1. Define ethics.

Help students understand the importance of ethics. Put the caver’s motto on the board: “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.” Ask: Why would explorers such as cavers have this motto? (The motto is a reminder to protect unique and fragile environments such as caves from damage.) Brainstorm as a class about:

1. what could be taken from a cave (examples may include pieces of rock, stalagmites, stalactites, bones, animals, plants),
2. what could be left behind (damaged walls or other formations, garbage, lost equipment), and
3. what could be killed (plants and animals in and around the cave).

 Talk about how the caver’s motto is an example of environmental ethics, or guidelines for having respect for places and also the people who care about those places. Ask: What other places need, or benefit from, environmental ethics approaches such as the caver’s motto? (state/national/local parks and forests, beaches, waterways, other public places)

Talk about times when “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.” might be difficult. Students may say that there can be accidental damage in a place, or that doing scientific research in a place may require taking samples of species, bones, rock, water, and more. Even having a campfire can impact the fire site and destroy the firewood. So sometimes there is a “fine line” researchers and others have to walk in making ethical decisions. Where research takes place, scientists have to ask permission to do research and to take samples.

2. Discuss the ethics of Hiram Bingham and Machu Picchu.

Next, discuss how ethics play out in a real life example. Have students read the articles The Accidental Discovery of Hiram Bingham and The Discovery of Machu Picchu about Hiram Bingham’s re-discovery of the site in Peru. Ask students to write any ideas or questions about the material while they read. Afterward, ask: Which ethical issues came up in this expedition? How does this example relate to the caver’s motto?

Discuss their ideas and explain that Hiram Bingham’s “discovery” of Machu Picchu was actually something that local people had known about for a while, and instead he brought awareness of Machu Picchu to the rest of the world. This awareness created a lot of interest in staking claims on Machu Picchu and researching its artifacts. And so, while the Peruvian people were the true keepers of Machu Picchu and its artifacts, ownership of the discovery ended up in contention because of the excitement surrounding Bingham’s re-discovery. Further, the increased attention to Machu Picchu brought unprecedented levels of tourism to the area, which has had continual impacts on the physical integrity of the Machu Picchu ruins and the trails around them. Ask students how their initial ideas from Step 1 and discussing the caver’s motto might have changed after considering this example.

3. Analyze ethical considerations.

Ask students to bring their thinking about ethics to the specifics of the Blue Holes Expedition. Brainstorm as a class or in small groups the concerns that the team members for the Blue Holes Expedition would have needed to think about ahead of time. Ask students to create a list of their ideas.

Examples may include:

• The need to be well trained for safe and low-impact cave diving.
• The need to take samples from the caves
• The need to make sure they could get to the blue holes in different areas—on both private and public property

Have students watch the Regulations and Ethics and Caver's Motto videos in which Dr. Kenny Broad discusses the regulatory and ethical considerations for the Blue Holes Expedition. Have them add any new ideas to their lists.

4. Discuss ethical considerations for the micro-expedition.

Using the initial conversation about ethics and their list of considerations for the Blue Holes Expedition as their guide, discuss as a whole class what ethical considerations their group micro-expeditions might have. Ask:

• Will you be taking, leaving, or harming anything as you explore and collect data? 
• How can you minimize the impacts on the place? 
• What impacts might there be, on people and on the environment, and how can you address them? 
• With whom should you discuss the micro-expedition, including getting permission for exploration, before you go? 

Students can contact park rangers, or others responsible for the site they will explore, to discuss ethics and safety needs.

5. Wrap-up

Ask students to use their ideas and ethical considerations to create a written ethics statement for their micro-expedition. This statement should be a 3-4 sentence long summary of how they will address foreseen and unforeseen ethical issues in their micro-expeditions. Have students work in their small groups to accomplish this, using their lists from the Blue Hole Expedition and the class discussion to help them.