Wanna know a mnemonic that I came up with when I was little? Okay! It condensed out of my deep-tier memory banks when I was reading that astrobiology book a few weeks’ back.
Ever been in a real cave? See how it looks like you’re in a gaping, fanged mouth? Well, those teeth that hang down from the roof and poke up from the floor have names. As an amateur scientist, I came across them often as a kid, and could never keep them straight. You may have, too. Which are stalactites, and which are stalagmites? I could never remember until I came up with this memorization trick.
Stalactites are the fangs hanging down from the ceiling of a cave.
Stalagmites are the fangs poking up from the ground.
Got that?
StalaCtites – Ceiling.
StalaGmites – Ground.
C – C, and G – G.
Ever been in a real cave? See how it looks like you’re in a gaping, fanged mouth? Well, those teeth that hang down from the roof and poke up from the floor have names. As an amateur scientist, I came across them often as a kid, and could never keep them straight. You may have, too. Which are stalactites, and which are stalagmites? I could never remember until I came up with this memorization trick.
Stalactites are the fangs hanging down from the ceiling of a cave.
Stalagmites are the fangs poking up from the ground.
Got that?
StalaCtites – Ceiling.
StalaGmites – Ground.
C – C, and G – G.
I have since learned that I was not the originator of this mnemonic, as you can probably gather from the photo of the pretty lady, dating from one of the Roosevelt presidencies. Still, though, not bad for a ten-year-old, eh?
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