Last updated: January 17, 2024
Lesson Plan
Buffalo Caves and Karst
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- Grade Level:
- Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
- Subject:
- Science
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- K-ESS2-1, K-ESS3-3, G.9.K.1, G.9.1.1, 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-2, 2-ESS2-3, G.9.2.1, 3-LS4-3, 4ESS1-1, 4-ESS2-1, 5-ESS3-1, 6-ESS3-3, 7-ESS3-1, 7-ESS2-2, 7-ESS2-3
- Thinking Skills:
- Remembering: Recalling or recognizing information ideas, and principles. Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
What can a land formation (ex. cave, stalagmite) tell us about the past?
How can a place shift and change with time?
Objective
Students will determine how erosion occurs in karst landscapes and how caves and other landforms are formed in this environment.
Background
It is important to learn about karst landscapes within Buffalo National River because Arkansas has one of the largest karst networks in the Midwest United States. The geologic processes in this area form caves, sinkholes, springs, and disappearing streams. Buffalo National River has all of these in various areas of the park.
Preparation
Print out lesson plan and compile images to be used to display karst landscapes and cave formations. Images may be found on the NPSgallery (NPGallery Search (nps.gov)) for various landscape and cave formations.
Formations related to Buffalo National River may be found in our website gallery.
Ensure you have the following:
1. Pictures of caves, bluff shelters, sinkholes, springs, and disappearing stream
2. Different pictures of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and cave popcorn
3. Paper plate
4. Modeling clay
Lesson Hook/Preview
Warm up:
Show students images of a bluff shelter, cave, spring, a sinkhole, and a disappearing stream. Teacher will ask students what these pictures have in common (rocks, water, pebbles, brown). These are all formed in a karst landscape.
Procedure
- Introduce karst landscapes
- A karst landscape is a type of landscape where sedimentary rocks such as limestone and dolomite are dissolved over time. This creates erosion and leads to the formation of caves, sinkholes, springs and disappearing streams.
Water then percolates through rock and dissolves it over time. This creates openings and leads to erosion forming various karst features. - What controls or contributes to karst?
- Limestone rock near the surface, rainwater, and groundwater circulation all factor into karst.
- What kind of features can be found in karst landscapes?
- Caves and caverns, sinkholes, springs, and disappearing streams can all be found within karst landscapes.
- Caves and caverns, sinkholes, springs, and disappearing streams can all be found within karst landscapes.
- A karst landscape is a type of landscape where sedimentary rocks such as limestone and dolomite are dissolved over time. This creates erosion and leads to the formation of caves, sinkholes, springs and disappearing streams.
- Pose the question: How are caves formed?
- Rainwater
- Showcase how rainwater perlocates through limestone, and how overtime an area underground becomes hollow and grows with time.
- How water flows influences what landscapes are created. A cave's water flow varies from a spring.
- Cave formations also show how water flows. These include stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and cave popcorn.
- Rainwater
- Activity #1 - What is it?
- A short group activity, each student will get a picture of a cave formation. Everyone with the same formation will get in a group and describe the formation they got.
- A short group activity, each student will get a picture of a cave formation. Everyone with the same formation will get in a group and describe the formation they got.
- Introduce life in caves and leave no trace principles
- Caves both create life and provide for it. It's important to be mindful of animals living or using caves such as bats, salamanders, cave fish, and for limited stretches of time, people.
- White Nose Syndrome - fungus spread to caves that can be deadly for infected bats.
- Why are bats important?
- Indian Rockhouse is a bluff shelter and cave within Buffalo National River's karst landscape. Pictures of the cave, waterfall, and nearby creeks should be shown to tie everything together.
- Close out with cave safety and leave no trace principles.
- Caves both create life and provide for it. It's important to be mindful of animals living or using caves such as bats, salamanders, cave fish, and for limited stretches of time, people.
- Activity #2 - Make a Cave
- Students will get model clay and a paper plate to create their own cave and formations.
Vocabulary
karst landscape, percolates, limestone, cave, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, cave popcorn