Chapters 10-17: Family Discussion Reflection

Research

The New Dust Bowl talked about how a terrible drought has had the same effect on Texas as the Dust Bowl had 75 years earlier.  This drought, which started in 2011, has forced west Texans to spend a fortune on feed and hay for livestock or on water to irrigate dusty fields.  The article follows rancher Bill Tullos, who as a precaution has sold most of his cattle, sheep, and goats to avoid impoverishment.  This article relates to The Grapes of Wrath because the Joads were also forced to sell or murder their livestock in response to the Dust Bowl. 

Miller, Peter. "The New Dust Bowl." National Geographic, Sept. 2012. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

     <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/extreme-weather/sidebar-text>.

Philosophical Questioning

      1.       What responsibilities do we have to help others deal with natural disasters?

      2.       Is it more important to endure a time of crisis or to flee it?

      3.       What measures can be taken to prevent droughts from happening?

Reflection

The most memorable moment in my conversation with my dad was when he applied real world examples to his opinions.  For example, as a solution to prevent droughts from happening, he mentioned how many Israelis use drip irrigation, which conserves water in dry climates.  He also talked about contour farming, which conserves soil during watering.  Something that I found surprising in the conversation was when my dad said that Las Vegas consumes enormous amounts of water in order to irrigate their lawns.  They do this in the middle of a desert to attract people to their casino industries.  He said that all this wasted water could be put to good use by helping farmers in Nevada.  One way I could improve my questions for the next conversation would be to make them more analytical, because the questions I developed for this conversation we largely based off the text.  If the questions did not relate so much to the reading, they might be more thought-provoking.