News

The Colorado Springs School, Spring Hackathon Seminar

March 7, 2017

What an incredible program! Students in grades 6-8 learned basic circuits, programmed microcontrollers, and built cave-proof electronics projects. They got to test their projects in a giant bucket of muddy cave water, and then bring the projects down to CityROCK to try them in the CaveSim system there.  Not only that, but each student got to rappel into the cave, and everyone got a behind-the-scenes tour of the system and the associated electronics.

     Learning soldering (left) and “Look at what I built! It works!”  All photos in this post by CSS staff.

     Left: Dave helps a student debug his circuit.  Right: Building a circuit with a computer chip!

   Left: Students work on their circuits. They also learned computer programming by writing code for their computer chips. Center: caver Patricia Malone helps a student. Right: Learning to use power tools to drill holes in a container for a waterproof flashlight.

   Left: Reviewing a design by talking with Dave. Right: Circuits are for girls!

Please buy from our generous NEW sponsor

February 20, 2017

Because cavers love a nice warm tub, and every tub needs a replacement cover at some point!  The Cover Guy has everything you need for your tub: hot tub covers, lifters, hot tub filters, chemicals, and accessories.  Plus, they have a great blog.

Kartchner Caverns Cave Fest

January 22, 2017

We had great turnout for our third visit to Kartchner Caverns in Arizona.  Check out our event flier to see all of the activities we did over a 2-day period.  A huge thank-you to cavers Teresa and Hanna for helping.

  

A caver from one of the Tucson grottos explores CaveSim. Photo: Dave Jackson

  

Belinda Norby, a caver from Tucson, takes pictures of her friend, who was visible on the CaveSim night vision cameras. Photo: Dave Jackson.

Winter Break Caving Camp at The Cave at CityROCK Climbing Center

December 30, 2016

Campers ages 8-16 learned rappelling and ascending in our CaveSim system at CityROCK climbing gym. The campers made the most of their winter break, and had a great time — our quote of the week: “Mom, this was the best camp ever. I want to come back and do it again,” James, age 8.

Ellen learns to rappel using a rack in the 40′ pit entrance of CaveSim at CityROCK. Photo: Dave Jackson

James learns to rappel on the climbing walls before rappelling in CaveSim.  Photo: Gill Gilliland.

 

On June 25th, 2016 we opened this amazing new cave to the public. Come explore over 225′ of highly realistic water-carved passage, including a 40′ rappel / ascent. Try not to bump into any of the 50+ beautiful cave formations, and compete with friends using the computer system.  More cave passage coming soon!

Carson Middle School STEM Night

December 6, 2016

Many middle school students explored CaveSim (some as many as 7 times!) despite freezing temperatures and snow (this was definitely our coldest program on record).  A big thanks to Lydia and James for helping us with this event, which ran from 4-6PM.

Pikes Peak Council Boy Scout Family Campout

October 15, 2016

This completely free event was made possible by our generous sponsors Barb Bentzin and Bob Montgomery.  Hundreds of Scouts and their families explored CaveSim and did our many other activities.

   

Left: Dave teaches about gypsum flowers. Right: Waiting to explore.

CoolScience Festival

October 8, 2016

Over 300 people visited our mobile CaveSim system at this great free public event. This was our sixth year in a row attending CoolScience!  Please visit us next year on the UCCS West Lawn (WL).

Parents watch their kids on the night-vision cameras. Photo: Dave Jackson.

Dave talks with participants about our new cave simulator at CityROCK. Photo: Jim Taylor.

Dave teaches cave conservation as kids and adults wait to try CaveSim. The cave model was by 4th and 5th grade students in a Catamount Institute YES Club. Photo: Jim Taylor.

CaveSim awarded second patent

August 23, 2016

We are excited to report that CaveSim is now covered by a second patent, US 9,399,178 B1.  We’re always innovating and working hard to bring novel solutions to the problem of cave conservation education.

NSS Convention, Ely, NV

July 22, 2016

Local kids learn about cave conservation while waiting to explore CaveSim at a free event in Ely, NV before the 2016 NSS Convention. Photo by Chris Hanefeld, BLM.

A child finishes exploring CaveSim during the free public event in Ely before the 2016 NSS Convention. Photo by Chris Hanefeld, BLM.

CaveSim at the 75th Anniversary NSS Convention is funded by grants from Nevada Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Great Basin Heritage Area Partnership.

 

Additional sponsorship is provided by:

                           

Girl Scout Troop 1983

July 9, 2016

About a dozen girls got to explore the new cave that we built at CityROCK climbing center.  They also experienced all of our traditional program activities: cave rescue stretcher, carbide-on-ice demo, cave rescue phones, and Bat And Moth (the echolocation game).

Atlas Preparatory School REACH Beyond summer program

June 20, 2016

29 5th-7th grade students explored CaveSim today from 11:45AM-1:45PM, and enjoyed bat games, carbide demonstrations, and practiced their cave rescue skills.  Many Atlas Prep students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, so our program was completely free, thanks to donations from Barbara Bentzin, Bob Montomery, and Dick Blenz.

Colorado Springs School REACH summer program

June 16, 2016
As you can see on the Colorado Springs School website, “The Mission of REACH is to provide middle school students who typically don’t have access to a college preparatory experience with a challenging summer program emphasizing 21st-century learning that will increase their ability to enter and succeed in college.”
For fourth year in a row, REACH students explored CaveSim, learned about many STEM concepts (hands-on electronics demos, carbide demos, measuring and using the squeezebox, bat biology, speleology, teamwork, etc.) all while having a great time from 9:30-11:30AM.
Dave shows a student how to adjust his helmet before exploring CaveSim. Photo by Rachel Sagahon.
 
Almost to the surface again, and having a great time. “Can I go through again?” Photo by Rachel Sagahon.
 
Students carry a classmate in the cave rescue stretcher (Sked). A big thanks to Joe Kirkendall (at left) for running many of the stations at today’s event. Photo by Rachel Sagahon.
 
Getting ready to try the CaveSim squeezebox set at 6.25″. Yes, she did make it through. Photo by Rachel Sagahon.

Falcon Middle School 6th grade

May 22, 2016

120 6th grade students explored CaveSim, learned geology from caver Jesse Rochette, practiced cave rescue with our Sked, learned electronics with our cave rescue phones (and an HP oscilloscope!), and played in the squeezebox.  A huge thank-you to Pat Malone for helping kids put on helmets and knee pads, and another huge thank-you to Margaret Browne, 6th grade teacher, for helping us set up and for working with us throughout the day.

Students getting suited up to explore CaveSim.  Photo by Dave Jackson.

Many things happen at once at CaveSim. At left, several boys watch the computer monitors to see how well their classmates are doing in the cave (the monitors show “damage” points for each cave formation, and also show live night-vision camera feeds of the inside of the cave).  At right, students use the squeezebox to see how tight a space they can fit through.  Photo by Dave Jackson.

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.

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