a tank full of grandma

Last time I stopped at the gas station it cost me $30 to fill up my tank. The fact that I tend to wait until my car is running on fumes doesn't really help reduce the cost of this task, but it did get me thinking that the whole discussion of fossil fuels always came up in every elementary science class that I ever taught. And upon learning that fossil fuels, and gasoline, were actually made from the remains of prehistoric dead stuff ('stuff' being the accurate scientific term) meaning dinosaurs and plants...but mostly plants, always brought about the same reactions from the kids. The first always being, 'Ew, gross', the second, was almost always the exact same question...'so if gas is made from dead stuff, why can't we dig up all those dead people and use them for gas?'.

So of course I'd explain about the differing conditions of the Earth millions of years ago, extreme pressure from the Earth piling up on those poor dead dinos, and so on...but really, who's to say that in future years we won't all end up as some type of fossil fuel? Maybe not gasoline or coal exactly, but maybe we'll end up being the stuff that fuels those futuristic Jetson cars. All of those preservatives, and chemicals, and radiation that we've been absorbing for years and years...I bet we'd make one kick ass fuel someday!

And to think, someday the family may load up into the car and zoom off to the gas station all excited about filling their tank full of grandma!