USGS Geography Products

Books and Stories

Baumann, Hans, The Caves of the Great Hunters, Pantheon Books, 1954. 182 pages. Although old, this delightful story fictionalizes the role of children in discovering the great Ice Age cave paintings of Dordogne, France. The book reproduces the paintings as charming line drawings.

Coder, K., Taylor, A., Molosky, A., Pennsylvania's Caves & Caverns, 1989. 32 pages. Word games and other activities.

Connon, Jenell, Stellaluna, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1993. 48 pages. The tale of a young fruit bat and her mother. Winner of American Bookseller's Book of the Year Award. For all ages.

Cooper, Ann C., Bats: Swift Shadows in the Twilight, Denver Museum of Natural History, 1994. 64 pages. Unique activities and illustrations. Could be used for teaching activities.

"Getting to Know Bats," "A Pocketful of Science," and "Brushing Up on Bats," The Primary Mailbox, The Education Center, Inc., October/November 1993. Activities and crafts.

Hamilton, Elizabeth, The First Book of Caves, Franklin Watts, Inc., 1956. 61 pages, An oldie-but-goodie, if you have an older library.

Jennings, Jan F. G., Bats: A Creativity Book for Young Conservationists, undated. Bat Conservation International. 30 pages. A craft and activity book.

Kerbo, Ronald C., Caves, Children's Press, 1981, 48 pages. Cave formation and caver activities.

Lundberg, Kathryn T., Bats for Kids, Northword Press, Inc., for National Wildlife Federation, 1996, 48 pages. Photos and drawings of many bat species in action.

McClury, James E., Caves and Their Mysteries, Whitman Publishing Company, 1962.

Menzies, Elin, Taking Katy for a Nightride, Blue Cat Press, 1991. 20 pages. Easy reading.

Milton, Joyce, Bats, Creatures of the Night, Grossett & Dunlap, Inc., 1993. 48 pages. Colorful cutout illustrations of bat life and facts. Early readers.

Mohr, Charles E., Poulson, Thomas L., The Life of the Cave, Our Living World of Nature, McGraw Hill, 1966. 232 pages. This book, if you can find it, is probably the best all-round description of the cave environment for young readers and adults.

Rigby, Susan, Caves, Troll Associates, Our Planet Series, 1993, 32 pages. Cave geology and biology, as well as section on cave legends and human use.

Schultz, Ron, Looking Inside Caves and Caverns, John Muir Publications, 1993. 46 pages. Spectacular photographs, good coverage of cave safety and the different kinds of caves.

Schwartz, Douglas W., Prehistoric Man in Mammoth Cave, Interpretive Series No. 2, 1965, Eastern National Park & Monument Association, 1965. 28 pages. Prehistoric cave-dwelling Woodland People, of Mammoth Cave.

Silver, Donald M., One Small Square Cave, Scientific American Books for Young Readers, W.H. Freeman and Company, 1993. 50 pages. Comprehensive, well-illustrated book.

Toops, Connie, Let's Explore Caves and Caverns, Explorer Press, 1990. Activities, stories.

Twain, Mark, Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer has part of his adventure in the limestone karst of McDougal's cave. Worth revisiting.

Wood, Jenny, Caves, Puffin Books, 1990. 30 pages. Photos, activities, true stories.

Reference Books

Chapman, Phillip, Caves and Cave Life, Harper Collins, London, 1993. 220 pages. A look at British caves, their natural history and history.

Gurnee, Russell and Jeanne, Guide to American Caves, A Comprehensive Guide to The Caves in the United States Open to the Public, R.H.Gurnee, Inc., Closter, N.J., 1990. 288 pages. An illustrated, comprehensive guide to U.S. show caves, both public and private. You can find the nearest caves to your community in this publication.

Moore, G.W., Sullivan, G.N., Speleology: The Study of Caves, Cave Books, St. Louis, Mo., 1964, 1978. 150 pages. Excellent, all-round reference. Intriguing etchings.

Music

Meyer, Billy, composer; Susan Tomes, pianist. Loose Elbows, Track 1, "Bats in the Belfry," 1989 Virgin Classics CD # VC7 90745-2. A light-hearted piano instrumental number. Good for background music during art activity or dance.

Articles and Special Publications

American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, KY 40206. Telephone: 800-223-1839. Publishes small wallet-size cards containing the Braille alphabet.

Crumpton, Ben, "Turning 'Can't' Into 'How,'" Disability Today, Spring 1996, pages 10-12.

Jennings, J.N., "Karst Landforms," American Scientist, v. 71, November-December 1983, pages 578-586. Since 20 percent of the Earth is covered by limestone karst, it's worth studying the history of the landforms.

Palmer, Arthur N., "Origin and Morphology of Lime-stone Caves," Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 103, pages 1-21, January 1991. A technical classic in the field.

Poulson, Thomas L., White, William B., "The Cave Environment," Science, September 5, 1969, v. 165, no. 3897, pages 971-1165. A good overview of the evolution of cave animals.

Rand McNally Atlas of World Wildlife, "Prisoners of the Dark," (Europe) pages 94-95.

U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geology of Caves, GPO: 1991 O-307-567: QL 3, 20 pages. Pamphlet, available from USGS Branch Of Distribution P.O. Box 25286 Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 publication number B-94-0015.

Waller, Roger M., Ground Water and the Rural Homeowner, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior, 37 pages. A general survey of groundwater issues, many of which apply to caves and cave formation.

Watson, Richard A. and White, William B., "The History of American Theories of Cave Origin," Centennial Special Volume 1, Geological Society of America, 1985, pages 109-123. A history of U.S. geological thought on karst limestone development.

White, William B., Culver, David C., Herman, Janet S., Kane, Thomas C., Mylroie, John E., "Karst Lands", American Scientist, v. 83, September-October 1995, pages 448-459.

Teaching Materials

Project Underground: A Natural Resource Education Guide, Project Underground, Inc., 1996. Available from Carol Zokaites, National Director, 620 McDaniel Drive, Christianburg, VA 24073. Phone: 540-381-8234. K112 curriculum guide. 120 pages.

Organizations

National Speleological Society, Inc., 2813 Cave Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35810-4431. Telephone: 205-852-1300. Association of sport cavers and cave conservationists. Active in promoting cave safety, conservation, photography, mapping, etc. Youth activities included. Free cave safety, preservation, and organizational brochures.

National Caves Association, 4138 Dark Hollow Road, McMinnville, TN 37110. Telephone: 931-668-3925. Organization of U.S. show caves. Free illustrated brochure and national directory.

World Wide Web Pages

Note: URL's (Web site addresses) often change unpredictably. If any of the given URL's fail to work, do searches with names of organizations combined with relevant key words.

edc2.usgs.gov/pubslists/edu.php The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Learning Web offers teaching materials to supplement activities on mapping, geological landforms, volcanoes, etc. Rich materials with dramatic photographic illustrations.

www.batcon.org Bat Conservation International homepage. Extensive database of information on bats, bibliography, teaching materials, articles, even bat sounds.

www.caves.org/ This is the home page of the National Speleological Society, with links to related topics.

www.genlime.com/ Genlime Group L.P. This product catalogue of a rock processing company illustrates the many commercial products of limestone-related rocks.

This teacher packet was originally available in printed format. The online edition contains full text from the original publication. Some images have been modified or added to improve the scientific visualization of information. All poster text and images are available under the Poster section. A paper copy of the poster is for sale by calling 1-888-ASK-USGS. The Master Sheets and Activity Sheets are in PDF format. The PDF format reproduces the printed publication and will be better for creating overlay and overhead transparencies. To view and print PDF's install the Acrobat Reader, available at no charge from Adobe Systems. This document has undergone official review and approval for publications established by the National Mapping Division, U.S. Geological Survey.

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://edc2.usgs.gov/pubslists/teachers-packets/exploringcaves/media.php
Page Contact Information: webmapping@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: June 23, 2008

Multi-Media Resources