Spelunking Adventures

We took a homeschool field trip a couple of weeks ago. We visited two caves, one of which we had visited before. Field trips aren't new to education, but they are certainly fewer and farther between in the public schools than they were a couple of decades ago.  We take lots of field trips in homeschool kindergarten!

Before we went to the caves, Joy and I reread the brochure from the cave we had previously visited. Then she made a lists of things she thought she would see in each cave. She was very confident about what she would see in the first cave, but hesitant about predicting what might be in the second cave. With some assistance, Joy was able to make a list of what she might see.

We enjoyed touring the caves, and we learned a lot from the tour guides. Joy didn't ask many questions, but I did! I pointed out stalactites and stalagmites (making sure I emphasized that staLAGmites were from the ground and staLACtites were from the ceiling!) and columns. We talked on both cave tours about how water is slightly acidic and dissolves the limestone over time. I made sure Joy saw the way limestone forms in layers and the fossils that are abundant in limestone. In the car, traveling from each cave, Joy made a list of things she saw at that cave.

But the majority of the learning that happened with the spelunking adventure took place at home, after the trip. I wanted Joy to think  about the similarities and differences in the caves, so I made a large Venn Diagram and labeled each circle with one cave's name. Then we took the postcards we bought at each cave and placed them on the Venn Diagram properly. This showed Joy how the intersection was for things true about both caves, and the rest of the circles were for things true about only that one cave.

Joy later wrote the names of things we saw in each cave (and both caves) on the Venn Diagram. You can see stalactites and stalagmites in the intersection. For Mystery Cave, she wrote orange stalactites and blue lake. For Niagara Cave, she wrote waterfall and wedding chapel. She completed this Venn Diagram a couple of days after the trip; I think she remembered really well!

We will use a Venn Diagram to compare two things again soon, so that Joy remembers how to use one. It's a great way to organize your thoughts before you speak or write on a topic. You could use a Venn Diagram about any two experiences that had some similarities and some differences. You could even compare Mom and Dad... wouldn't that be interesting?!