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This extended argument some of you are in about how many continents there are is an excellent example of how students are often taught information that is of little or no use, as compared to being taught things such as (but not limited to) critical thinking skills. Even as a former science teacher who had a minor in geography in college, I fail to see anything important about the number of continents, other than as a point of information. Now if you were talking about the number of continental plates, okay, that's significant information because it affects things such as earthquakes, volcanoes, sea floor spreading, etc. But as to the number of continents...I guess maybe it's just a minor part of cultural literacy...at best.
At best?! I prefer to converse with individuals that are proficient in geographical locations. People who know where places are seem more interesting to me than those who don't.
At best?! I prefer to converse with individuals that are proficient in geographical locations. People who know where places are seem more interesting to me than those who don't.
Knowing that there are X number of continents shows little intelligence or sophistication. It doesn't even mean they know where they are. Which has been demonstrated on this thread by a few people who don't know the difference between the North and South Poles.
At best?! I prefer to converse with individuals that are proficient in geographical locations. People who know where places are seem more interesting to me than those who don't.
Interesting. I find people who are intelligent enough and educated enough to understand that the number of continents is somewhat arbitrary to be the most interesting. In fact, you will find several different numbers out there, and all are correct. There are perfectly sound arguments for different numbers and different criteria, and no reason at all to assume there is only one right number.
Sometimes Europe and Asia are referred to as Eurasia. The Indian subcontinent, a remnant of Gondwanaland, has welded itself to Asia firmly enough not to be considered a separate continent. For some reason, possibly European ego, this has not applied to Europe and Asia although the Ural Mountains are far older then the Himalayas.
This extended argument some of you are in about how many continents there are is an excellent example of how students are often taught information that is of little or no use, as compared to being taught things such as (but not limited to) critical thinking skills. Even as a former science teacher who had a minor in geography in college, I fail to see anything important about the number of continents, other than as a point of information. Now if you were talking about the number of continental plates, okay, that's significant information because it affects things such as earthquakes, volcanoes, sea floor spreading, etc. But as to the number of continents...I guess maybe it's just a minor part of cultural literacy...at best.
Yeah... It really does not matter if Europe is a continent or not. That being said I should be able to expect kids to know what I mean when I say "the Greek city state of Athens was located in Europe" or "the Mongol empire spread from cental Asia into China, Europe and the middle east."
I found out after talking to my friend who is our local middle school social studies teacher, she told me the fifth graders coming up don't know that there are seven continents let alone the names of those continents.
She told me the curriculum maker is making kids do these writing journals which somehow fulfill the standards for science and social studies. But if you are a kid who is not good at reading and writing you are out of luck.
How can a public school stop teaching science and social studies? How is this possible? Is this what our country has come to?
If this is true that those important subjects really were cut out, I'm shocked and saddened.
Yeah... It really does not matter if Europe is a continent or not. That being said I should be able to expect kids to know what I mean when I say "the Greek city state of Athens was located in Europe" or "the Mongol empire spread from cental Asia into China, Europe and the middle east."
That I agree with.
And it's why I have sometimes laughed out loud at people when they would go on and on about the Vietnam War or North Korea, and I'd hand them a black map of the world and ask them to point to the country they were pretending to know so much about and they couldn't even come close.
Land Mass--- Nope it's a MASS of ICE.. and when melted there will be NADDA.
I've been to Antarctica. You're mistaken when you say there is no land. There is land. Well, rock (nothing like soil except for penguin poop, which is euphemistically called "ornithological soil.") I've walked on it. Actually, penguins make birds nests out of pebbles. A few pics I took:
Last edited by SportyandMisty; 02-16-2017 at 06:40 PM..
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