On Thursday last sixth class set off bright and early for our field trip to Mitchelstown Cave. We had been learning about karst regions and The Burren in Geography class . We followed on by learning about sedimentary rocks and how they were formed. Limestone is a sedimentary rock and is found in the south of Ireland. Unlike The Burren region the limestone is found underground near Mitchelstown.
We studied underground features in class and added many new words to our vocabulary. Stalactites, stalagmites, pillars and permeable were some of the words we explored.
Limestone is a permeable rock and this was very obvious in the cave as it was quite wet underfoot. The stalactites and stalagmites were absolutely beautiful and we were very excited to see them . There were marvellous examples of pillars in the cave also.
Chloe , our guide was amazed by the knowledge we had and she gave us a wonderful, informative tour. We were also delighted to see a seismograph on the floor of the cave and we were fascinated to learn that forty minutes after the most recent earthquake occurred in Mexico it was recorded on the seismograph in Mitchelstown.
We all had a great day out and we enjoyed our stop in Mahon on our way home where we enjoyed some lunch.
Togher Boys' National School 