Contact: Aga Haupt
Twenty-six middle school students from Clay, Oktibbeha and Lowndes counties are putting, chipping--and maybe even birdieing--their way to a better understanding of science with help from a Mississippi State summer program now under way.
For the second year, "Science on the Green" is introducing students to the science, mathematics and engineering involved in golf while they learn the sport. Funded by a $147,000 United States Golf Association grant, the two-week program is coordinated by the university's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
"We're taking an innovative approach to introducing underrepresented students to the fields of science, mathematics and engineering while they learn a sport," said physics professor and center director Sandra H. Harpole. "They're exposed to a wide range of scientific applications while they learn more about golf and possible careers."
Through June 15, Science on the Green campers spend mornings in a golf clinic coordinated by Blane Merritt, director of MSU's award-winning par-72 public golf course. Students in the Professional Golf Management academic program also are helping campers improve their game skills.
"They are learning rules and etiquette of the game, as well as putting, swinging and other techniques," Harpole said.
In the afternoons, the sport becomes academic, with instruction in trigonometry, graphing, physics, water conservation, and turfgrass research. Taught by experts in each area, the students must draw on the instruction to design and lay out their own golf course holes.
"In addition to having a lot of fun with all of the activities, they learn skills that will benefit them long into the future," Harpole said. "That's the important thing."
Students in the 2001 "Science on the Green" include [alphabetically, by school system]:
CALEDONIA--Laura Cravey, Ashley Gilmore, Glen Halbert, Keyanna Jefferson, Monica Johnson, and Victoria Lemmermann, Caledonia Middle School.
OKTIBBEHA COUNTY--Markesha Houston and C.J. Williams, Alexander Middle School; and Stephen Phillips, Keshia Robinson, Ernest Rogers Jr., and Erica Shields, Moor Attendance Center.
STARKVILLE--Andrea Hannigan, Dontavious Howard and Glenda Young, Armstrong Middle School.
WEST POINT--Robert Gaston Jr., Rasheed Mitchell, Cameron Shumpert, Katelyn Thomas, and Katherine Tiffin, Central School; and Holly Duke, Homer Duke Jr., Deionesha Lenoir, and Joshua Williams, Fifth Street Junior High School.