What is a cave?

Land Features

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by Kate Simmons >> more about the author

They’re dark, mysterious and packed with wonders to discover! They are caves—openings in the earth that are large enough to hold a person.

Most caves are created when slowly-moving water dissolves, or eats away at rock, creating spaces, caverns and even tunnel-like passages! Caves can also form over time when waves pound against rocks along the shore, when wind-blown sand wears down desert rock, and when water melts inside of glaciers, to name a few ways.

Caves are the home to many interesting features. Stalactites form when water drips from the cave roof, leaving behind a little bit of calcite (which was originally part of the rock that the water washed away)! As each drop falls and more calcite is left, the stalactite grows closer to the ground. While stalactites grow down from the ceiling, stalagmites are formations that grow up from the ground. When they meet, they form a cave column!

Some caves are small, but others can be miles long. Caves can take tens of thousands, or even millions, of years to form, which makes them filled with history!

Cave explorers are called spelunkers! They have to be very careful as they move through caves, making safe choices and keeping their hands to themselves so they don’t damage cave formations like stalactites and stalagmites.

Are you ready to create a cave of your own? First, cut a black piece of construction paper into the shape of a hill. This shape will represent the opening to a cave, as if you’re peering in from the outside!

Now use oil pastels or chalk to draw cave features on the paper. Can you draw stalactites and stalagmites? What about cave columns? What creatures do you think you would find in the cave? Crickets, bats and salamanders are just a few of the critters that spend time in these natural wonders!