BALTIMORE – Westminster National Golf Course welcomed 100 third-graders from Westminster Elementary School on Thursday for an interdisciplinary, STEM-related hands-on field trip.
The students learned everything about golf as well as the science and technology related to this sport.
The greens and tees have been transformed into learning laboratories.
“I’m looking forward to these two stations that are at the top,” third-grader Emma Williams said. “I forget what they are, but they look fun.”
Not only were students introduced to the game of golf, but they were also introduced to topics that they can relate to lessons throughout the school year.
It’s all thanks to a program called “First Green,” an environmental education outreach program that uses golf courses as environmental learning laboratories.
The children were happy to get out of the classroom for a day.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” Williams said.
Golf course superintendents must be highly trained in STEM to manage golf courses.
These superintendents shared this knowledge with students and demonstrated how this knowledge can be applied in the real world.
“Technology in general is just creating or modifying something to better meet human needs,” said Bryan Shumaker, Carroll County Public Schools STEM coordinator. “There’s a lot going on here. Whether it’s club design, putters, green contours, course management, architecture, there’s a lot of technology involved that doesn’t has nothing to do with electricity.”
