LRHS STEM Club explores Mineral Ridge

On Friday, Sept. 30, LRHS Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) club embarked on its first of several field trips.

The group traveled to Mineral Ridge on Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where a three-mile hike featured discussions on forest ecology, as well as a brief collection of data on the water.

The group, comprised of a variety of STEM club students, enjoyed the trip as an opportunity to connect principles learned in the classroom to the field.

STEM club advisor Jason Aldrich explained “The purpose of the field trip was the same as any other STEM club field trip, and that’s to use the outdoor world as the classroom.”

The students advocate the field trip achieved its goals.

Third year STEM club member Jack Anderson said of the experience, “I learned a bit about the history of the area, such as the many mining claims all over the mountain.”

Caden Liberty, in his second year as a STEM club member, explained, “I learned about lots of different aspects of both the area and ecology in general.”

“I also learned about biodiversity with all the different types of plants and how they interact with each other,” Anderson added.

Throughout the three-mile hike, the trail had several stations. Each station emphasized a different concept in environmental science.

Using a guidebook to supplemental information, pairs of students were assigned to a station and an accompanying concept. The pairs of students then presented their concept to the remainder of the group.

The presentations, coupled with direct visualization of the principles they were explaining, expanded the field trip’s purpose.

Aldrich said, “When you get to experience and see first-hand the concepts that you learned in the classroom, it reinforces them and makes them more clear, understandable, and relevant.”

“It was fun to get out [from] behind a desk and out into the real world,” Anderson continued.

Two foreign exchange students, Miguel Saéz of Spain and Samuele Bartolato of Italy, attended the field trip. Neither had previously been to the Coeur d’Alene region.

Saéz explained, “I learn about the different species of trees of the zone, parasites that cause damage on them, and how wildfires are sometimes a good thing for the forest.”

In addition to learning of applications of STEM, field trips for the club are a chance to be around like-minded people.

For these reasons, the students who attended the Mineral Ridge trip are looking forward to their next field trip.

Liberty said, “It was fun to work in groups to learn the information at different designated spots, then teach that to each group and then learn from other groups as we all went up the trail.”

“I’m definitely looking forward to getting more educational opportunities to see what kinds of STEM related activities there are in the world,” he added.

Sharon Anderson, in her first year of STEM club, said, “It was fun to hang out with a bunch of people that actually want to learn about STEM related things and hear their opinions and questions during the stations. I look forward to going on more STEM club field trips this year, and, through them, hopefully find out which STEM fields interest me the most.”

Overall, the field trip opened the door for more experiences throughout the year.

Saéz concluded, “I had a great time with great time, with great people, in a great place. The whole trip was so much fun.”