There’s certainly benefit to working with smaller groups. We worked with just 55 students during this program, but these 5th graders got to do so many different activities, including our karst topography lab, and geology demos (below).
Above, students watch a rock dissolution demo. Photo by Vivian Loftin.
Above, students play with cave rescue phones as part of a lesson about basic electronics. Photo by Vivian Loftin.
On the evening of February 28th, we hurried over from McCallum High School to Wooldridge Elementary for an evening family science night, which kids loved. We also worked with roughly 250 students in 1st-4th grade on March 1st, and we had amazing help from several Austin park rangers and from Vivian Loftin.
Here are some teacher quotes about the program, gathered by Melody Alcazar (Cities Connecting Children to Nature):
The survey also found that 10 out of 10 teachers said “Yes” when asked, “Would you like your students to participate if the CaveSim is brought back next year?” These teachers rated the CaveSim experience a 9.5 out of 10.
We worked with over 1,100 students over the course of this four day program, and students learned about a wide variety of subjects, from conservation of mass/energy with carbide lamp demos to electromagnetism with cave rescue phone demos. We had great help from Robin Gary and Jackie Vay of the Edwards Aquifer Barton Springs Conservation District, as well as from Denise and Mimi.
High school students get hands-on physics lessons with help from CaveSim staff member Mary Hicks. Photo by Edward Johnson, MacJournalism, McCallum HS.
Having fun with the squeezebox. Photo by Greg Alvarez, MacJournalism, McCallum HS.
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.
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.