A Review of Cave Program/Education Resources throughout Kentucky (and Beyond)
Jennifer Lyon Adler, NSS 46691Jennifer will provide some classroom instruction and occasional fieldtrips to caves / Mark Adler, NSS 40434
Mark will provide some classroom instruction and occasional fieldtrips to caves
Lily Adler, NSS 60345
no email address
Lily is studying to be a palaeontologist and is happy to get outside and underground. / Rose Adler, NSS 63191
no email address
Rose is happy to come along on occasional
fieldtrips provided by Jennifer and/or Mark
Kentucky Grottos:
Blue Grass GrottoESSO Grotto
Fort Knox Grotto
Green River Grotto
Currently no website
Hart of Kentucky Grotto
Currently no website
Louisville Grotto 000131
Pine Mountain Grotto
Rockcastle Regional Grotto
Other Kentucky Organizations and Resources:
Bluegrass PRIDECarter Caves State Park
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE
Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE)
Kentucky Paleontological Society (KPS)
Kentucky Geological Survey (KSS)
Kentucky Speleological Survey (KSS)
Kentuckiana Digital Library
The Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL)
Mammoth Cave National Park
Rockcastle Karst Conservancy
Grottos Near to and Active in Kentucky Caves and Caving:
Clarksville UndergroundDayton Underground Grotto
Evansville Metropolitan Grotto
Greater Cincinnati Grotto
Harrison-Crawford Grotto
Miami Valley Grotto
Currently no website
Nashville Grotto
Red-Eye Karst Team
Currently no website
National Organizations and Resources:
American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA)Bats Conservation International (BCI)
Bureau of Land Management Educational Resource - Welcome to the Underground
Carlsbad Caverns, NM – Curriculum materials
National Speleological Society (NSS)
Project Underground
United States Forest Service (National Forest Offices)
United States Geological Survey (USGS)
(complete activities guide for K-3)
Board games of interest:
Information about board games can be found at
The Cave (slated for first quarter 2013 publication in United States), ages 10 and up
Cave Troll (2002), ages 8 and up
Cave Evil (2011), ages 14 and up
Catacombs: Cavern of Soloth (2011), ages 12 and up
Caves & Claws (1998), ages 4 and up
Cave Survey Software:
Compass (Windows), nominal fee
Survex (Linux/Unix, Mac, Windows), open source/free
WinKarst (Windows), freeware
Therion (Linux, Mac, Windows), open source/free
Walls (Windows), free
Tunnel (Linux, Windows), free
Film/Movie List:
Sanctum (2011), Rated R, available through Movie Licensing USA
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), NR, available through Movie Licensing USA
The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986), Rated R, available through Movie Licensing USA
The Descent (2006), Rated R, available through Movie Licensing USA
The Descent Part 2 (2009), Rated R, available through Movie Licensing USA
Ace in the Hole (1951), NR, available through Movie Licensing USA
Lair of the White Worm (1988), Rated R, available through Movie Licensing USA
Book List:
For Teens:
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games, 2008
Twain, Mark. Tom Sawyer, 1876
Homer. Odyssey, 8th Century BC
Christie, Agatha. Evil Under the Sun, 1941
Forster, E.M. A Passage to India, 1924
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, 1937
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring, 1954
Barr, Nevada. Blind Descent, 1998
Tabor, James M. Blind Descent: The Quest to Discover the Deepest Place on Earth, 2010
Plato. The Republic, 380 BC
Lovecraft, H.P. “The Rats in the Walls”, 1924
Lovecraft, H.P. “The Beast in the Cave”, 1905
The Bible (story of Lazarus)
Murray, Robert K. and Roger W. Brucker. Trapped!: The Story of Floyd Collins, 1982
Traven, B. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1927
Finch, Phillip. Diving into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival, 2008
Zokaites, Carol. Project Underground: A Natural Resource Book, 1993, for educators and students of all ages
For Children:
Siebert, Diane. Cave, 2000, ages 6 and up
Silver, Donald and Patricia Wynne. Cave, 1997, ages 6 and up
Karr, Kathleen. The Cave, 1994, ages 10 and up
Dubowski, Mark. Discovery in the Cave, Step into Reading book about Lascaux cave paintings, 2010, ages 7 and up
Wood, Jenny. Caves, 1990, ages 8 and up
Datward, David. The Cave, 2011, ages 8 and up
Kramer, Stephen P. Caves (Nature in Action), 1995, ages 9 and up
Warner, Penny. Mystery of the Haunted Cave, 2001, ages 8 and up
Dixon, Franklin W. The Secret of the Caves (Hardy Boys, Book 7), 1929, ages 8 and up
McCulley, Emily Arnold. The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux, 2010, ages 6 and up
Gibbons, Gail. Caves and Caverns, 1996, ages 6 and up
Angeletti, Robert. The Cave Painter of Lascaux, 2004, ages 6 and up
Nesbit, Troy. The Diamond Cave Mystery (The Wilderness Mystery Series), May 2013, ages 8 and up
Wallace, Bill. Trapped in Death Cave, 2002, ages 8 and up
Warner, Gertrude Chandler. The Mystery in the Cave (Boxcar Children Series Mysteries #50), 1996, ages 8 and up
Barry, Dave and Ridley Pearson. Cave of the Dark Wind (Never Land Books), 2007, ages 8 and up
Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna, 1993, ages 3 and up
Watson, Richard A. In the Dark Cave, 2005, ages 3 and up
Irbinskas, Heather, Pauly the Adventurous Pallid Bat, pre-K-3rd grade
Steinmann, David B. Cave Creatures of Glenwood Caverns, 2012, ages 4 and up
Chrustowski, Rick. Big Brown Bat, 2008, ages 4 and up
Ferris, Jean. Underground, 2007, ages 7 and up
Carson, Mary Kay. The Bat Scientists, 2010, ages 10 and up
Lies, Brian. Bats at the Library, 2008, ages 3 and up
Lies, Brian. Bats at the Beach, 2006, ages 3 and up
Lies, Brian. Bats at the Ballgame, 2010, ages 3 and up
Riley, Joelle. Bats, 2005, ages 7 and up
Lindop, Laurie. Cave Sleuths, 2006, ages 10 and up
Glaser, Linda. Beautiful Bats, 1997, ages 4 and up
Howes, Chris. Caving, 2003, ages 4 and up
McCully, Emily Arnold. The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux, 2010, ages 3 and up
Zokaites, Carol. Project Underground: A Natural Resource Book, 1993, for educators and students of all ages
Music List:
The Hebrides: Fingal's Cave,Felix Mendelssohn (available through Freegal)
The Cave,Mumford & Sons (can be found on YouTube)
The Cave: Part 1, Gary “Spider” Webb (can be found on YouTube)
The Cave: Part 2, Gary “Spider” Webb (can be found on YouTube)
Myth of the Cave, Yitzhak Yedid (can be found on YouTube)
Video Game List:
The Cave (January 2013), Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U and on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Drama List:
Floyd Collins, put on yearly at the Green River Amphitheater in Brownsville, KY (Edmonson County)
Program Idea List:
For Teens:
Cave (or other area) surveying/cartography
Trip to a show cave
Trip to a wild cave
Have a miner visit
Lego cave creation tournament
Orienteering
Project underground ideas
Presentation by a local caver
Cardboard box cave
PVC/black plastic cave
Fossil hunting
Art contest
Play video games
Board game night
Explore area (biology/hydrology/geology)
Learn Local Lore
Storytelling/storywriting contest
Cave story telling night
Make and hang a bat house (also could be a fundraiser)
Partner with PRIDE or another organization to participate in a cave clean-up
Create a makerspace or doerspace
Fundraiser to support White-nose syndrome research
For Children:
Trip to show cave
Trip to a wild cave
Exploring fossils
Storytime
Storytelling/storywriting contest
Biologist visit with bats
Dance a cave: Eurythmy (interpretive dance with or without music)
Cardboard box cave
Blankets/tables/chairs cave
Lego cave tournament
Project underground ideas
Invite local dance school to teach interpretive dance
Use musical instruments to imagine/mimic the sounds of a cave (Orff Schulwerk method)
Create reading cave for kids
Board game night
Movie night
Presentation by local caver
Program about Lascaux paintings (fingerpaint)
Backyard biology (ooey, gooey, yucky, slimy things): compare to cave biota
Explore cave myths from around the world / cave as feminine energy
Puppet show featuring cave critters
Lights out storytime featuring the “music” of caves
Fingerplay with cave songs
Create a makerspace or doerspace
Fundraiser to support White-nose syndrome research
A Review of Cave Education Program/Resources throughout Kentucky (and Beyond)
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