Dear Humans,

It’s better to know things than to not know things because once you know some things it makes it easier to learn more things.

But learning facts–like the names and locations of all 50 states–just for the sake of learning them won’t get us very far. We learn them because the knowledge helps us answer big questions about what it means to live in a certain place, how that place shapes us, and how we shape it.

And the best way to pick up knowledge is to use it to try to answer these big questions. So when you’re studying the states in the west today, ask yourself: “What makes this place and the people in it unique? What do they have in common? What makes them Western?”

Sincerely,

Mr. Curt