MANCHESTER — Blue skies and crisp autumn air made the perfect day for a round of golf. But instead of spikes and clubs, the fifth graders from The Dorset School (TDS) brought notebooks, water bottles, and eager minds to the Manchester Country Club (MCC) for lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.
This outdoor classroom experience is part of the national education program, First Green, sponsored by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. The group held its first Vermont session at MCC with the students from Dorset.
“The operation of a golf course can double as a learning laboratory,” says MCC Golf Course Superintendent Sean Monahan. “It’s a real world experience in managing nature, engineering, data management, and more. Teeing up a hands-on structure for the kids is the key to success.”
During their time on the links the students rotated through a variety of learning stations. They helped operate the complex components of a modern irrigation system that delivers precise amounts of water throughout an extensive 18 hole network of pipes and pumps. They witnessed the operation of machines engineered to mow, roll, and rake the golf course into shape. They took measurements to determine the health of the soil and the square footage of a putting green.
The golf course also offers land management lessons. The students were taught the fundamentals of maintaining a healthy watershed environment. They heard, for example, how rainwater flows down the Taconic and Green Mountains into the Battenkill River. It continues to the Hudson River and passes New York City before it heads out to the Atlantic Ocean. “If it was me,” said one cheeky fifth grader, “I would stop for a slice of pizza.”
The kids also studied the eco-system surrounding a pond. They understood that plants with berries near the shore provide food for animals, and that fish and amphibians in the water add another element to the mix. The students raised their binoculars to watch for birds. “I see a blue heron,” shouted one excited student, “ but I don’t see any snapping turtles!''
“I love getting the kids off-campus,” explained TDS Science Teacher Karli Love. “Our first science assignment this fall was on energy and dynamics in eco-systems. Our time at the golf course takes what we’ve been studying in the classroom to the outdoors where they are really in the driver's seat of their learning.”