LIFE - Florida Caverns State Park

The LIFE Florida Caverns State Park (FCSP) Program is a partnership between the Department of Environmental Protection and Malone School in Jackson County. The program targets seventh grade students at Malone School and involves four separate field experiences, one every nine weeks. Each field experience involves a number of distinct field labs led by DEP staff, volunteers and participating teachers. The field labs will address priority topics that have been identified by the participating teachers and will use the unique natural resources and ecosystems available at Florida Caverns State Park to illustrate important concepts and principles in Life and Environmental Science. The field experiences delve into such topics as cave formations and karst features, the slant of the sun’s rays as it relates to the Earth, and distance vs. displacement. The program is funded primarily through a Florida Springs Initiative grant.

Program Implementation Team

• Bert Hickey
  Park Services Specialist, Florida Caverns State Park: (850) 482-1228

• Kelly Banta
  Park Services Specialist, Florida Caverns State Park: (850) 482-1228

• Russell Williams
  DEP Springs Ambassador, Russell.Williams@dep.state.fl.us : (850) 482-1228

• Frank Waller
  Director, Middle/Secondary Education, Jackson County School Board: (850) 482-1200 ext. 211

• Linda Hall
  Principal, Malone School: (850) 482-9950

• Greg Ford
  7th Grade Science Teacher, Malone School: (850) 482-9950

Program Content