Adamski
04-28-2009, 06:59 AM
Guys,
Has your son ever asked you this perplexing question? Sure, it makes you feel uncomfortable. You're not sure how to answer it. You don't want to tell him more detail than he needs to know at his young age. I mean, you're certainly not going to tell him how the shaft goes into the bearing if he's only 8 years old. Here's a simple explanation for a boy under 12 years old:
Iron is mined in northern Wisconsin and processed into taconite pellets - seeds, if you will. These pellets are taken by train to the western shore of Lake Superior where they are loaded onto 1,000' lake boats. Ships sailing the Great Lakes are called "boats", not ships, no matter how big they are.
From there, the boat travels across Lake Superior, through the Poe lock (no, I'm not kidding, it's named "Poe"), down the Saint Mary's river into Lake Huron, under the Mackinac (pronounced Mak-i-naw) bridge and into Lake Michigan. From there it sails down to Gary, Indiana where the pellets are off loaded at the steel mills. The pellets are processed into huge rolls of steel and steel frame stock for use by various washer manufacturers.
This explanation should be adequate for young, inquisitive minds. When he gets older, you can tell him about the shaft and the other stuff ... or just tell him to ask his mother.
Has your son ever asked you this perplexing question? Sure, it makes you feel uncomfortable. You're not sure how to answer it. You don't want to tell him more detail than he needs to know at his young age. I mean, you're certainly not going to tell him how the shaft goes into the bearing if he's only 8 years old. Here's a simple explanation for a boy under 12 years old:
Iron is mined in northern Wisconsin and processed into taconite pellets - seeds, if you will. These pellets are taken by train to the western shore of Lake Superior where they are loaded onto 1,000' lake boats. Ships sailing the Great Lakes are called "boats", not ships, no matter how big they are.
From there, the boat travels across Lake Superior, through the Poe lock (no, I'm not kidding, it's named "Poe"), down the Saint Mary's river into Lake Huron, under the Mackinac (pronounced Mak-i-naw) bridge and into Lake Michigan. From there it sails down to Gary, Indiana where the pellets are off loaded at the steel mills. The pellets are processed into huge rolls of steel and steel frame stock for use by various washer manufacturers.
This explanation should be adequate for young, inquisitive minds. When he gets older, you can tell him about the shaft and the other stuff ... or just tell him to ask his mother.