This week's current event study is on the hot topic of ethanol. This topic has science, math, and a good debate - who could ask for more! Hubby, our 17 year old son, and I all enjoy watching Glenn Beck on CNN. Last week he shared some of the drawbacks that producing ethanol has on our economy.
He shared how corn prices are rising because it is more in demand for ethanol production. This is making it more costly for farmers to feed their cattle (corn). This in turn drives up the price of milk and meat.
Wheat farmers are now seeing more profit in corn than wheat and many have already switched to growing corn. This is driving up the price of wheat, which of course raises the price of almost any food imaginable - bread, cereal, you name it.
Is ethanol worth it? Do the benefits of ethanol outweigh the problems it causes? That got me thinking that I need to let my children in on this national debate and is what we will be discussing this week.
I have links below if you would like to study along with us in your homeschool. The links are mostly for readers at a high school level but I believe that is important to discuss current events as a family - with all ages. Even your little guys can understand quite a bit. My 8 year old always has an opinion about our current events topics and the questions the younger ones ask usually show me areas that I need to clarify.
We plan to:
- study the pros and cons of ethanol
- try to figure out if wide spread use of ethanol would considerably cut back on oil consumption
- and discuss the impact that ethanol production has on our food supply and economy
The question I will ask my guys to answer is:
Assuming we are continuously seeking out other alternatives - In your opinion, should we as a country still agressively pursue the production of ethanol?
Here are the links that we are using: The Pros and Cons of bio-fuels from about.com The Ethanol Fallacy from Popular Mechanics Big Corn and Ethanol Hoax from Student News Daily and their discussion questions Glenn Beck's site (on this link stop at reading at the photo of the fish) Happy learning! Dee
Hello, I just randomly stopped by your blog. I love it! I especially love your title-the food, dirt, close the door, etc. Very familiar and I just have one boy!
We've had the ethonal debate between my husband and his family, who all work in the oil field in NM. And my husband's new job has to do with nuclear power. You can imagine the strong viewpoints, as these are their lives.
I read some of your other posts and got much insight from them. Thank you for posting! I'll be stopping back.
This ethanol dilemma was new to me. It never would have crossed my mind.
Personally, I'm all for new technology that could get us away from fossil fuels. There's a fascinating little company that has developed flywheel technology that is simply AMAZING! Something like Optimal's flywheels could make a huge difference.
We are a homeschooling family raising 4 boys in Virginia. This blog is mostly about anything relevant to raising boys or homeschooling in general - but every once in a while I can't help but add some nonsense from our daily life.
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Mar. 31, 2008 - Thought provoking
We've had the ethonal debate between my husband and his family, who all work in the oil field in NM. And my husband's new job has to do with nuclear power. You can imagine the strong viewpoints, as these are their lives.
I read some of your other posts and got much insight from them. Thank you for posting! I'll be stopping back.