Field Trip: Smallin Cave

It was a beautiful day for a field trip today! We had a great time at Smallin Civil War Cave!

We started with an hour-long cave tour. We learned so much! First, we learned about how caves are formed. Did you know that water seeps through small cracks in rocks and slowly wears away the rock until a cave is formed? It can take thousands of years for a cave to form! Although they’re so old, caves are constantly changing all the time due to water erosion, human interaction, and the development of cave formations like stalactites and stalagmites. 

We learned about the history of the cave and how the cave was used for shelter, leisure, exploration and more for many, many years. It was once even used as a hideout for a Union spy during the civil war! People who explored the cave long ago used symbols carved into the cave walls to help other people find their way. Now it’s a federal crime to carve into a cave wall!

While inside the cave, we learned about many cave features and saw some cave animals and fossils. A favorite was the tiny bat that we saw hanging from the ceiling of the cave. We learned about bats and how they use a cave as their shelter.

Next, we left the cave for some other neat activities. Students got to climb through a cave-simulation climbing gym, created with small passageways similar to the deep and narrow tunnels a cave might have. We also sifted through sand to find gems and then compared them by their color, texture and shape to figure out the names of the gems we had found. Everyone got to bring home a few gems!

We ended our morning with a picnic lunch near the cave site. We were so lucky to have had lovely weather today. What a fun and interesting morning! Thank you to the parents and grandparents who joined us today!

The Summit Preparatory School is a fully accredited, non-religious, private school offering a full-time seated independent education for students in Springfield, Ozark, Nixa, Rogersville, and the greater Southwest Missouri area. Our preparatory school setting offers an enriching early childhood, elementary, middle school, and high school curriculum in a supportive environment. We have state of the art facilities, highly-qualified teachers and staff, and a large range of educational programming. Interested in enrolling your child? Learn more about our admissions process.

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