3RD GRADE
Longhorn Caverns

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

6211 Park Road 4 S
Burnet, TX 78611

https://visitlonghorncavern.com/

Longhorn Cavern’s remarkable underground world provides a hands-on adventure to explore geology, cave formation processes, and human history while practicing leadership, stewardship, and community building. Guided by park rangers, our 3rd graders will investigate karst landscapes, observe speleothems and rock textures, and connect classroom Earth‑science concepts to real geological evidence. 

Scholarship

Evidence‑based scientific reasoning is developed by observing cave features, comparing rock layers and mineral deposits, and linking observations to processes like dissolution, sedimentation, and speleothem formation. These activities support NGSS/MS Earth Science performance expectations such as constructing explanations for how geoscience processes change Earth’s surface and analyzing geological data.

Leadership

Group leadership will be practiced during guided tours and station activities (e.g., rotating student roles such as recorder, observer, timekeeper), short peer‑teaching moments on cave features, and by coordinating safe movement along the cave trail.

Integrity

Students will model ethical behavior and responsibility for public lands by following cave etiquette and Leave No Trace principles, honoring rules for cave conservation, and reflecting on human impacts revealed in the cavern’s history.

Brotherhood

Camaraderie will be built through cooperative exploration, shared discovery tasks, and structured reflection that fosters respect, inclusivity, and mutual support.