Kentucky Capsules

SUBJECTS: Social Studies, Science and Language Arts

GRADES: 4-5

KERA GOALS: Meets KERA goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS: Make sense of a variety of materials they read; make sense of various messages to which they listen; organize information and use of classification rules and systems; speak using appropriate forms for different audiences and purposes; identify, analyze, and use patterns; observe, analyze, and interpret human behaviors, social groupings, and institutions; understand, analyze, and interpret historical events; show their abilities to become self-sufficient individuals; show their abilities to become responsible members of a family, work group, or community; use critical thinking skills to solve a variety of problems in real-life situations; organize information to develop or change their understanding of a concept; use a decision-making process to make informed decisions; connect knowledge and experiences from different subject areas; use what they already know to acquire new knowledge, skills, or interpret experience; and expand their understanding of existing knowledge.

DURATION: One class period of 35-45 minutes

GROUP SIZE: One or two classes of 8 to 60 students

SETTING: Indoors

KEY VOCABULARY: Time line, past, chronological order, and capsule word list

ANTICIPATORY SET: Today we are going to look at several “capsules” of time. Every generation has unusual events that make their time period original. In each of our “capsules” there are special happenings from a particular era.

OBJECTIVES: The students will be able to: 1) identify a time period by using key words; 2) arrange time periods from oldest to youngest; 3) think logically and express thoughts orally.

MATERIALS:

• One bag of large lima or great northern beans (see how to make the beans, below)
• a fine tip felt pen
• clear nail polish
• eight or more empty film canisters
• time period signs (see list below or signs in pdf version)
• time period description cards. (see list below or signs in pdf version)

BACKGROUND: Kentucky’s history is diverse and begins even before human presence in the south central area of the state. Many of the interesting and unusual historical events of Kentucky and Mammoth Cave are not found in traditional text books. We have chosen eight of the more interesting topics dealing with Kentucky and Mammoth Cave history for you and your students to investigate. (See time period description cards.)

PROCEDURE:

1. The teacher places the students into eight groups of two or three students (to have the students work in smaller groups the teacher may wish to make duplicates of several capsules). The teacher then reads the eight time period signs before placing them on the blackboard. The signs should not be read or placed in chronological order.
2. Each group is given a capsule (film canister). They are told that their capsule matches one time period. All the words are different clues representing only one time period. They are not to try to match a bean per time period! Each time period has 6 “bean clues” to help reveal the conclusion. The students can open their capsules and look at their words.
3. While the students are looking at their words the teacher can wander around the room to answer questions or help with unfamiliar words.
4. When the groups seem to know their matches, the teacher can ask for a group to volunteer to go first. The students read the words from their capsule. The teacher writes these words on the black board. Then the group announces which sign they think the words match. (If using more than one of each capsule to have smaller groups, the teacher can ask if any other group has the same words and asks if they agree with the first group.) The teacher asks the group why and if anyone else agrees or disagrees. This will lead to discussions as each group announces their findings.
5. Once all of the capsules have been matched to the signs, the teacher lets the students know the signs need to be in chronological order. We start with the oldest event at the left end of the blackboard and works toward the youngest event to the far right. The teacher asks, “Who thinks they have an idea of what happened first?”
6. As each sign is selected to be put in order, the teacher gives the group with the matching time capsule the matching time period description card to read. The teacher encourages the students to look for words that were read from the capsules that might help them choose the next sign.
7. After the signs are placed in order, the teacher asks the students, “What if we made a time capsule for today? What words could we include and what would our sign say?” After listing ideas on the board the teacher can collect the students’ materials.

CONCLUSION: Different times throughout our history can be captured in a few words to represent major events. These events help to make each time period unique.

EVALUATION: The teacher is able to evaluate the students as they work with their time capsules as well as through their class discussion.

EXTENSIONS:

1. This could lead to a writing activity, where the students have discovered a container and in it they found ... from ...time period. The students fill in the blanks and provide a description of an era.
2. The students could create a time capsule that would represent the special things that have happened during their school year. These capsules can be saved to be opened by next year’s class.
3. The students could visit a museum, such as the Kentucky Museum in Bowling Green, the American Cave and Karst Museum in Horse Cave, or the South Central Cultural Center (formerly Museum of the Barrens) in Glasgow to see how museums are time capsules capturing special times and ways of life.

How to make the beans

1. With a fine felt tip or permanent marker, print the time period words on large lima or Great Northern beans, one clue per bean.
2. After the marker has dried, paint over the words with clear nail polish.
3. After the nail polish has dried fill each film canister with a time period’s beans.

Time Period Word Lists

1. The Cave Begins to Form
   
   • Sea
   • Sandstone
   • Limestone
   • Sinkholes
   • River
   • Carbonic Acid
2. Prehistoric People in the Cave Area
   • Cane Reed
   • Minerals
   • Slippers
   • Gourds
   • Mussel Shells
   • Mummies
3. Westward Expansion Into Kentucky
   • Early Settlers
   • Wild West
   • Cumberland Gap
   • 1792
   • Log Cabins
   • Longhunters
4. The War of 1812 Hits Home
   • Against England
   • Slaves
   • Gunpowder
   • Saltpetre
   • Cave Dirt
   • Hollow Logs
5. Dr. Croghan Explores Other Possibilities
   • Tuberculosis Experiment
   • Hotel
   • Tours
   • Tourist Attraction
   • Cure
6. Jesse James Strikes Again
   • 1880
   • Cave City
   • Judge
   • Guns
   • Stagecoach
   • Pocketwatch
7. Kentucky Cave Wars
   • Competition
   • False Advertising
   • Private Owners
   • Trickery
   • Road Signs
   • Floyd Collins
8. Mammoth Cave – A New National Park
   • 1941
   • Wildlife
   • Visitors
   • Vegetation
   • Rangers
   • Landforms

Time Period Description Cards

THE CAVE BEGINS TO FORM According to geologists, millions of years ago Kentucky was covered by a shallow, warm sea. Deposits from this sea created layers of limestone that would later “house” the world’s longest cave. Over time the sea moved to the south as glaciers from the north began to melt. The melting glaciers created a river that carried a large amount of sand and sediment. After a great deal of time passed, the sediments from this river formed layers of sandstone on top of the limestone. Later cracks and sinkholes formed allowing water containing carbonic acid to make its way to the limestone, creating Mammoth Cave.

WESTWARD EXPANSION INTO KENTUCKY The Appalachian Mountains blocked the way of westward expansion until early settlers discovered an opening through the mountain chain. Later this opening was named the Cumberland Gap. In 1792 when Kentucky became a state, it was considered to be the wild west. These early pioneers lived in log cabins and were called longhunters because they traveled long distances and were gone for long periods of time.

PREHISTORIC PEOPLE IN THE CAVE AREA The first people to enter Mammoth Cave made their way through dark passages with cane reed torches. They wore only a breach cloth and slippers as they traveled through the cave. These people used mussel shells to scrape minerals from the cave walls. Gourds, used as utensils, have also been found in the cave. Much of our information is known from the discovery of mummies of these ancient people.

THE WAR OF 1812 HITS HOME In 1812 the United States fought a war against England. The powerful English Navy blockaded our sea ports and our country could no longer import gun powder. At that time early pioneers knew cave dirt contained saltpetre, the main ingredient needed to make gun powder. Many slaves worked in Mammoth Cave processing the dirt. Pumps and hollow logs (used as pipes) took the liquid mixture from the cave for final processing.

DR. CROGHAN – EXPLORES OTHER POSSIBILITIES Dr. John Croghan of Louisville, Kentucky was one of the early private owners of Mammoth Cave. In the mid-1830’s tuberculosis (an ailment affecting your lungs) was a fatal disease. One part of Dr. Croghan’s plan was to try an experiment in the cave to cure this illness. He actually built an underground hospital for 15 patients. The second part of his plan was to build a hotel in the cave, continue cave tours, and make Mammoth Cave a more famous tourist attraction.

KENTUCKY CAVE WARS The 1920’s were a time of great competition in the Mammoth Cave area. False advertising and trickery was common on the route to Mammoth Cave to entice people to visit other caves. Private owners posted road signs or stationed people along the roads to Mammoth Cave. The most famous cave explorer of the time was Floyd Collins who lost his life in Sand Cave. Floyd was searching for the first cave entrance on the road from Cave City.

JESSE JAMES STRIKES AGAIN In 1880, Judge Roundtree and his daughter were visiting Mammoth Cave. That evening the judge, his daughter, and other visitors boarded a stagecoach for Cave City. On their way through a wooded area their stagecoach was stopped by a band of men carrying guns. They demanded everyone’s money and other valuables. The judge was forced to give up his pocketwatch. The engraved watch was found a few months later on the slain body of the notorious outlaw, Jesse James.

MAMMOTH CAVE – A NEW NATIONAL PARK After many years of private ownership Mammoth Cave became a National Park in 1941. Visitors from all over the world come to see this special place. Rangers work very hard to protect the wildlife, vegetation and unique landforms found in Mammoth Cave National Park. National parks are believed to contain our nation’s greatest treasures.