Pulling versus Pushing Information

I’ve begun to think about something that I’ve heard George Thompson and Phil Schlechty discuss: The difference between information being pushed and pulled by students. I began noticing that as we passed through each state and Canadian Providence my own personal inquiry level increased. I saw the corn in the fields and I wanted to know so many things:
1. How much corn do we produce in the United States?
2. How much corn does each state produce?
3. Who do we sell it to?
4. How much money do the farmers make?
5. How many things are made from corn?
6. What are the other major crops in the area?
7. What are the schools like? There are so few towns and the area is sparsely populated. Along the way my husband noticed a sign where a school system was advertising a 4-day school week.

As my own personal inquiry increased, I became aware of my desire to “pull” information. It was at this point I started thinking about designing lessons for students based on an experience similar to our trip. I've just begun to design the lesson...Here are some of my first thoughts....The goal is to design a cross-curricular lesson that students would enjoy so much that they would continue working on the project beyond the school day and walls. Students would learn important information about the United States, Canada, history, geography, science, math, and English-Language Arts.

Problem to Solve: I want to travel from Dalton, GA to Fairbanks, Alaska. I have a child your age. Determine the best route to take. Be prepared to defend your rationale.
Include the following:

Sites to visit---why should we go? What will we see and do?
Places to eat and spend the night
Expected cost based on travel. How many miles will we travel? What type of transportation will we use?