<p>posted without comment:</p>
<p>So here’s my first pop quiz in American Lit:
What year did Columbus sail to the New World?
What country did he sail for?
Jamestown was settled by which nation?
What was the Pilgrims’ boat?
Name one of Columbus’s three boats.
If you got more than two of those, congrats. You are more intelligent than the vast majority of my class.</p>
<p>ugg…</p>
<p>Haha! For all the “Wicked” fans, my D said she felt like Elphaba sitting in a auditorium full of Ga-Lindas during her chem class yesterday.
:-)</p>
<p>What year did Columbus sail to the New World? Trick question. Columbus has always been in the New World. It’s in Ohio, duh-uh. </p>
<p>What country did he sail for? Sexist trick question. Cities are gender neutral and they can’t sail.</p>
<p>Jamestown was settled by which nation? Powhatan’s peeps. I think they were the Pawmunkey tribe. Some white guys stole it from them later.</p>
<p>What was the Pilgrims’ boat? A boat.</p>
<p>Name one of Columbus’s three boats. Why? They’ve already been named. But heck, if y’all want to give me naming rights, fine. How about Nick Saban?</p>
<p>Did I pass? :)</p>
<p>Loved “Wicked”. Liked “Son of a Witch” even better.</p>
<p>I think this professor was obviously trying to be funny. But she has a point… Too many young people have zero knowledge of history, geography, or the world in general.</p>
<p>One episode of Leno will tell you that. His Jaywalking segment is hilarious but frightening.</p>
<p>agree slippy.</p>
<p>Double agree, slippy. BTW, I’ve decided to name the 2nd ship Honey Badger. After all, colonists don’t care. They take what they want. :)</p>
<p>The idea that many kids do not know geography is true. The other day, one of my younger son’s teammates challenged a couple of seniors to name the 50 states. They had five minutes. They couldn’t. My son did it in a minute. Why? He took world geography his freshman year of high school. It still ranks as one of his favorite classes, and he believes everyone should take it.</p>
<p>Momreads, I can only do it because of a song we sang in chorus in 5th grade. True story.</p>
<p>vlines - me too!</p>
<p>^^ And I can sing the books of the bible! 
And the Greek alphabet.</p>
<p>We experience geographic ignorance here in the islands every time an American tourist refers to the Mainland as “the States.”</p>
<p>LOL Malanai! I think that the post office and every single late night infomercial adds to that ignorance by only shipping to the “48 contiguous states”…</p>
<p>My D’13 would know most of those particular questions, but she was just saying yesterday how she feels like she does not know any US Geography! We were overseas 2-6th grades, moving back to the US in 7th and has not had any class that covers US Geography since. She knows her states, not most of the capitals and knows some state placement. Maybe we will buy her an Atlas for graduation.</p>
<p>Last fall when I was in Calif, I was in the meat section at Sams Club. There were several employees gathered and they were actually arguing about how many states there are. Some said 53, some said 57…not one said 50. They looked surprised when I interupted their debate and told them that there are (only) 50 states.</p>
<p>I don’t blame most profs for trying to get a feel for how much students know or don’t know.</p>
<p>When my son was in high school he was on his speech team and one of the competitions I watched a couple times was a discussion on current events/issues.</p>
<p>I left wanting to cry a few times on how little these kids know. I vividly remember the discussion about how the UN shouldn’t have much power because there are only 8 members. When leaving I wanted to hit my son with a heavy object because when we were in Manhattan I made him tour the UN with me and that was only a couple years ago, but the kid that made the comment did so in such an authoritative manner, that my son didn’t even think about questioning it. So on the drive home I lectured him on the difference between the UN and specific groups of the UN such as the security council that has a smaller group of members.</p>
<p>Just remember these kids are now old enough to help choose the next leader of our country. ;)</p>
<p>Regarding an atlas, this is marketed to kids but I really like playing with it. It’s an app for an ipad. </p>
<p>[App</a> Store - Barefoot World Atlas](<a href=“Barefoot World Atlas on the App Store”>Barefoot World Atlas on the App Store)</p>
<p>When someone at UA tells me that they’re from a small town in Alabama, I ask them what county it’s in (I memorized the AAA map of Alabama, which is paired with Georgia rather than Mississippi.) Many of these students don’t know. Maybe I should also ask them to name the Governor of Alabama.</p>
<p>When moving in students, one girl had never heard of Utah and asked where it is located (we described it as being east of Nevada which is itself east of California.)</p>
<p>There are also some people who think that Seattle is in Washington, DC. </p>
<p>Along with many people being convinced that I’m Canadian, I’ve met people who don’t know that British Columbia is a)not in South America and b)wondered what makes it British.</p>
<p>Of course, some of my family members have been surprised that Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador are actual places.</p>
<p>In my school district, students spend a semester learning Canadian History (including the national anthem and a trip to the capital of British Columbia) andmost of semester learning Native American History. Honors students have to memorize and correctly place all the countries of Africa and Europe and know all the European capitals.</p>
<p>It can be funny, yet sad to see what people don’t know about history and geography. </p>
<p>Also, don’t get me started on the number of people who think that just because I’m flying Alaska Airlines does not mean that I’m flying to/from Alaska. The Eskimo (often thought to be Abraham Lincoln or Jimi Hendrix) flies almost everywhere.</p>
<p>You just made me smarter than I have felt in years, sea tide. Thank you!</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using CC</p>