Appalachian Caverns

Ronnie - We went on a field trip to the Appalachian Caverns with the whole homeschool group. We went on a tour and learned lots of cool stuff, like

• Bat poop is in some beauty products and even Doritos!
  
• That there is acid in carbonated sodas.
  
• There are blind fish and they became blind because of the cave being so dark.
  
• There is 30% more oxygen in caves than on the surface.

Mitchell - During the civil war soldiers went down into the cavern and had a little area where they doctored the sick and helped the injured, because the air in the cave has more oxygen that outside, and because they could hide. Also, there was actually a little place in the wall that acted like air conditioning, because cool air blew through there. We saw a place that had names of civil war soldiers scratched into the cave wall. As they cleared the cavern they found spoons, bottles and things that would help the sick.Lizzy - We learned about stalactites and stalagmites. The stalactites are the ones that go down. We saw a cave pearl, which is not in a clam. :) There was a cliff in the cave that was called the lovers leap. If a couple never fought and were just perfect, they could hold hands, jump, and survive the fall.Britany - We were in a group of 17 people, most of which were little people. It felt really cold in the cave, but really it was 58 degrees. Our tour guide said that if we got hit with cold water that it meant the cave had kissed us, but , but if you got hit with warm water, then a bat just flew over your head! Our tour guide was very funny. It was interesting seeing the bats. They are still in hibernation. They are so small. We learned that some Indians still gather there for meetings. There is a small pond in the cave, but we can't drink out of it because it has parasites in it that will give you diareah. At the end we saw an actual fish fossil in the cave that is really old.
Mary - The bats are cute! There are brown and black ones, but the brown ones are the cutest. The caves were very fun, and when it was over we bought rings in the gift store.