The Colorado Springs School 1st grade formation lab, 2:00-3:15PM
January 22, 2018
Thanks to Tracy Jackson for helping with this fun program!
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Thanks to Tracy Jackson for helping with this fun program!
Working with high school students is so rewarding! I had the honor of teaching young men and women about vertical caving, but more importantly about leadership, teamwork, and self reliance during a mock rescue in the CaveSim system at CityRock. We had search teams, comms team, medic, and evac team. There were bumps in the road, but the students learned a lot and so did I. A big thank-you to teacher Cole Paris of The University School for being the patient in the mock rescue, and for co-teaching with me.
At CityRock, our caving camps are about much more than just having fun. Our participants learn the conservation ethic, and sometimes get to put what they’ve learned into practice. During a recent real caving trip, our participants took the time to clean up some terrible vandalism done by thoughtless people. Here are some pictures of the vandalized area before and after the cleanup:
It’s sad that thoughtless people feel the need to leave their mark on beautiful natural areas, but it’s encouraging that we get to teach young people both to not wreck an area and also to help clean up after others.
Art has it’s place, but that place isn’t on a cave wall covered in delicate crystals! This is what our caving campers took the initiative to clean up. Photos by Khylin Verplank.
After the cleanup, no evidence is left of the mud sculptures on the delicate wall. Photo by Gabe Wright.
Our campers also learned about calcium carbide during this fun demo:
What an awesome event! We had so many fun-loving science teachers crawl and climb through CaveSim, and we presented our awesome hands-on CaveSim biology and STEM programs.
Ever wonder what grade levels can do CaveSim? During this awesome program for The University School, we worked with every grade from pre-K through high school. Because we have such a breadth of program capability, each grade level loved our program and we successfully worked with about 200 students from 9AM-5PM. The staff is already scheduling more programs with us for January 2018!
A huge thank-you to Chuck Bitting, Jim Goodbar (BLM), and Jim Kennedy for working with us to bring CaveSim to this excellent scientific conference.
A huge thanks to caver Rachel McArthur for working with us to set up this great program at her daughter Brooklyn’s school. Students in grades K-5 learned geology, cave rescue, safe caving, conservation, and more.
Left, Dave helps with helmets while answering questions about caves. Right, students practice teamwork with a cave rescue stretcher. Photos by Rachel McArthur.
Kids love exploring CaveSim, and are sometimes awestruck. Photos by Rachel McArthur.
CaveSim is about learning and having fun at the same time. Left, students learn speleology (the study of how caves form) and, right, some basic measurement skills with the squeezebox. Photos by Rachel McArthur.
A big thanks to STEM Lab teacher Katie Stiers for helping us coordinate this event! About 150 5th grade students participated in our three-station program (bats, squeezebox/sked, and CaveSim). A big thanks to Gill Gilliland for helping with this program.
5th grade students have fun while learning all about caves, geology, chemistry, math, biology, and leadership. Photos by Katie Stiers.
What a great event! We’ve been attending since 2011, and we’re honored to participate again this year. Since the trailer was on the East Coast, we had our vertical caving tower at the CoolScience Carnival, plus our squeezebox, carbide lamp demos, Skedco stretcher, and cave rescue phones. A huge thanks to Jackson F, Dan S, Gabe W, Lydia G, and Hadley B for staffing this great event from 10AM-4:30PM!
A big thanks go teacher Lisa Saroka for working with us to bring CaveSim to northwest Georgia for 82 eager 3rd graders to explore! Here’s Lisa’s article about the program.
Youngs Grove students explore CaveSim. Photos by Lisa Saroka.
CaveSim was extremely popular during our first trip to the TAG Fall Cave-In. Cavers of all ages took roughly 400 trips through the mobile cave over a 2.5 day period. We kept the cave open for about 32 hours, including consecutively from 9AM-1AM on Friday! Check out the Cave-In on Facebook to learn more.
We had a great turnout and lots of teacher enthusiasm at this evening event for public school teachers in the Pikes Peak Region. Hey kids: did you know that teachers can explore CaveSim too?
Teachers geared up exploring CaveSim. Photos by Nancy Roberts.
Teachers learning about drapery formations (cave bacon) from Dave. Photos by Nancy Roberts.
CaveSim was a huge hit at this great free public event.
CaveSim is fun for kids of all ages. Father (left) and son (right) had a great time exploring together. Photos by Tracy Jackson
We teach more than just crawling. Left, learning about basic electronics with our cave rescue phones, and right Dave talks with a visitor while Mick helps a boy learn how to ascend using the Frog System. Photos by Tracy Jackson.
Left, Dave hangs out during the interview. Right, Dave inside The Portal (life-size Skype) talking with a physician and a mathematician in Afghanistan. Dave got to talk with the two men about caving, vertical caving gear, education, and a host of other subjects. Photos by Blue Leaf von Muller.
Dave talks with Deborah Thornton of Imagination Celebration / What If Festival while harnessing up for the early-morning interview with Fox21. Photo by Blue Leaf von Muller.
We were honored to be invited back to present at this educator conference. Dave presented to both Child Development Center (CDC) and School-Age Center staff, and taught them six hands-on STEM activities, all centered around caves. Tracy presented two sessions on environmental education, including a subterranean critters class. We already have new ideas for next year, so if you’re an FSS staff person attending this conference, be sure to sign up for our sessions!
About 18 students from the Falcon Trail Youth Center at the US Air Force Academy came to the CaveSim installation at CityROCK Climbing Gym to get a taste of vertical caving (rappelling, ascending). They also explored the CaveSim system under the climbing gym, which they loved. The program was so popular that we’re planning a week-long version for the spring.
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.