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Education Site Challenges Teachers Are You Teaching Essential Facts...

Improve-Education.org has just added The Quizz to its lineup of educational articles. The Quizz consists of 100 easy questions: How much is 9 times 9 Where are the Pyramids It's8217;s a fast, entertaining little exam. The education site argues that high school graduates should know all the answers. Students who score less than 80 might want to consider suing their schools, because those school have surely been guilty of malpractice.



Some schools stress feelings and opinions -- anything but actually teaching facts. Teachers are trained to say: 's8220;Students don's8217;t need to memorize anything. They can look it up!'s8221; A slogan which is carte blanche for teaching less and less.



Improve-Education.org suggests a better slogan: 's8220;Facts are fun!'s8221; For pleasure and for profit, students need to know fundamental information about the world they live in.



To give a sense of The Quizz, here's8217;s a block of 20 questions selected randomly from the middle:



Which countries border the USA

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in what country

The deepest spot in the ocean is about 3 miles, 7 miles or 11 miles

How many days from one full moon to the next

Roughly how much of the Earth is covered by water 30% 50% 70%

The tallest mountain on this planet is what

Name three countries that are part of Scandinavia.

Wall Street is located in what city

How many quarts in a gallon

The Eiffel Tower can be found where

The pole vault record is approximately 15's8217;, 20's8217; or 25's8217;

The most famous canal in the Western Hemisphere is where

How many times zones are in the USA

Name six continents.

Which is bigger, a virus or a bacterium

There's8217;s more gravity on Jupiter than on Earth. Why

Which country has the largest population

Name three oceans.

How many days in a year

In 1492 Columbus sailed in which direction



These questions, with few exceptions, do not rise to the level of Trivial Pursuits. Kids should be learning most of this information in elementary school. Indeed, finding questions this simple was the big challenge in creating The Quizz. Questions so easy that most people would slap themselves for not knowing. Questions such as, The American flag has how many stars Clouds are made of what



If children can's8217;t answer that type of question, according to the education site, they are surely attending classes in a fact free zone.



's8220;Let's8217;s be clear,'s8221; comments novelist Bruce Deitrick Price who created The Quizz, 's8220;the prevailing ignorance is not the fault of the kids. Most sixth graders could understand and absorb all the information in The Quizz. Problem is, they often aren's8217;t taught very well.'s8221;



One of the oddest tenets of modern educational theory, according to Improve-Education.org is that children can engage in 's8220;critical thinking's8221; without knowing any facts to think about. Sort of like playing tennis without a ball, swimming without water, or conducting chemistry experiments without chemicals. These activities are properly called make-believe. Common sense says that students should first learn facts, then learn to analyze those facts.



Maybe there was a long-ago time when children had to memorize too much. But anyone who has watched Jay Leno go 's8220;Jaywalking's8221; knows that many adults today, even ones who attended college, are remarkably unacquainted with even rudimentary knowledge. One week Leno asked this question: 's8220;What body of water lies to the west of California Remember, the show is shot in California. But Leno found people who did not know. It's8217;s clearly time, according to Improve-Education.org to recover lost ground.



Here's8217;s a not-so-easy question that today's8217;s parents might want to ponder: when does 12,000 equal 0 From first grade to high school graduation, children receive about 12,000 hours of education (figuring 30+ hours of schooling per week and 30+ weeks per year). It might seem as if children could learn a great deal in all that time. All too often 12,000 equals something frighteningly close to 0. Perhaps we need more students saying, 's8220;I's8217;m mad as hell and I won's8217;t take it anymore. Teach me something. Make me learn.'s8221;



On the other hand, maybe there are schools where all the kids can breeze through The Quizz and dismiss it as, 's8220;Too easy! Dumb!'s8221; To those children Improve-Education.org says, 's8220;Congratulations. You are setting a fine example of what should be happening in every school.'s8221;



To view the full 100 questions, see Essay #20 on Improve-Education.org.



For more information, contact:

Word-Wise Educational Services

Norfolk, Va.

757-455-5020

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