Students at Madison Elementary School in Greeley this week learned about science in ways they might never imagined.
A Madison teacher who arranged the three-day interactive experience with a Colorado Springs-area company hopes the lessons inspire the children — to consider a future beyond any current vision.
"I think our job as educators is to open any doors possible to any career paths," fifth grade teacher Angela Mueller said. "We might have sparked an interest for a geologist. It's to show them they can have a career out of any interest or hobby they have."
Mueller and the Madison teachers received help in piquing students' curiosity from Dave Jackson and his colleagues at CaveSim. CaveSim is a patented crawl-through electronic cave simulator with a mix of multiple disciplines including art and engineering.
At Madison, Jackson and his team had a 26-foot trailer with multiple levels totaling 60 feet of space as the cave for the students to explore. Jackson created, designed and built the cave simulator. The CaveSim group also had other outdoor activities to help students learn more about science with lessons on bats, gravity and oil and water.
Madison Elementary fifth graders Daniel Say, right, Robert Leos, center, and Lynzie Avellano, left in plaid jacket, run from a tarp designated as a bat's habitat Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021 at the Greeley school. The students were participating in an exercise devised by CaveSim, a Colorado Springs-area company that teaches basic science concepts to students throughout the U.S. Dave Jackson, also known as Cave Dave, CaveSim's owner, visited Madison for three days this week and the students had the chance to climb through a simulated cave Jackson created, designed and built.
"We're teaching basic science concepts in a fun way, said Jackson, adding the cave is the method used in the instruction. "I like to share my passion for building and engineering."
Mueller said she found CaveSim while doing an internet search in 2019. She was looking for an incentive program to reward students for their work and effort in the classroom including on state assessment tests. COVID-19 delayed CaveSim's arrival until this year.
The fun, "real, live action" learning — as Mueller referred to the program on Wednesday — will benefit the students in school. Mueller said a lot of the students' curriculum is based on collaboration, in subjects such as reading and math. From the CaveSim experience, Mueller said the Madison teachers can use the time as reminders for when the kids have to work with other students.
"If they can collaborate here to complete the stations, then we can refer to that as they collaborate inside the classroom," she said.
Jackson, also known as Cave Dave, runs CaveSim with his wife, Tracy, in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. He earned degrees in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. One of Jackson's interests in life is exploring caves. He volunteers to train search and rescue teams on how to handle and manage incidents in caves. The original purpose of the cave was to train these teams.
Jackson said CaveSim put on a program for University Schools middle schoolers in 2017. Jackson said the program they used then were designed for older students with advanced biology and hands-on lab work.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Madison first through fifth graders were introduced to the cave and the other planned lessons and activities. The fifth graders will receive additional training in leadership and team building on Friday.
Jackson said the fifth graders' training will be focused on working together, communication and trust to accomplish tasks with a rescue stretcher, through an obstacle course and blindfold among other methods.
"We tell the fifth graders on day 1 that we expect them to be leaders, to help the little kids," Mueller said. "We don't show them how to be a leader."
