Why don’t parents of school-age kids make up their minds? First, they complain that the little darlings aren’t learning anything practical. Then when a school bio teacher has them brew up a vat of suds, the parents moan even more loudly.
Total Frat Move writes that students at Ralston Valley High School in Colorado are getting hands-on experience with zymurgy, the study of fermentation. And how better to learn the process than by blending some malted barley and hops and just watching what happens?
The article’s author, BlutarskyTFM, notes that despite the pique of current parents, beer making has been taught for the past eight years, and before now without complaint. Maybe that’s because the course description sounds so clinical — after a fashion:
The project synopsis instructs students to become familiar with the ingredients and equipment needed to brew beer as well as the steps required in brewing. It also asks students to explain the variables that are changed in making other forms of alcohol, such as wine, champagne and hard alcohols like whiskey and vodka.
For parents who might take exception to their offspring learning how to make bathtub gin, there is this assurance:
In no way does this assignment promote the use of alcohol, but rather a deeper understanding of anaerobic respiration.
Yeah, right. And those two teenagers going at it like a couple of monkeys in the back of the family SUV are learning about sexual reproduction.
But BlutarskyTFM sees things differently. He writes that in a nation lagging behind other civilized countries “in science and technology education, you’d think parents would be happy their kids were at least learning.”
Perhaps the most troubling part of the course is the “extra credit.” Students can ten additional points if they take a tour of the nearby Coors Brewery and observe the brewing process in action. A photo must be provided for verification, although what the kids need to be shown doing in the photo is not specified.
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