geographic illiteracy

[Gary_Yngve]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/index.html

 

Would you agree with me that the CC.com community would fare much better on these questions?

[tomtom]

6/6

[RogerJ]

On the positive side, the study noted, seven in 10 young Americans correctly located China on a map

 

I feel much better knowing all hope is not lost!

[G-spotter]

 

Would you agree with me that the CC.com community would fare much better on these questions?

 

Yes cause the cc.com community includes Canadians, which would push the average score up.

[Johnny_Tuff]

Six out of six. Are you trad wanks going to let a sports climber take your namby-pamby asses to school on this little quiz?

[olyclimber]

at least on questions related to curling...

[Mr._Natural]

sprot climbing is neither.

[Couloir]

Ask the same demo who every American Idol contestant is and they'll get everyone, 100%.

[RogerJ]

sprot climbing is neither.

 

sprot climbing?

[Mr._Natural]

Seventeen year old Peter Symonds College student Rachael Sprot came runner up in her age category in the Young Geographer of the Year 2004 competition run by the Royal Geographical Society. Her essay on the marine environment was selected from the two thousand entries in the Senior Geographer age category (16-18years). She attended the Presentation Award Ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London, where she received a pair of Silva binoculars.

[mattp]

About 11 percent of young citizens of the U.S. couldn't even locate the U.S. on a map. The Pacific Ocean's location was a mystery to 29 percent; Japan, to 58 percent; France, to 65 percent; and the United Kingdom, to 69 percent.

 

web page

[cj001f]

sprot climbing is neither.

 

spork climbing?

 

Isn't that your scene?

[RogerJ]

[sarcasm]

I am climbing the corpoate ladder. That would be dork climbing.

 

Let me run that one up the flagpole and see what responses I get. I'll build a response matrix and reach out to you with the results.

[/sarcasm]

-r

 

Friggin meeting hell day.

[Gary_Yngve]

Folks have been aware of the geographic illiteracy for at least fifteen years and have worked hard to fight it (especially the NGS), but it doesn't seem to have gotten any better (and may actually be worse).

 

Any ideas why, aside from the ubiquity of cell phones, MTV, and pop culture?

[RogerJ]

Any ideas why, aside from the ubiquity of cell phones, MTV, and pop culture?

 

The internet? IM, WebCams, EMail etc. Geography is irrelevant when you don't give a shit where the other person you are "conversing" with is, because they are all "just behind the screen".

 

-r

[G-spotter]

Don't you mean the ubiquity of GPS? Who needs to read a map when they have a tool to do it for them?

 

Maybe a GPS would have helped on Solar Slab.

[TREETOAD]

Why do you guys need to know how to locate a country if you have all those cool missiles to do it for you?

[layton]

6/6 on beg, intermed, & advananced! fuck you!

[KaskadskyjKozak]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/index.html

 

Many Americans wouldn't be able to find the US on a map of the world.

 

Would you agree with me that the CC.com community would fare much better on these questions?

 

no.

[Off_White]

Is your name Rand or McNally?

[archenemy]

Folks have been aware of the geographic illiteracy for at least fifteen years and have worked hard to fight it (especially the NGS), but it doesn't seem to have gotten any better (and may actually be worse).

 

Any ideas why, aside from the ubiquity of cell phones, MTV, and pop culture?

How does using a cell phone or watching music videos lower your ability to point out a country on a map? Come on, it really doesn't take that much time to learn where a friggen country is. I would tend to agree with something like, "Americans are self-centered and don't care about the rest of the world" more than "pop culture".

Makes me want to ask what happened to kids' ability to use logic and debate.

[sexual_chocolate]

Let's question the assumption inherent in the post:

 

Why is geography an important skill to have?

[underworld]

because those that know geography, like to make themselve look good by pointing out that you don't know geography.

[archenemy]

because those that know geography, like to make themselve look good by pointing out that you don't know geography.

[Gary_Yngve]

How does using a cell phone or watching music videos lower your ability to point out a country on a map? Come on, it really doesn't take that much time to learn where a friggen country is. I would tend to agree with something like, "Americans are self-centered and don't care about the rest of the world" more than "pop culture".

Makes me want to ask what happened to kids' ability to use logic and debate.

 

They're spending their time rotting their brains when they could be discussing world news with their parents, doing their HW, etc. And attention spans have gone to hell in the past ten years.