Cave Zones

Hi guys, today I wanted to share with you more activities we did during our cave unit study. We learned all about cave zones and creatures that live in caves. Here are some of the activities we did. 

We learned about the different zones in a cave and made this tear art showing the light transition in each part of the cave. 

Cave Zones painting in his notebook

We also learned about the different creatures that live in caves. The cave visitors, the cove lovers, and the cave dwellers. 

We also made cave zones in a cup similar to the layers of the ocean. We used a flashlight to see how much light can pass through each cup. 

You can find all these activities and printables in my tpt store. Click on the image below to get grab these activities. 

Rock Candy

Hi guys, today I wanted to share with you how we made rock candy during our cave unit study. 

Ingredients

3 cups of sugar

1 cup of water

A pot

Jar or a cup with small opening

Clothes pins

Stick or skewer

Sugar

Adult supervision is required. Mix together sugar and water stir well and set it on the stove top. Keep mixing until the sugar has completely dissolved and the solution starts to bubble. You can add food coloring and flavor to your liquid at this point. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool. While your solution is cooling take your skewer and dip it in water. Roll it in some sugar and leave it to dry. This will be your seed crystals. Once the solution has cooled pour it into the jar. Suspend your stick in the solution using the clothes pin. It takes about 7 days to grow your rock candy.  

You can read all about the other activities we did during our cave unit here. 

After seven days you can remove your rock candy. Slowly chip away the sugar crystals around the sides. Remove the stick and suspend it over another empty glass cup or jar. Allow the excess sugar to drip away. Enjoy your candy.

Click on the image above to read all about it. 

Cave in a Cup Demonstration

Hi guys, today I wanted to share with you a fun simple demonstration about how caves are formed. 

Caves are typically formed by water. When it rains, the water oozes into cracks found in softer types of rock (limestone). As time goes by, the liquid slowly dissolves the nearby rock and wears it away. This causes the cracks to gradually widen in caverns. As the water level drops, caves and passages that we can explore are left.  

Material

1. Clear container or cup

2. Sugar cubes

3. playdough

4. dropper

5. toothpick

Instructions

Form a wall of sugar cubes on the side of your container. Roll out the playdough and cover the sugar cubes. Seal the sides by squishing the playdough on the edges. Make holes on the top of the playdough using your toothpick. Drop some water on the playdough and observe what happens. If the water is not getting in make your holes bigger. The holes represent the cracks in the rocks. 

This demonstration will show your child how a cave is formed. As the water seeps into the holes and reaches the sugar cubes, the sugar cubes start to dissolve. This is similar to what happens in a cave. As water gets into the cracks it slowly erodes the soft limestone rock. In a cave this takes a long time to happen. Once the water drains away you have an empty space and a cave has been formed. You can make a hole at the bottom of your cup and do it over a sink or bowl. Once the water drains away you will be left with your cave in a cup. 

Sedimentary Rocks

Hi guys, I wanted to share with you a fun hands on activity we did when we learned all about sedimentary rocks, how they form, and how the sediment settles in water. 

We started out by making sediment layers in a jar. We collected rocks, sand, and dirt from the backyard. We add all the sediment to our jar and topped it off with water. We shook the jar and left it over night. We observed how the different sediment settled in the water. The larger pieces like the rock and sand settled first. The mud and silt was the next to settle and all the organic material like the dead leaves stayed at the top. 

We also built the layers out of Lego to add more hands on projects to our science time. We looked at our rock collection and observed all sedimentary rocks under the microscope. We were able to see the different layers and pieces that cemented together. 

My son put all the information he learned about in our scrapbook journal. 

I hope you enjoyed all the hands on activities we did.