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![](media/image3.jpeg){width="5.220138888888889in"
height="7.227777777777778in"}***Elementary School***

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# Section 11 -- Miscellaneous Activities

-   **What to Take**

-   **Night Owls**

-   **Make a Solar Hot Water Heater**

-   **Moon Over the Classroom**

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**What to Take**

**Pre-Visit Activity**

**Primary/Elementary, Intermediate and Secondary Levels**

**Science** (Life)

**45 Minutes**

**Objective(s)**

-   Students will identify things they need to survive in the desert.

-   Students will appraise one another's choices.

**Related NM Content Standards with Benchmarks.** SC11-E9, SC11-E10,
SC11-M9, SC11-M10, SC11-H9

**Method.** Students brainstorm things they need to bring when they
visit the desert.

**Materials**

-   Older Students: desert survival guide or scout manual for reference,
    paper, pencils

-   Younger Students: a wide variety of clothing, a variety of food,
    sack lunch, medication, bandages, backpack, water bottle with water,
    camera, caving gear, toys, flashlight, tent, blankets, sunglasses,
    hats, proper shoes, etc.

**Background.** Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located in the
Chihuahuan Desert. Deserts are lands that are very dry and receive
little rain. Strong winds often blow. The weather can be either hot or
cold in the desert.

Some deserts sizzle with temperatures as high as 130°F. Desert plants
and animals have special features that help them thrive in hot
temperatures. What precautions do people need to take in the desert?
What do you need to wear and take with you on your field trip to
Carlsbad Caverns National Park? If you and your family were planning a
backcountry hike at the park, what would you pack?

See [The Backcountry of Carlsbad Caverns National
Park.](http://www.nps.gov/cave/teacherguide/fs.backcountry.htm)

**Suggested Procedure for Young Students**

1.  Teach a desert unit.

2.  One or two days before your field trip to Carlsbad Caverns National
    Park, place desks along the walls of the classroom, leaving a large
    space in the middle of the room. Place all kinds of things that
    students might need and/or want to take along on the field trip or
    on a backcountry hiking adventure.

3.  When students enter the classroom, hand one student the backpack.
    Instruct him/her to put in the backpack only those things that would
    be useful for the field trip.

4.  Allow the student to explain why he/she selected those items placed
    in the backpack.

5.  Allow classmates to question the student about his/her selection.

6.  Empty the backpack and hand it to a second student. Instruct the
    student to pretend like he/she is going on a two-day backcountry
    adventure with his/her family at the park, and pack his/her backpack
    accordingly.

7.  Allow the student to explain his/her thought processes during the
    packing.

8.  Allow classmates to question the student about his/her selection.

9.  Repeat this process using all students who would like to be packers.

10. Discuss safety rules for the desert---stay calm if lost, find shade
    and stay put.

**Suggested Procedure for Older Students**

1.  Have students brainstorm what they know about the desert.

2.  Have students brainstorm about appropriate behavior and dress in the
    desert.

3.  Have students make a supply list for their trip to the desert.

4.  Discuss safety rules for the desert.

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**Night Owls**

**Pre-Visit and Post-Visit Activities**

**Primary/Elementary and Intermediate Levels**

**Science** (Inquiry, Life)

**2-Hour Pre-Visit Hike, 40-Minute Post-Visit Presentation**

**Objective(s).** Students will use their senses to investigate the
outdoors after sunset.

**Related NM Content Standards with Benchmarks.** SC5-E2, SC5-M1, SC5-M2
SC6-E2, SC6-M2, SC10-E1

**Method.** Students hike after sunset, stopping every 10 - 15 minutes
to participate in mini-science activities.

**Materials**

-   Night Vision: candles and matches

-   Colored Paper: a 3\" X 2\" square of different colored paper for
    each student

-   Wintergreen Lifesavers: wintergreen -flavored lifesavers

-   Scents: 4 jars or film containers, 4 cotton balls with different
    scents (cinnamon, vanilla, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, etc.)

-   Moth-Bat Game: blindfold

**Key Vocabulary.** diurnal, nocturnal, adaptation, echolocation, rods,
cones

**Background.** People are often less comfortable and familiar with the
world of dark than with the light of day. People are diurnal---awake in
the day. Some animals are nocturnal---awake in the night. They have
special adaptations that people do not. A visit to the *dark side* is
coming!

**Suggested Pre-Hike Procedure**

1.  The purpose of the night hike is to give students a greater
    appreciation of the outdoors after the sun sets. Before going
    outside, facilitate a discussion about night life---nocturnal
    animals, night vision, etc.

2.  Establish guidelines for the hike.

**Suggested Hike Procedure.** Begin the hike. Stop every 10 minutes to
do one of the following mini-science activities.

-   *Night Vision.* Have students cover one eye with one hand. Light the
    candle and have students look at it for about one minute using the
    uncovered eye. Blow the candle out and have students look around
    alternating opening and closing each eye. (Students will see and
    feel the difference between night and day vision simultaneously.)

-   *Solo Walk.* Discuss how it feels to be in the desert at night. Ask
    students if it would feel different to be in the desert by
    themselves. Have one leader walk approximately fifty feet ahead.
    Then, have students walk one at a time towards the leader that has
    walked ahead. Follow-up with a discussion about how it felt.

-   *Colored Paper.* Pass out a different color square of paper to each
    student. Ask them to look at it and guess what color they think it
    is. Have the students put the square in a pocket. When the class
    returns to light, have them check and see if they were right.

-   *Wintergreen Lifesavers.* Have your students form a circle. Pass out
    the Lifesavers. Tell them that they are to chew with their mouths
    open. Count to three and have everyone chew at same time, watching
    each other. (They should see sparks caused by an ingredient in the
    Lifesaver.) Ask students to explain what caused the sparks.

-   *Scent.* (Before your outing, place variously scented cotton balls
    in film containers.) Have students form a circle. Explain that you
    will be passing around something to smell. Pass around one container
    at a time. When the container has gone all the way around the
    circle, let students guess the scent they smelled.

-   *Moth-Bat Game.* Have your students form a circle. Explain
    echolocation. Have someone volunteer to be the bat. The bat is
    blindfolded and placed in the center of the circle. Have someone
    volunteer to be the moth. The bat says "bat" and the moth must
    answer immediately with "moth." They move around the circle until
    the bat catches the moth. (You may wish to repeat this exercise
    until all have had a turn.)

-   *Animal Ears.* Ask students to find a spot to sit quietly alone.
    Using hands cupped around their ears, listen for animal sounds. Have
    students stand in a circle. Have them cup their ears while one
    student talks to them. Then try listening normally. Once they
    realize the difference, have them cup their ears and listen for as
    many sounds as possible during a 45-second period. Talk about what
    they heard.

-   *Disappearing Heads.* Have students stand in two rows facing each
    other about eight feet apart. Instruct them to stand completely
    still and stare at the face of the person across from them. (Their
    head should disappear.) Explain why their heads seem to disappear.
    Rods in the eyes see light and cones see color. When you stare
    straight ahead, you use the cones and ignore the rods. But at night,
    light is more important than color. In a sense, your eyes are
    turning off the light, making the object seem to disappear.

**Suggested Post-Hike Activities**

1.  Have students brainstorm various occupations that require people to
    work during the night hours. Do their occupations require them to
    work inside a building with good lighting? Do they work outdoors at
    night? Why is it necessary for some people to work at night? Do
    people have special adaptations like nocturnal animals?

2.  Ask students if they know of any occupation that requires people to
    work day hours in an environment where there is no sunshine? Tell
    students to close their eyes and pretend.

> *Your alarm clock goes off at six o'clock in the morning. You bathe,
> dress and start on your way. The sun is beginning to rise. You drive
> for forty-five minutes, meeting only a few cars along the highway. You
> are in a very rural area---the Chihuahuan Desert. You arrive at your
> job site and the sun You arrive at your job site and the sun is now
> shining brightly. You step onto an elevator to begin your work day.
> The elevator's first stop, and only stop, is 750 feet below the
> surface of the earth. There is absolute no natural lighting at your
> work site. You turn on your flashlight to find a switch. Who are you?*

3.  Introduce the park ranger you have invited to your school. The park
    ranger will share his/her total darkness stories with your students.

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**Make a Solar Hot Water Heater**

**Pre-Visit or Post-Visit Activity**

**Intermediate Level**

**Science** (Unifying Concepts, Inquiry, Physical)

**45-Minutes for Construction**

**Objective(s).** Student will construct and operate a solar hot water
heater and explain how it operates.

**Related NM Content Standards with Benchmarks.** SC2-E3, SC6-M1, SC9-M1

**Method.** Students design and construct a hot water heater.

**Materials.** 10 feet of flexible black tubing, shallow cardboard or
wooden box (about 12\" X 18\"), a piece of glass to cover the box, flat
black paint, black paper or black cloth for inside the box, spring-type
wooden clothes pins, tape, 2 empty cans or buckets, thermometer, pencil,
paper

**Key Vocabulary.** solar

**Background.** If you spend all your time underground while visiting
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, you may not notice one of the park's
most valuable and abundant resources---the sunshine which illuminates
the surface of the park's almost 47,000 acres. In fact, the whole State
of New Mexico has so much sunshine that in 1925, its citizens selected a
flag design with the ancient Zia sun symbol against a yellow background.

Scientists estimate that the sunlight falling on the United States
during a single summer day contains twice as much energy as our nation
uses in an entire year. But how can we collect it? Solar energy is clean
and available. In remote areas, sunlight is more practical and less
costly than transmission lines. However, there are a few disadvantages
connected with solar energy. First, it is only there on sunny days.
Secondly, it is at its weakest in the winter when we need it the most.
And lastly, collectors and storage devices are expensive. Nevertheless,
the potential benefits outweigh the shortcomings.

Every park ranger at Carlsbad Caverns carries three sources of light
into the cave. If you are worried about the taxpayers footing the bill
for large quantities of batteries, worry no more! Park rangers use
energy from the sun to recharge their batteries.

**Suggested Procedure**

1.  Cover the inside of the box with black paint, black paper or black
    cloth. Cut two holes on one side of the box. Loop the tubing back
    and forth inside the box. Both ends of the tubing should stick out
    of the sides of the box several feet.

2.  Place the glass cover on the box. Secure it with tape.

3.  Fill one bucket with water. Place the box and the bucket in full
    sunlight. Put one end of the tubing into the bucket of water. Place
    the other bucket under the opposite end of the tubing at a lower
    level. Suck gently on the end of the tubing to establish siphon
    action. When the water starts to flow through the tubing, pinch the
    tubing with a clothespin to limit the water flow to a small trickle.

4.  Note the temperature of the water. After a while, take the water
    temperature again. Is it warmer than the water before it goes
    through the water heater? Why? What would happen to the water
    temperature if it were slightly overcast? What would happen to the
    water if it moved faster through the water heater?

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**Moon Over the Classroom**

**Pre-Visit or Post-Visit Activity**

**Primary/Elementary Level**

**Science** (Space)

**45 Minutes**

**Objective(s).** Students will identify the different moon phases and
will describe an eclipse.

**Related NM Content Standards with Benchmark.** SC13-E1, SC13-M1

**Method.** Phases of the moon are demonstrated using a lamp (sun), a
ball (moon) and student (earth).

**Materials**

-   The Class: lamp with a 40-70 watt clear bulb (no lamp shade),
    extension cord

-   Each Student: pencil, ball

**Key Vocabulary.** eclipse, moon phases

**Background.** There are five phases of the moon: new, crescent, half,
gibbous and full. When the moon is in new or crescent phase, it is close
to the sun. It takes about one month (29.53 days) for the moon to go
from full to new and back to full again. Only during a new moon can an
eclipse of the sun happen (solar eclipse). Only during a full moon can
there be an eclipse of the moon (lunar eclipse). A solar eclipse occurs
when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun and only
lasts a few minutes. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth casts a
shadow on the moon. It can last a few hours.

During warm months, up to a thousand park visitors at Carlsbad Caverns
National Park attend Bat Flight Programs each evening at sunset. Many
visitors remain in the amphitheater after the bats disappear into the
skies. They stay to enjoy brilliant stars, planets and the moon. Why
does Carlsbad Caverns have such a magnificent night sky?

**Suggested Procedure**

1.  Using the extension cord (taped securely to the floor to prevent
    tripping), set the lamp in the center of the room. Give each student
    a pencil and a ball. Have them poke the ball on the end of the
    pencil.

2.  Explain to students that the lamp bulb represents the sun, the ball
    represents the moon and their head represents the Earth.

3.  Turn on the lamp and arrange students in a circle around it. Have
    students hold the *moon* at arms length in front of them.

4.  Ask students to move the ball a little to the left until they see a
    thin crescent light. Is the crescent facing the *sun* or away from
    it? (Make sure students are looking at the ball, not the light.)

5.  Move the *moon* around the *earth* until exactly half of the *moon*
    is lit. Does the *moon* have to move away from or toward the *sun*
    to make it fuller?

6.  Keep moving the *moon* until it is fully lit. (Students need to move
    the *moon* out of their head's shadow.) When the *moon* is full, is
    it between the *Earth* and the *sun*, or is the *Earth* between the
    *moon* and the *sun*?

7.  Continue moving the *moon* in the circle until it is a quarter again
    and then a crescent. When the *new moon* appears, explain that the
    *moon* cannot be seen because it is so close to the *sun*. Also
    explain that from new moon to new moon is about one month. Repeat
    this exercise until students fully understand.

8.  Create an eclipse by having students move their *moon* directly in
    front of the *sun* to create a shadow. Have students hold the *moon*
    in this position, but look around the room to see the shadows on
    other faces. Your head is the *Earth*, so only the people living
    where your eyes are, can see the eclipse. People on your chin do not
    see it. What phase is the moon just before or after a solar eclipse?

9.  Create a lunar eclipse by moving the *moon* into the shadow of the
    *Earth*. What phase is the *moon* in just before or after an eclipse
    of the *moon*? Unlike the eclipse of the *sun*, everyone facing the
    *moon* can see the *moon* in an eclipse.