In this article, a science teacher from the Midwest reflects on her summer vacation to the Gulf of Mexico. She felt that this vacation would help improve her teaching about the environmental problems in the gulf and elsewhere. After all, anyone can show photos of oil-laden birds and dead sea turtles and read news clips of a distant place, but to tell her students she had seen those things firsthand would mean more. Deeply affected by this experience, she plans to include more teaching about alternative energy sources, including risk assessments, in the coming school year.