Our Large Group Reservation Policies

Caves & Karst Mini-Course Overview

30-minute Interactive Presentation

This engaging course delves into various cave types, their formation processes, locations, and unique formations. Participants will explore the property to identify signs of Karst topography, which features sinkholes, disappearing streams, and caves. By examining sinkholes, we investigate whether they are active, inactive, or semi-active. Combined with a guided cave tour, this immersive experience highlights the geology of caves and the distinctive Driftless Area.

Interactive Presentation Topics

• What is a cave?
• Five key cave types found globally and in Wisconsin
• Maps of Karst landscapes, U.S. caves, and Wisconsin caves
• The impact of glaciation on Wisconsin’s caves
• Formation of Cave of the Mounds’ limestone
• How Cave of the Mounds formed
• Speleothems (cave formations)
• Karst Topography and its connection to caves

To enhance learning, students interact with samples of minerals, rocks, and fossils.

Geology of the Earth Mini-Course Overview

30-minute Interactive Presentation

This program offers a broader perspective than the Caves & Karst Mini-Course, focusing on rocks, fossils, and water. Students begin with the rock cycle, progress to fossils, and conclude with the water cycle. The experience is often paired with a sluicing activity, where students uncover their own rock or fossil collection, or a guided hike to explore the property’s unique topography and the vital role of water and rocks at Cave of the Mounds.

Interactive Presentation Topics

• Layers of the Earth
• Minerals and Rocks, including the three rock types and the rock cycle
• Cave Mineral Deposits (speleothems)
• Geologic Time, the law of superposition, and the formation of Cave of the Mounds’ limestone
• Fossils and Rocks/Minerals found in the cave
• Water Cycle

Sluicing Activity Overview

30-minute activity

In this 30-minute activity, participants use a sluice—a water-filled trough typically used by paleontologists to clean fossils—to sift through pre-made sand kits containing rocks, minerals, or fossils. Each kit includes a plastic bag with sand and about a dozen pre-selected specimens (all participants must choose either rocks & minerals or fossils). Using a sieve tray and the sluice, participants separate the specimens from the sand.

Our staff will guide the process, help identify the specimens, and connect them to the interactive presentation. Printable color ID charts are available on our website for students to reference at home.

Chaperones and teachers may purchase sluice kits but are not required to do so.

Cave Tour for School Groups

45 to 55 minute tour

Bring your students on an unforgettable journey through a natural limestone cave at Cave of the Mounds! Our cave tours are conducted on paved and well-lit walkways, provide a safe and engaging educational experience for all grade levels. Students will marvel at the vibrant crystal formations, including stalactites, stalagmites, and columns, while learning about geology, earth science, and the cave’s unique history.

With a consistent 50-degree temperature year-round, the cave is the perfect destination for field trips in any season. This immersive experience aligns with science curriculum goals and encourages curiosity about the natural world.