NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

I can't believe sometimes how stupid the general public is.........


guess it's a good thing someone sent me this story though, reminded me to step up our geography lessons in homeschool

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

I can't believe sometimes how stupid the general public is.........


guess it's a good thing someone sent me this story though, reminded me to step up our geography lessons in homeschool


I bet if you ask them who 50 cent or sponge bob was, then they would know that. Stupid american children.

Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

Haha :D

A friend of mine is a geographer from New Orleans. This would bug him a lot.

Haha :D

wow...:p

That's depressing. I'm great at geography... and homeschooled. :D

Personally I blame parents. TV doesn't teach your kids jack. Of course the massive size of classes in the US doesn't help. I went to a small school and our class sizes were always 30+.

Geography was always an easy subject to me, along with history and science.

I bet if you ask them who 50 cent or sponge bob was, then they would know that. Stupid american children.I asked a bunch of military kids in Europe in summer camp whether they knew who ran the country they lived in. Eventually I gave up on them and asked if they'd heard X's name before. Some of the scout masters didn't even know. It was truly sad.

I know this could turn into a huge debate on education reform, but part of the problem is the lack of responsibility on students. It seems that every student now gets a pat on the back for a job well done even if they fail. I understand we should care for our childrens' feelings, but do we have to give out A's just so they feel good about themselves. Where is the accountability? School boards are lowering expecations so more kids pass, rather than hiring better educators, and developing better systems for schools.

Personally I blame parents. TV doesn't teach your kids jack. Of course the massive size of classes in the US doesn't help. I went to a small school and our class sizes were always 30+.

Geography was always an easy subject to me, along with history and science.I learned my Geography mainly from the news...

I bet if you ask them who 50 cent or sponge bob was, then they would know that. Stupid american children.

it's American children, and it's only partially their fault, you can blame their parents, the school system, and the idiots who decided to tie funding to test scores, since I was in 1st grade they have been "teaching to the test" and guess what doesn't get covered on the tests? Geography.

Personally I blame parents. TV doesn't teach your kids jack. Of course the massive size of classes in the US doesn't help. I went to a small school and our class sizes were always 30+.

Geography was always an easy subject to me, along with history and science.

Yeah, I agree. The large class sized prevents students from learning. But i was gifted, so social sciences such as geography, came easily to me.

it's American children, and it's only partially their fault, you can blame their parents, the school system, and the idiots who decided to tie funding to test scores, since I was in 1st grade they have been "teaching to the test" and guess what doesn't get covered on the tests? Geography.


I was kidding about it being the children's fault. But yeah, the whole teaching to the test" thing you talk about is rediculous. What good is an education when you learn only to do well on a test, but don't gain any knowledge?

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p

Of course the massive size of classes in the US doesn't help. I went to a small school and our class sizes were always 30+.

In my school nearly all classes up to about GCSE level had about 30-35 pupils in them. And that was one of the better schools in one of the best education systems in the world.

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p


But still, that is sad that you are from Australia and do better on an american test than americans.

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p
And a fine grade that is!

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p
Yeah, I got 7/10 as well, only getting those three very much US-centric questions wrong (but it's a US site aimed at Americans, so I won't hold that against them ;))

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p


8/10. Got #1 and #6 wrong.

Ha! take that mr 7/10....I got a 100% -dances-
You answered 100% of questions correctly. Scroll down to see answers for each question. Also, please let us know what you think about the quiz. The feedback is appreciated.



-edit- now ya'll can't cheat.

I was kidding about it being the children's fault. But yeah, the whole teaching to the test" thing you talk about is rediculous. What good is an education when you learn only to do well on a test, but don't gain any knowledge?
and that's why I homeschool. (one of the many reasons) My kids aren't learning things to pass a test, they are learning them because they are things they need to or want to know.

It's much more important for me to teach my children how to think. In school they teach you what to think, and never worry about the how, which is why the world is full of idiots.

EDIT: I scored 9 out of 10 on the test, I misread the river question.

Yea, 7/10. I got all of the questions about the US, apart from the state-capital of Kentucky, wrong. :)

I got 8/10. Bah, who cares about Kentucky and the origin of the Mississippi, anyway? :p

I'm from England and got 4/10 but I got the 5 american questions wrong and the question about angola but I'm a young person what can you expect?

8/10. Got #1 and #6 wrong.

#6 wrong.... I shouldn't have double-guessed myself. :(

9/10. Not bad for a limey.

Actually - that's making the point of the thread, isn't it...

Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

that is classic...:p

Yeah, I got 7/10 as well, only getting those three very much US-centric questions wrong (but it's a US site aimed at Americans, so I won't hold that against them ;))

Yeah, exactly. I'd probably be a lot better at a globally orientated one.

(but hey, i'll remember those US-centric ones now...although i'd never heard of Frankfort...)

Ha! take that mr 7/10....I got a 100% -dances-

Are you American, though?

Ha! take that mr 7/10....I got a 100% -dances-
I predict we'll have a lot more 100% scores from now on for some weird reason...

#6 wrong.... I shouldn't have double-guessed myself. :(

9/10. Not bad for a limey.

Actually - that's making the point of the thread, isn't it...


I thought it originated more to the east than that, if I'd taken a second to remember where the damage occured I'd of known better. 8/10 is pretty good for a quick click through. As for #1, fuck Georgia. I honestly thought Pennsylvania was bigger.

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what?

Easy way to remember that. Heard someone ask a teacher once "How do you pronouce the capital of Kentucky, Lewisville or Louisville?" Teacher responded "Frankfort".

Never have forgotten that.

and that's why I homeschool. (one of the many reasons) My kids aren't learning things to pass a test, they are learning them because they are things they need to or want to know.

It's much more important for me to teach my children how to think. In school they teach you what to think, and never worry about the how, which is why the world is full of idiots.

Actually - I appreciate it, because I had to get a G.E.D. when I came here, and what do I know about the social history of the US?

But, all you have to do is work out which answers will be the most 'pro-American', and you can get 70% on that component...

I predict we'll have a lot more 100% scores from now on for some weird reason...

lol, yeah. And maybe a "HAHA IM SO MUCH BETTAR THAN 7/10 GUY" :p

100% Oh, Yeah!

Okay, so I guessed at 1 and 6. But how much larger is Georgia than the other states? Being the 24th largest state is not that impressive a difference from the others I bet.

And isn't 6 more of a current events question, than a knowing your geography question?

And isn't 6 more of a current events question, than a knowing your geography question?

Well, I was thinking that the very last one was a history question, so yeah.

I thought it originated more to the east than that, if I'd taken a second to remember where the damage occured I'd of known better. 8/10 is pretty good for a quick click through. As for #1, fuck Georgia. I honestly thought Pennsylvania was bigger.

I was torn between Georgia and Pennsylvania... but I'm strangely sure that all the states bigger than GA are westwards from here (I live in Georgia, now).

I'm a little miffed that I changed my Tsunami answer as a last action before I entered....

My browser crashed before I could see my result. Damnit! :upyours:

lol, yeah. And maybe a "HAHA IM SO MUCH BETTAR THAN 7/10 GUY" :pGet me a vexillology quiz... :D

Actually - I appreciate it, because I had to get a G.E.D. when I came here, and what do I know about the social history of the US?

But, all you have to do is work out which answers will be the most 'pro-American', and you can get 70% on that component...

yep, pretty much.

I tried to teach a friend of mine to ace multiple choice tests, they are so poorly written that it's easy to infer what answer they are looking for. I decided that it was a futile and unethical plan though, since she has failed the teacher certification test 4 times now. She brought home a "practice test" and even though I don't have a college degree I got a 97% on it, she was so mad. I suppose mostly because she can no longer make snide remarks about me being "unqualified" to teach my kids at home.

Six in 10 did not know the border between North and South Korea is the most heavily fortified in the world. Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.

And yet they still complain about those damned immigrants from south of the border... eejits.

I actually learned plenty of geography from news channels, especially Channel 4, which always seemed to zoom in on a country from a map of the world. I did core Geography in my first 2 years of High School, which timeshared with History (which i took for the next 2 years) and from that all I learned was where India and Italy are, and a bit about their customs, weather patterns, geographical features etc. And yet somehow I know a fair bit about the geographical locations of many countries, the posistions of many American states despite never having crossed the Atlantic and I'm currently working on where everything is in Africa. I'm learning French, though I'm far from fluent. How can people say that such knowledge is unimportant? Surely they'd like to be able to communicate with people when they go on holiday, or know where the country they're bombing is?

I say that every child should have a globe in their room. It helps even without receiving advanced geography lessons.

I remember seeing children on T.V. trying to point out the locations of various British cities on a map, with only dots where the places were. There were children from London who thought their home city was next to Wales where Birmingham is. And some proved unable to point out Scotland.

I bet if you ask them who 50 cent or sponge bob was, then they would know that. Stupid american children.
Stupid? How many European children know the difference between 50 cent and Ludacris?

Stupid? How many European children know the difference between 50 cent and Ludacris?

Quite a few. They have no taste.

http://earth.google.com/

Install Google Earth on their computer (If it's a good machine, weaker ones will die). It's quite cool to zoom in anywhere in the world and get satellite photos.

problem 1 too many people in the world

problem 2 the results of the polls on geographic literacy

problem 3 gun control laws too stringent


solution to all of them...everyone is issued a gun and can hereafter ask random passerby some basic geographic questions...if they fail in answering these questions, it becomes your right...nay DUTY to slaughter them on the spot...kind of like jay lenos jaywalking segments only it would end in homicide

"I think war might be God's way of teaching us Geography" - Paul Rodriguez

Obviously, there haven't been enough wars recently. :rolleyes:

Stupid? How many European children know the difference between 50 cent and Ludacris?
You'd be surprised...:(

lol, yeah. And maybe a "HAHA IM SO MUCH BETTAR THAN 7/10 GUY" :p


There...I changed it -nods-

...she has failed the teacher certification test 4 times now. She brought home a "practice test" and even though I don't have a college degree I got a 97% on it...

That is a huge example of why there are so many problems with childrens' academics. Look who is teaching them. OY!

Get me a vexillology quiz... :D
I'm so pleased that I knew what that meant...should I be?

When I was in elementary school, we were studying a map of the US. The teacher would say a state and we were to come up to the map and point it out. One girl was asked to identify Tennessee on the map (which is the state we were living in), and instead of pointing to Tennessee, she pointed to Colorado.

We all laughed at her for like three hours.

I guess it's just become worse since then T_T...

I'm so pleased that I knew what that meant...should I be?Why not? It's a good thing to know! :D

Are you American, though?


Yes, so theoretically I should have missed everything, considering the public education system is worth about two piles of shit.

When I was in elementary school, we were studying a map of the US. The teacher would say a state and we were to come up to the map and point it out. One girl was asked to identify Tennessee on the map (which is the state we were living in), and instead of pointing to Tennessee, she pointed to Colorado.

We all laughed at her for like three hours.

I guess it's just become worse since then T_T...
much worse. In highschool I had (true story) a US History teacher who thought there were 52 states in the US and that Texas belonged to Mexico.

much worse. In highschool I had (true story) a US History teacher who thought there were 52 states in the US and that Texas belonged to Mexico.

Maybe he meant Texas historically belonged to Mexico...?

Why not? It's a good thing to know! :D
Absolutely.

Maybe he meant Texas historically belonged to Mexico...?But would that explain the two missing stars on the flag?

Maybe he meant Texas historically belonged to Mexico...?
no, I got into a 30 minute debate with him about it and then we argued about it in the prinicpals office for an hour or so too.

But would that explain the two missing stars on the flag?

that's what started the whole conversation anyway, he had a flag in his room with 48 stars and I said it was really old, and he said yeah it's 4 stars short:rolleyes:

8/10! I got the river and Gold Rush questions wrong.

When I was in elementary school, we were studying a map of the US. The teacher would say a state and we were to come up to the map and point it out. One girl was asked to identify Tennessee on the map (which is the state we were living in), and instead of pointing to Tennessee, she pointed to Colorado.

We all laughed at her for like three hours.

I guess it's just become worse since then T_T...


Well in 4thgrade we had a big exam over the geography of the US... well I did that test in less then 3 mins. The teacher was so astounished she thought i had cheated on it, and thus called my parents. Well i did the whole thing over again in the principal's office again in around 2 1/2 mins. I loved the look on their faces.

no, I got into a 30 minute debate with him about it and then we argued about it in the prinicpals office for an hour or so too.

Hey... I was just offering an 'out'... ;)

Hell, I'm a limey - and even I know the US has 51 states.

joke...

I was about to play the devil's advocate, and launch some defence about it being of minor importance whether people are able to pinpoint countries, as long as they're still aware what goes on in the world.

Then I saw this little horror:Thirty percent thought the most heavily fortified border was between the United States and Mexico.What the ..?

Somehow I doubt geography is the real problem. Seems like Americans perhaps just don't give a shit about anything other than themselves... Not that that isn't a popular stereotype.

http://earth.google.com/

Install Google Earth on their computer (If it's a good machine, weaker ones will die). It's quite cool to zoom in anywhere in the world and get satellite photos.

Google Earth is amazing. When I first installed it I probably spent 4 hours just looking around. I managed to find Area 51 and the buildings I lived in in Iraq.

I got a 9/10 on the test. I could have sworn than Pennsylvania was bigger than Georgia. Although Michigan is bigger than either of them if you count territorial waters :p

Somehow I doubt geography is the real problem. Seems like Americans perhaps just don't give a shit about anything other than themselves... Not that that isn't a popular stereotype.

In my experience that does seem to be the case far too often.

Yes, so theoretically I should have missed everything, considering the public education system is worth about two piles of shit.

lol :p

To be fair, considering geography, ours isn't really any better. I taught myself geography, because I found it interesting. I didn't learn much in school at all.

lol :p

To be fair, considering geography, ours isn't really any better. I taught myself geography, because I found it interesting. I didn't learn much in school at all.


Yeah, pretty much the same here

Nearly three-quarters incorrectly named English as the most widely spoken native language.

How much do you want to bet that they didn't understand that that meant "in the world"? This article just reflects the belief among many in this country that the rest of the world doesn't matter.

P.S. I aced the geography test.

I learned my Geography mainly from the news...

same, and discovery/history channel

you can learn alot from watching tv, just try switching it from BET, MTV, or even fox

This, of course, begs the question: "What is our children learning?"

The only time in recent history I remember even having a geography course was in 7th Grade American history, where we did 5 minute maps which consisted of drawing a shape that looked something like a shape on a ink-blot test, drawing circles in the general area of Mountain ranges, identifying the great lakes in order, drawing a few major rivers, and putting dots down for the biggest cities.

We did have to memorize the little countries in Eastern Europe for Honors World History in 10th, but that was more of a cram-effort-and-hope-she-asks-easy-ones sorta thing, and I've since forgotten most of them completely.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12591413/

I can't believe sometimes how stupid the general public is.........


guess it's a good thing someone sent me this story though, reminded me to step up our geography lessons in homeschool

You obviously didn't see that thing on TV (well I saw it on the 'net cause it was American TV) when they were talking to people in the street about Iran, and had a map. With Australia marked as "Iran". And the people didn't know it was mislabelled.

From what I've seen/heard/etc. The worst of American geography consists of "America" surrounded by "people to make fun of" and "people to kill".

I always found geography to be a bit of a 'joke' mainly because I always found it so easy.I mean what is so hard about finding out about a couple of facts that generaly require no futher thought other than to spew them out again.Math on the other hand ..Not a clue on my part.

From what I've seen/heard/etc. American geography consists of "America" surrounded by "people to make fun of" and "people to kill".Aye, there be dragons...

You obviously didn't see that thing on TV (well I saw it on the 'net cause it was American TV) when they were talking to people in the street about Iran, and had a map. With Australia marked as "Iran". And the people didn't know it was mislabelled.
I used to think that those things were heavily edited, so that only the really stupid people made it on camera (it wouldn't be funny if everyone they showed knew the correct answer)

From what I've seen/heard/etc. American geography consists of "America" surrounded by "people to make fun of" and "people to kill".
you believe everything you hear and see on TV?:(

8/10 yet for some reason it gave me a 70% *boggle*

I missed the one about kentucky (I live in the US.. but for some reason i cant find myself caring about most of the eastern states.. no offense if you live there) and I guessed the Nile. hell.. they are both huge rivers but looking back on it the amazon does make more sense.

I agree that there is a major problem in the US when it comes to our education department. One of the major reasons that i have seen is because they do not pay teachers enough to make the job worthwhile. Thus only the people who are really desperate for a job take them. Add onto that the fact that the teachers tests are fairly easy and almost all of the teachers that I personally had taught straight from the book.. I know the countries of the world and such because I was taught them when i was in pre-school. A Private pre-school (montessori 4 teh w1n)

I'm just happy that my little sister is going to a real school, where they acually care about grades and making sure the students learn (not just the tests) They acually teach Latin there!

I used to think that those things were heavily edited, so that only the really stupid people made it on camera (it wouldn't be funny if everyone they showed knew the correct answer)


But Iran and Australia sound so much alike.

8/10 yet for some reason it gave me a 70% *boggle*


maybe all the questions didn't have equal point values?

sometimes when I write tests for my girls, some of the answers are worth more than others.

you believe everything you hear and see on TV?:(
No, of course not. My phrasing wasn't very good. I'm just trying to say what the most geographically- (and culturally-) challenged people appear to think.

8/10 yet for some reason it gave me a 70% *boggle*

I missed the one about kentucky (I live in the US.. but for some reason i cant find myself caring about most of the eastern states.. no offense if you live there) and I guessed the Nile. hell.. they are both huge rivers but looking back on it the amazon does make more sense.

I agree that there is a major problem in the US when it comes to our education department. One of the major reasons that i have seen is because they do not pay teachers enough to make the job worthwhile. Thus only the people who are really desperate for a job take them. Add onto that the fact that the teachers tests are fairly easy and almost all of the teachers that I personally had taught straight from the book.. I know the countries of the world and such because I was taught them when i was in pre-school. A Private pre-school (montessori 4 teh w1n)

I'm just happy that my little sister is going to a real school, where they acually care about grades and making sure the students learn (not just the tests) They acually teach Latin there!



The Nile is longer, but the Amazon has a bigger volume.

No, of course not. My phrasing wasn't very good. I'm just trying to say what the most geographically- (and culturally-) challenged people appear to think.
oh, in that case, I agree.

There are a lot of people (around my neighborhood especially) who think in terms of "us and them" when it comes to geography.

Personally I blame parents. TV doesn't teach your kids jack. Of course the massive size of classes in the US doesn't help. I went to a small school and our class sizes were always 30+.

Geography was always an easy subject to me, along with history and science.
Really? I'm in the 8th grade in Boston and our classes are never more than 19 or 20.

Really? I'm in the 8th grade in Boston and our classes are never more than 19 or 20.
you are lucky. I went to an inner-city highschool, our government class had 54 students 17 desks and no books. We had to go march at the capitol to get anything and then it was that our "congressman" bought 30 copies of the pocket constitution for the class. :rolleyes:

that wasn't an isolated event either, just the one with the most press.

My biology class had 42 students and 6 lab tables, we had to share frogs. I bought my own. No way was I sharing the joy of cutting up an amphibian with 9 other people.

7/10

I got 1, 3 and 10 wrong...

...they're many that are too local however. There's a big difference between "world's highest mountain" and "some odd state's capitol" or between "world's largest river by body of water" and "where some goldrush of some particular time was located"

Isn't Canada in Europe?

I got 7/10 on the geography quiz there. Damned American questions. So I don't know how big Georgia is or where the Mississippi river starts. Or the state capital of Kentucky. So what? :p

Yeah, Kentucky got me. 9/10, not too bad, I guess.

I didn't do very well in the Geography test on that site (not surprising since I dropped it at age 13-14), but I excuse myself for not knowing the ones about American states.

That quiz linked from the MSN article was far too easy...I like http://www.geosense.net/ better.

And not all public schools in the US are as atrocious as described here. My daughter is in first grade and is learning geography, and she enjoys using our globe and world atlas. I give her road maps when we travel, we do www.postcrossing.com and look up other countries, and the globe is in the same room at the tv.

I'm less inclined to believe that we are terrible at geography because our school system doesn't teach it, than I am to believe that many of us just don't care about anyplace else.

Stupid? How many European children know the difference between 50 cent and Ludacris?

I'm American. Is 50 cent white? By the way, it's spelt ludicrous. :)

"I think war might be God's way of teaching us Geography" - Paul Rodriguez

Obviously, there haven't been enough wars recently. :rolleyes:

Not in America. Saudis aren't that good at geography either: the 911 scum were obviously aiming for the Sears Tower!

I'm so pleased that I knew what that meant...should I be?

I'm too lazy to look vexillology up, so I have to go from memory. Flags?

8/10 yet for some reason it gave me a 70% *boggle*

I missed the one about kentucky (I live in the US.. but for some reason i cant find myself caring about most of the eastern states.. no offense if you live there) and I guessed the Nile. hell.. they are both huge rivers but looking back on it the amazon does make more sense.

Look at them on the map. Most of them should be counties!

I got 9/10. I missed the Georgia one, too. At least it wasn't a blatantly obvious one.

I consider myself pretty good with geography. There was this time when I had to catagorize all the nations of the world by continent, and I did all but a few without looking. I had some people looking over my shoulder while I was doing it, and they were impressed.

I got 70%. I messed up on Kentucky, and apparently I don't know the difference between the Indian & Pacific Oceans. :p

What gets me is, I've heard some Americans think New Mexico is south of the border! :eek:

That quiz linked from the MSN article was far too easy...I like http://www.geosense.net/ better.

That's pretty cool.

I'm too lazy to look vexillology up, so I have to go from memory. Flags?
Yea.