Sixth grade students from Jeff Glaser’s Environmental Science class at St. Louise School in Bellevue, Wash., spent the morning on June 1 at Glendale Country Club learning hands-on science. Students visited three learning stations around the golf course. They learned about the technology used to maintain golf greens, identified bugs from a pond on the golf course, and applied their math skills to figure out the surface area of a green. Afterwards, the students got to putt on a practice green.
Laurie Devereaux from the City of Bellevue guided the students through their macro-invertebrate hunt and taught them that the presence of macro invertebrates (in quantity and diversity) indicates water health.
This field trip was part of First Green’s STEM program, which uses golf courses as learning labs. Golf course superintendents need to be highly-trained in STEM to manage their golf courses; they share this knowledge with teachers and students, showing real world applications that inspire student interest in STEM.
Rogan, one of the sixth-graders, said, “We learned about microorganisms in the water, like dragonflies bugs and boatmen, and we caught some of them and looked at the variety…. We learned how to take care of a green on a golf course. We got to come and play golf!” When was asked about her favorite part of the golf course, Elsa replied, “I think it was fun to learn about all of the gadgets that help maintain the green.”
About First Green
First Green is an innovative environmental education outreach program that uses golf courses as environmental learning labs – the only program of its kind. First Green provides extensive resources to golf course superintendents, including online lesson plans.
First Green has been providing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning since 1997.
Golf course superintendents and/or local golf course representatives host students on field trips where they test water quality, collect soil samples, identify plants, design plantings, assist in stream bed restoration, and are involved in the ecology and environmental aspects of the golf course. The students are also introduced to many other aspects of golf.
A tax-exempt nonprofit, First Green was founded in the State of Washington in 1997 and is expanding nationally and internationally.
For more information on First Green, please visit thefirstgreen.org or contact Cathy Relyea at 425.373.9915 or cathyrelyea@thefirstgreen.org.
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