5th Grade Students Creative Projects and Research Activities Chose one of the must do activities and two or more of the optional activities to achieve 60 points by April 20. Do the research and be creative!!

Must Do Projects: (25 points each) 1. Make a book entitled “The ABC’s of and Caverns.” Include at least one item pertaining to caves for each of the 26 letters. (Ex. “A is for ,” “B is for Bats,” etc.) Write a sentence using the word and illustrate each page.

2. Research “Safe Cave Exploration.” Write a skit and be prepared to act it out in front of the class. www.nps.gov/cave/teacherguide/fs.safe.caving.htm

3. Make a “BAT” trivia game. You must have at least 20 questions with answers. www.batcon.org

Must Do Projects: (15 points each) 4. Make a list of 25 American caves and their locations.

5. Make a list of at least 10 . Explain how each formed. Illustrate your list.

6. Make a list of 20 analogies using the theme of caves. For example, caves are to spelunkers as mountains are to mountain climbers.

7. What are the five main types of caves? Tell how each cave formed and illustrate your findings.

8. Make a crossword puzzle with cave terms. Use at least 8 clues across and 8 clues down.

Optional Projects: (10 points each) 9. Choose a famous American cave to research. Present this information to the class by way of: (1) Create a magazine article or advertisement for the cave or; (2) Create a travel poster or brochure for the cave.

10. Find out what kind of plant life is in each zone of the cave. Make a chart to show your information.

11. Describe the major details of Mammoth Cave. It must be at least ¾ of a page.

12. Write a story whose main character is a . Give the stalactite a personality and friends/family, then tell what happens to them.

13. Make a chart of facts and folklore about bats.

14. Caves are often the setting for scary stories. Write one. (1 page)

15. Create a 3-dimensional model of a cave with ten labeled formations.

16. Design and advertise a product that will benefit spelunkers.

17. Write and present a speech about spelunking.

18. Make a mobile about caves/caverns with 6 labeled pictures and drawing.

19. Make a timeline to describe the uses of caves throughout history.

20. Compare and contrast troglophiles, trogloxenes, and troglobites. Give at least one example of each.

21. Compose a jokes and riddles booklet with caves as the theme. (At least 10 original jokes.)

22. Make up a logic problem using a cave as the setting. You must have at least a 5 by 5 matrix chart.

Optional Projects: (5 points each) 23. Write a story that describes how the Native Americans used caves. (At least ½ page)

24. Define the word . Tell the origin of the word. Divide the word in parts and tell what they mean.

25. Classify these animals as troglo-xenes, -philes, or –bites: Bats, crayfish, salamanders, mountain lions, cave crickets, fish, blind insects, daddy longlegs spiders, pack rats, mice, owls, snakes, isopods.

26. What is a troglodyte? Where are some present day and prehistoric troglodyte towns/dwellings?

27. List all the differences you can find between a troglobite fish and a trogloxene fish. Formulate a hypothesis about the reasons for these differences.

28. Make a list of past and present day uses of caves.

29. Define the word spelunker. What is the spelunker’s motto/creed? What are some ways might vandalism of caves be prevented?

30. What minerals are found in cave formations? What acid helps formations happen?

31. What is the difference between a live cave and dead cave? What can cause a cave to “die?”

32. Copy and answer these questions: What are scientists who study caves called? What are scientists who study life in caves called? What are people who explore caves for a hobby called? What is the study of caves called? What Greek word have these words been derived from? What does this Greek word mean? What do all these words have in common?

33. You and a friend are exploring a cave. There is not one else around. You come upon a chamber filled with beautiful formation. Your friend wants to break one off as a souvenir. What will you do? Tell why you made this decision.

34. List at least 10 of the qualities you would look for in a cave guide or the leader of a spelunking expedition.

35. How many words can you make out of the letters in SPELUNKER?

36. Name the 4 cave zones. Make a diagram that shows them.

37. Make a list of caves in your state (if any).

38. Make a list of 10 safety rules for spelunking.

39. Make a “word find” puzzle using at least 20 cave terms.