On the northwest corner of the Iowa State campus lies a seven-acre classroom with no walls, where the sky is the ceiling and the grass acts as a floor.

Though the classroom has been around for more than two decades, unless you’ve had a class on the grass, relatively few students know what the area is used for. Students are regularly seen looking up at the green “Outdoor Classroom” sign as they walk or drive by, reading with presumed interest.

The outdoor classroom plays host to many students, particularly those taking civil engineering and golf classes.

Kenneth Brewer, a professor of civil engineering, occasionally teaches Civil Engineering 352, a course for surveyors, at the outdoor classroom.

Brewer said the classroom is basically a surveying lab for his class.

“To effectively do surveying techniques, we need an open area somewhere,” Brewer said. “It is more appropriate to use that than central campus.”

Brewer said the classes used to be taught on central campus between Beardshear Hall and Curtiss Hall, but a lot of times, especially in the winter, the snow fences would get in the way.

Edward Kannel, also a professor of civil engineering, said there has been a reduction in the amount of space to work with. He said the area west of the Town Engineering Building was used at one time for the surveying classes, but it was made into a parking lot.

Steve Klocke, a senior in civil engineering, used the area west of Town Engineering when he took Civil Engineering 211 two years ago.

“You can learn only so much in class, and there’s only so much you can learn from a textbook,” Klocke said. “Sometimes you need hands-on experience.”

Kannel, who teaches CE 211, a three-hour surveying class, said, “Students are able to develop skills with professional surveying equipment. They are preparing for a professional career.”

Although the weather plays a big factor in the use of the outdoor classroom, Kannel said his class stays outside until it gets under 20 degrees.

“We use it until we just can’t stand it,” Kannel said.

Some may think the cold weather would hamper the classes, but Kannel said the class is more constrained by wet weather than cold weather.

Kannel said he has to rearrange how he teaches the class because of the unpredictable weather.

“Fall is a better time to be out there because the spring semester has more winter months,” Kannel said.

Dawn McDonald, coordinator of the basic instruction program for the health and human performance department, said there are currently four golf sections this semester that use the outdoor classroom.

The classroom has a putting green area where students can practice putting. There are also two holes of golf where the golf students can practice.

“They use it a lot for taking different approaches to the green,” McDonald said.

McDonald said the two golf holes used to be the number one and number 18 holes of Veenker golf course. “When Veenker moved, the two holes were maintained for teaching purposes,” she said.

McDonald said the dimensions of the classroom are smaller now than when it was first set aside in the early 1970s. It has been infringed upon by the Communications Building (WOI) parking lot and the satellite dishes next to it.

Cathy Brown, the campus planner for ISU’s facilities planning, said Veenker Golf Course was redesigned in the 1970’s to accommodate 13th Street.

This is when the two golf holes were left behind.

Brown said they put up a sign designating the area as an outdoor classroom last fall.

“We were having recreational users there when classes were in session,” Brown said.

She said the sign was placed there to let everyone know that classes have priority and the classroom is to be used primarily for academic purposes.

The Veenker golf staff maintains the area because they have specialized equipment to mow the greens and the fairways.