Dona Herweck Rice - Travel Adventures: Carlsbad Caverns: Identifying Arithmetic Patterns

0covercover.xhtmlTravel Adventures Carlsbad Caverns Identifying Arithmetic Patterns Dona Herweck Ricecover3page0003page0003.xhtml44page0004page0004.xhtmlTable of Contents Stepping into the Earth 4 Years in the Making 6 Spelunking through the Caverns 14 Modern Conveniences 22 Preserving the Caverns 27 Problem Solving 28 Glossary 30 Index 31 Answer Key 3255page0005page0005.xhtmlStepping into the Earth You step carefully down a winding cement pathway. The path drops down, down, down below the level of the land. The air gets cooler with every step. The light gets dimmer, too, as you leave the sun behind. Birds dart overhead and race down the path ahead of you. The path leads into a tall, wide opening. It looks like the earth is yawning. This is the mouth of the caverns. You are getting ready to step into the earth itself! The air is damp, and it smells strongly of bat guano, or poop. The floor of the cave is covered in it! You have just stepped through the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns are a U.S. National Park. People want to preserve this unique spot for years to come.66page0006page0006.xhtmlthe winding pathway into the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns Lets77page0007page0007.xhtmlYears in the Making The wonder that is Carlsbad Caverns took millions of years to form. Earths processes shaped the caves. This has been slow. The right conditions had to occur in just the right way. These conditions are what make a cave a cavern. First, the rock that forms the cave has to be soluble. That means it can be dissolved. Second, the rock must be able to grow speleothems (SPEEL-ee-uh-thems). The big deal about Carlsbad Caverns is not just that it is a system of caves. There are many caves in the world. Caves are openings in the ground in which at least some part is out of reach of sunlight. Caves are common where Carlsbad Caverns is found. But, few caves are equal to these caverns in size and beauty. People from all over the world visit just to look at them. They are the true definition of awesome! Visitors are awed by what they see. Speleothems are structures that form when minerals build up over time.88page0008page0008.xhtmla colorful cave in New Mexicos Carlsbad Caverns Lets even x even = even odd x odd = odd even x odd = even99page0009page0009.xhtmlA piece of limestone corrodes in acid.1010page0010page0010.xhtmlCorrosion at Work There are many ways for caves to form. For example, tubes of lava may form caves of many shapes and sizes. Caves may also form through the movement of Earths plates. But, caverns like those at Carlsbad form when rock is dissolved. This happens through corrosion. Acids in water seep through cracks in rock. Over time, they wear away the rock. The openings they carve out grow deeper and wider. The caverns spread below Earths surface. They look like the sprawling burrows dug by giant field mice! Lets be clear. Water itself is not an acid. But rainwater may collect acid from Earths atmosphere. When it does, the acid in water carves out the caverns. And it does a whole lot more as well! the edge of a waterpool in Carlsbad Caverns1111page0011page0011.xhtmlDrip, Drip, Drip While they were being formed, the movement of Earths plates lifted the caves. Acidic water drained away to reveal huge rooms and pathways. But there was more work to be done before the caverns would become what we know them as today. In fact, that work is still going on! This is what happens. Fresh water percolates into the caverns. It comes from rain and water stored in the ground. The water drips steadily through the rock. This is why the caverns stay damp and musty. The water collects minerals and gas as it drips. The gas changes and becomes carbonic acid. The minerals and acid in the water get to work. They build the beautiful formations visitors flock to see. They do it drip by drip. Limestone formations like these develop over many years.1212page0012page0012.xhtmlWater still shapes cave formations. Lets1313page0013page0013.xhtmlstalactites column stalagmites1414page0014page0014.xhtmlThese beautiful formations are speleothems. They seem to grow from the cavern walls. It is stunning to think they formed just one drip at a time. Most of the speleothems are stalactites (stuh-LACK-tites). They form when minerals bond to the ceiling. Others are stalagmites (stuh-LAG-mites). They form when minerals build up from the ground. Minerals may also form columns. Or they may form popcorn or soda straws. These are all types of speleothems. Carbonic acid plays a role. The dripping water deposits minerals that were dissolved by the acid. They become solid again. They may become part of a soda straw. They may become popcorn. Or, they may simply drip away. No matter how, structures are being formed all the time in the caverns. Changes may come slowly. But the caverns are changing all the time. popcorn soda straws1515page0015page0015.xhtmlSpelunking through the Caverns Spelunkers are enthusiastic about Carlsbad Caverns. That is the name for people who like to explore caves. In the caverns, they get to see the unusual formations that make these so much more than typical caves. A spelunker examines formations deep within Carlsbad Caverns.1616page0016page0016.xhtmlGoing Batty! After you pass through the winding entrance to the caverns, you may stop to take a breath. You've just traveled 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface! It is dark, and the air is cool. To your left is a giant cave. It's called the Bat Cave. But no, Batman doesn't live there. More bats than you can imagine do! They sleep during the day. At dusk, they fly out of the cavern entrance. They swarm the sky in a giant mass. It is breathtaking to see! If you visit during the spring or summer, you might get a chance to see them soar. sidebar1717page0017page0017.xhtmlWitchs Finger1818page0018page0018.xhtmlMain Corridor The next part of your journey is along the Main Corridor. It is a long path with high ceilings. There is plenty of room to look around. You soon pass Devils Spring and Devils Den. These names tell you something about how early explorers felt in the caverns! At Devils Den, you are about 500 ft. (152 m) below the surface. As you walk down the steep path, you come to Witchs Finger. It stands alone and points up from the ground. It looks very much like the long, bony finger the fairy-tale witch jabs at Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. But it is about five times as tall as a boy like Hansel would be. Up next is Iceberg Rock. Thats where the path turns. The rock once hung from above. But its weight dropped it to the floor. It weighs more than 200, 000 tons! Devils Spring1919page0019page0019.xhtmla place to snack and shop deep within the caverns2020page0020page0020.xhtmlBig Room As you pass Iceberg Rock, the path twists and turns. It becomes narrow and then widens again. With a guide, you can travel down to Kings Palace and Queens Chamber. They sit more than 800 ft. (244 m) below the surface. But on your own, you will turn left to Big Room. Now, the show really begins! First, you step onto Big Rooms wide, flat area. People are milling about. Many of them have just stepped from an elevator. It shoots down hundreds of feet from the visitors center on the surface. Across the landing is something else made by humans. Theres a snack bar! Thats right. Deep in the caverns, you can grab a bite to eat. You can even pick up a souvenir. the view of Big Room from the walkway2121page0021page0021.xhtmlBut the snack bar is not the reason Big Room is a big deal. The big deal is the room itself. Just past the snack bar is a huge chamberreally huge. The chamber in Big Room is large enough to fit over six football fields! And, it is filled with spectacular formations. You will see sites such as Bottomless Pit and Temple of the Sun. They look like they sound. Youll see Mirror Lake and Crystal Spring Dome. Painted Grotto is as stunning as you would expect it to be! Its fun to make up your own names, too. What do you see in the formations? Its like finding pictures in clouds. Youll see something new wherever you look. You may want to stop for pictures, too. Everyone stops to gape and take countless photos of the wonders in Big Room. Temple of the Sun Crystal Springs Dome2222page0022page0022.xhtmlPainted Grotto Letsidebr2323page0023page0023.xhtmlModern Conveniences You may wonder how a person walks through the caverns so easily. Modern conveniences help a lot. The site was made a U.S. National Park in 1930. Since then, many things have been added to help visitors. The elevators are one thing. The snack bar is another. Also, the path has been paved for easy walking. There are handrails, too. These keep visitors from slipping on the steep, wet ground. There are also places to sit along the way. You can spend hours walking through the caverns. Its nice to have a place to rest now and then. Better still, seven miles of trails have been lit with electric lights! Lights, handrails, and pavement make the caverns easier to visit.2424page0024page0024.xhtmlPresident Obama and his family tour Carlsbad Caverns.2525page0025page0025.xhtmlJust Like the Old Days But the whole park doesnt have these modern conveniences! Slaughter Canyon Cave is kept in its natural state. You can only explore it with a park ranger. There are no paved paths. There are no electric lights. Visitors must bring flashlights. It is a half-mile (0. 8-kilometer) hike just to reach the cave entrance. The tour is another two to three hours of walking. But visitors say its worth the time and effort. A special highlight of the tour is called Christmas Tree. It is not a tree at all. It is a speleothem column. The column is covered in crystals. They sparkle in the light of flashlights. Visitors can also tour old bat guano mines. The guano is thick on the cave floor. It was once mined for farming. People wait to enter Slaughter Canyon Cave.2626page0026page0026.xhtmlChristmas Tree Lets2727page0027page0027.xhtml2828page0028page0028.xhtmlPreserving the Caverns Carlsbad Caverns was made a U.S. National Park to preserve it. It was once in danger. People can damage nature without even knowing it. Sometimes, just walking over an area can harm it. There are rules at the caverns that visitors must follow. Stay on the paths. Do not sit on the speleothems. Do not write on or mark them either. Rangers work at the caverns to teach people. They also help people follow the rules. And people pay to visit the caverns. The money helps pay for their care. Some people are tempted to take a piece of the caverns home with them. Or they want to carve their names on rocks. But Carlsbad Caverns belongs to all of us. As the saying goes, we should take only pictures and memories. And we should leave only footprints.2929page0029page0029.xhtmlProblem Solving At Carlsbad Caverns, there are patterns of speleothems everywhere. Looking for patterns in formations is a lot like looking for patterns in arithmetic. Addition and multiplication properties are filled with patterns. They can help you understand math concepts. Use the addition and multiplication tables on the right to answer the questions. 1. Looking at a room of stalactites, you see they are in groups of 5. When you look at multiples of 5 on the multiplication table, what do you notice? 2. There are stalagmites in groups of 3 in a chamber. When you look at the multiples of 3 on the multiplication table, what do you notice? 3. You count the stalagmites in one cavern. There are 13 groups of 13. Add factors of 13 to the multiplication table. Extend the pattern to show all the products leading to 13 13. 4. All the multiples of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 are even. Is there ever a row or column of sums on the addition table that are all even? Why or why not? 5. Can you make any other comparisons between the addition and multiplication tables?3030page0030page0030.xhtml3131page0031page0031.xhtmlGlossary acids substances with a sour taste that can dissolve metals and other materials carbonic acid a type of acid that is based in carbon corrosion the breaking apart or dissolving of something deposits leaves an amount of something on a surface guano waste material from birds and bats percolates passes through slowly plates large, movable segments of Earths lithosphere preserve protect and keep safe for the future processes natural events that result in gradual changes soluble able to be dissolved in a liquid speleothems formations created by the depositing of minerals, such as stalactites or stalagmites spelunkers people who study and explore caves stalactites speleothems that build downward from a ceiling stalagmites speleothems that extend upward from the ground3232page0032page0032.xhtmlIndex acid, Bat Cave, bats, Big Room, Bottomless Pit, Christmas Tree, column, corrosion, Crystal Spring Dome, Devils Den, Devils Spring, guano, Iceberg Rock, Kings Palace, Main Corridor, Mirror Lake, Painted Grotto, popcorn, Queens Chamber, Slaughter Canyon Cave, soda straws, speleothems, spelunkers, stalactites, stalagmites, Temple of the Sun, U.S. National Park, Witchs Finger,3333page0033page0033.xhtmlAnswer Key Let's Explore Math page 5 : even page 7 : 1. even 2. odd 3. even; even page 11 : 1. 9 2. 8 3. 12 4. 0 page 15 : 1. 18 2. 18 3. Even though the order of factors changed, the product did not. page 21 : 1. Answers will vary but may include : each addend is 5 or less; sums of 5 are on a diagonal. 2. Only addends of 0 can equal 0. 3. Answers will vary but may include : 10 is the sum that appears the most on the table; sums of 10 are on a diagonal. 4. Answers will vary but may include : the same sums appear on a diagonal; sums increase to the right or down but decrease to the left or up. page 25 : 1. 5 : 2 people 12 steps; 3 people 8 steps; 4 people 6 steps; 8 people 3 steps; 12 people 2 steps 2. No Problem Solving 1. The digit in the ones place is 5 or 0; the multiples alternate between odd and even. 2. Multiples alternate between odd and even; 3, 6, 9, and 12 have similar factors. 3. 13, 26, 39, 52, 65, 78, 91, 104, 117, 130, 143, 156, 169 4. No; when adding one more, sometimes two equal groups cannot be made, so the sum is odd. 5. Answers will vary but may include : The first columns of each table are the same.3434page0034page0034.xhtmlMath Talk 1. How can you tell the difference between a pattern and a nonpattern? 2. This book focuses on patterns in addition and multiplication. Do you think there are patterns in subtraction and division, too? 3. What arithmetic patterns are most useful to you? 4. How can understanding patterns in arithmetic help you understand math as a whole? 5. Are there any physical patterns you see in the world that you can relate to math? 6. Are there arithmetic patterns that arent in this book that you think can apply to Carlsbad Caverns? How?3535page0035page0035.xhtmlTravel Adventures Carlsbad Caverns Identifying Arithmetic Patterns Watch out for the guano! (That's bat poop!) Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico is home to about one million bats. The ancient caves are also filled with formations. Take a close look at patterns of stalagmites and stalactites. Along the way, find some other patterns in arithmetic. Go deep on this cave exploration! Operations and Algebric Reasoning36