Fire Water

Today we met with our students in field work for the first time. I think it was a successful first meeting. The students seemed very engaged inn our introduction to Hydraulic Fracturing. The kids recognized the dangers of this process immediately after viewing a short clip from "Gasland". In this clip, a man held a lighter up to his running faucet and his water set on fire. "Is water supposed to set on fire?", we asked. "No!", they responded. "Why is there gas in the water?", the students pondered. As we began to explain the process of fracking, it was evident that failures can occur causing pollution to the air and water in the surrounding environment. We felt it was important to expose the children to both sides of the debate. We explained that the world runs on money. For an economic stand point, fracking is a gold mine. On the other hand, from an environmental and social stand point, fracking is a death sentence. We really got the students engaged in conversation and thinking. I think that is why they showed so much enthusiasm in our topic. It is certainly not an easy topic that many people have prior knowledge on. I thought it would have been much more difficult for them to grasp, but they displayed passion and critical thinking. I am excited to see what great ideas they come up with next time.