program was put on with fantastic help from several Austin park rangers.
Above, Dave teaches students about cave chemistry while they wait to explore CaveSim. Below, CaveSim staffer Mary Hicks helps students learn about pulleys, mechanical advantage, friction, and other physics concepts on the 12′ CaveSim A-Frame. Photos by Melody Alcazar, Cities Connecting Children to Nature.
Above, students try the CaveSim squeezebox with help from an Austin Park Ranger. The park rangers did a great job of helping us staff this fun program. Below, students practice teamwork and communication skills with the cave rescue stretcher (Sked). Photos by Melody Alcazar, Cities Connecting Children to Nature.
This was a great program for 3rd-5th graders, with awesome help from Dylan and Lindsey, as well as CaveSim staff member Mary Hicks.
This was a wonderful program for all of the 2nd graders at Hill.
Dave was honored to be invited by Geary Schindel to be the guest speaker at an installment of the Edwards Aquifer Brown Bag Lunch series. In addition to presenting about CaveSim’s educational activities, Dave and CaveSim staff member Mary Hicks brought CaveSim to the Edwards Aquifer Authority for staff and visitors to explore. Despite the rain, we had about twenty folks explore the cave during their lunch break. A big thank-you to Alf Hawkins for taking the pictures below and allowing us to share them with you!
What an awesome turnout we had for this two-day event! We had wonderful help from volunteers Jon Cradit and Frances Ruby, as well as from CaveSim staff member Mary Hicks.
Above, San Antonio caver Bennett Lee is all smiles as he explores CaveSim for the first time, and some siblings have fun learning about vertical caving on the 12′ CaveSim tower. Photos by Frances Ruby.
Below, a zoomed-in picture of our new, comfy, and very safe Bosun’s chair (which is also much easier to put on than a traditional harness).
We were so excited to be invited back to this awesome school! We had wonderful help from CaveSim staff member Mary Hicks and volunteer Patty Calabrese.
Above, a participant gets first-hand experience with pulleys and mechanical advantage on the 12′ CaveSim A-frame. Photo by Teresa Johnson.
Below, learning about stalactites and other speleothems from CaveDave (in red). Photo by Teresa Johnson.
A busy day at CaveSim despite the cold weather at our DMNS program. Photo by Teresa Johnson.
In partnership with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife (CPW), we put on a great program for 123 students and family members. We had fantastic help from friend and fellow caver Christine Kirkland, and the weather was perfect for the evening program. The photos below are by CPW staff.
CaveSim’s Dave Jackson, in red, teaches students about the physics of pulleys and friction as they have fun on the 12′ CaveSim A-frame.
Kids have fun exploring CaveSim, and learning from awesome CaveSim helper Christine Kirkland.
We had great weather and a fantastic turnout for this free public event. Thank you to all those who helped make this program possible, including Layla Borgens.
Photo by Floyd Fernandez
Despite rain, the 7th grade had a great time learning about caves, groundwater, and biology. This event was made possible by a fantastic partnership with the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Authority.
Kids from around Austin came to the Doris Miller Rec Center for a fun, hands-on program all about caves, science, and conservation. This program was made possible by the generosity of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department, and reached a great group of students from diverse backgrounds.
Above, an Austin Nature & Science Center staff member uses the CaveSim squeezebox to teach kids about math and measurement skills. Photo by ANSC staff.
Below, CaveSim inventor Dave Jackson (in red) demonstrates speleogenesis (how caves form) using weak acid and a variety of rock types. Photo by ANSC staff.
Above, students gain first-hand experience with physics and mechanical advantage using the CaveSim tower. Photo by ANSC staff.
Above left, boys get ready to enter CaveSim. Above right, two brothers and their dad get first-hand experience with pulleys and mechanical advantage on the CaveSim tower. Photos by City of Austin staff.
This six-day program for hundreds of students in three schools was an exciting expansion of our four-day program last year. A huge thank-you to teacher and caver Deitra Biely for putting this together with us, and also to the Grove Public School foundation (GEFFE) for funding the program. Our staff for the program did a phenomenal job, and included Mary Hicks, Jesse Yazetti, and Brent Biely.
Here are some pictures by Mary Hicks of the high school portion of our program:
Below, just finished with a fun trip through CaveSim, and having fun learning about pulleys, mechanical advantage, and other physics concepts on the CaveSim 12′ A-frame.
Below, getting first-hand experience with friction via our rope-cutting demo.
Below, learning some basic electronics concepts while having fun with cave rescue phones.
6th grade teacher Kim Hampton also took some photos of our program with her students:
All smiles while emerging from CaveSim, and while having fun with the squeezebox (and learning some math).
We’re honored to have partnered with Glenwood Caverns to have CaveSim represented at this great event for show cave owners and staff.
What a great free public program! Thanks to our great volunteers, including Darren Kelley, Craig Yoder, and Cara and John Green and their kids.
Photos by Tracy Jackson.
At 5:30AM, Dave did the following live interview on KOAA News5:
A very well-attended 3-day program in a beautiful part of the country!
Roughly 300 people (including 60 3rd graders) enjoyed our programs at Cumberland Gap NHP, and several families had so much fun that they came back a second day. We had fantastic help from a great group of local cavers, including Cheryl Pratt, Stuart Daw, Darin Baird, and Dr. Terri Brown. Additional thanks to Michael Gundlach for coming all the way from Georgia to help staff this program.
Huge thanks to Jennifer Shackelford of the Mammoth Cave Environmental Education department for organizing these programs, and for providing staffing to help us teach about 580 students over the past two days! We worked with 330 7th grade students on Tuesday, and 250 4th graders on Wednesday. Long-time CaveSim supporter and friend Michael Gundlach also helped with the programs, and came all the way from Georgia to do so!
The photos below are by the Allen County Schools PR staff.
Below, Michael Gundlach introduces students to the many CaveSim activities they will experience, including the squeezebox on which he’s standing.
Below, Dave helps students adjust their helmets in preparation for exploring CaveSim.
Below, a student with an especially good answer gets a high five from Dave during a lesson on speleology (how caves form)
Below, Ranger Jim holds down the lid of the squeezebox while CaveSim staffer Michael Gundlach helps a student measure the opening of the box.
What an amazing turnout we had this year at Convention! Lots of local folks enjoyed our free public events, as featured in this TV segment from KTVH:
On Thursday of Convention week, we spent all morning with a great group of kids enrolled in an Inventions camp at the local museum, ExplorationWorks. Museum staff member Connor Hague took the great pictures below.
On Monday and Tuesday, we worked with a different set of summer camp participants. These elementary school students were participating in a science camp being held at the Convention site (Capital High School). Each group of campers spent several hours with us.
Above, a mixed group of camp participants and young cavers learns about pulleys and mechanical advantage on the 12 foot CaveSim tower. Photo by Jessica Gordon.
Above, a group of summer camp students learns about CaveSim from Dave prior to donning helmets to explore the system. Photo by Nancy Aulenbach.
Above, a student prepares to take a ride in the CaveSim Sked while other students receive instructions from Dave. Photo by Nancy Aulenbach.
On Tuesday, Dave presented at the Conservation Tuesday session. After the session, attendees came out to learn first-hand about our conservation lessons.
Above, Dave presents during the Conservation Tuesday talks. Below, Convention attendees gather by the trailer to learn about the conservation education work that we’re doing with CaveSim. Photos by Jessica Gordon.
A special thanks to our volunteers! During Convention week, we had amazing help from Nancy and Brent Aulenbach, Foz Trautner, Jeff Gobin, Barb Smith, Aimee Beveridge, Ken Newton, Kathy Keeler, Beth Cortright, Red Schrock, Charles Kahn, Kate Bach, Andrea Croskrey, Van, Sierra Hiemel, Gabe Wright, and many others.
Barb Bentzin and Bob Montgomery with 
Above, participants finish exploring CaveSim, and have fun learning about pulleys and mechanical advantage from Gabe Wright. Photos by Ravalli County Museum staff.
We had such a great time bringing CaveSim to this great museum, and we are so excited that we were able to work alongside Mike McEachern and his wife, who have created the incredible Illuminating Darkness exhibit (shown in Mike’s pictures below).
CaveSim designs, builds, and uses interactive caves to teach kids about conservation and science. We believe that kids who know better become adults who do better.