It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Dumbing down the population?!! See if you can pass this 8th grade test from 1895

page: 1
48
<<   2  3  4 >>

log in

join
share:
+19 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:01 AM
link   
Mods you can move to a different forum if you feel the need, I picked general conspiracies because I wasn't sure where else it fit. Thanks MODS!!!

I received an email on this and thought this is the perfect place to present this information!

Now I understand why "they" say that we are being dumbed down to keep to ourselves and not investigate anything. Take a look at this 8th grade test from 1895 and see what you think....

Below is from an email and not my words, I just found it very interesting the degree of difficulty some of these questions pose.

(article directly below)

Think any of us could pass this test if we had to take now. Remember no calculator or laptop?

1895 - Final Exam


Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education?
Well, check this out. - - -
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , KS , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , KS , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.


8th GRADE FINAL EXAM
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2 . Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no Modifications. 3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of lie, lay and run
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.


Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at
50cts/bushel, deducting 1050lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Fi nd the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8 Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance
around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U. S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two
exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane,
fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America .
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver ,
Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena , Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall &Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Also notice that the exam took five hours to complete.
Gives the saying "she/he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?
What happened to us? It is kind of humbling, isn't it ?

(end of article)

SO.......What are your thoughts on this ATS? Do you think that we went from critical thinking over a hundred years ago to what we are now? Learning how to use facebook and doing everything from an Ipad kinda makes life easier, but it doesn't allow children to have to think about things like this!!

Technology is the way of the future I understand, but are there any schools that make kids actually think on their feet anymore?

When you have an Ipad with a calculator, that removes mental math...

Your Ipad is connected to the internet so any question raised can be quickly looked up with a simple google or yahoo search.....No critical thinking there!

Chemistry class, what happens when you mix A with B? Google search it before trying it.....No critical thinking there

I mean just run through the classes in your head and seriously think about how much effort is really put into kids thinking on their own to solve a problem!

Dumbing down our youth is a serious problem and could be a great way for the elite to control the masses! If everyone looks for an answer instead of figuring it out on their own, and "they" control the answer you seek, then you have fallen into their trap...

Let me know your thoughts on this, I am interested to see what others think and their opinion on something like this..




edit on 2/18/2013 by Chrisfishenstein because: (no reason given)


+21 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:10 AM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 


This stuff comes from 1895...half this stuff isn't even relevant anymore.


+19 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:10 AM
link   
I don`t believe that is an 8th grade test from 1895.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:10 AM
link   
The ability to critically think is what they are trying to dumb down...
The content of the test is smilar to nes i took and passed years ago....
They are going for a slighly different dumb.....
Still smart enough to supply the labour and skills to operate the new tech.
but not smart enough to realize their slavery.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:14 AM
link   
This, being in 1895; the Education system was different back then. Many places didn't have the 12-grade system used for schooling that we know today. I'm pretty sure things were toned down over time, although every country is different as per education. Heck, I'm sure grade 8 was the equivalent of grade 12 to some areas back then.
edit on 18-2-2013 by VoidFire because: Tablet was being weird



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:16 AM
link   
i don't think i could pass that test today even if i used google.

i once went to a really good high school (in the great lakes region), and probably could pass a test like that,
but then i moved to the southwest and couldn't believe how dumbed down the schools were there.

in the english classes they would have you draw a picture of a scene from the book the class was reading 'cause half the kids were functionally illiterate.

great idea for a thread ...


edit on 18-2-2013 by tinhattribunal because: (no reason given)


+7 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:17 AM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 


School is meant to...
Break up the family,
Get children used to the idea of them having to work without pay (Go into a mall and try to buy something with that A you worked so hard to get),
To teach the used to authority figures,
To accept what they are told is the truth
Keep them from leaning to critically think and figure out situations.
In short to teach them to think like the slaves they are.

Schools are for animals, Academies are for humans.
Guess where they send the children of the masses.


Read the book 'The underground history of American education' (I think you can find it free to read online)



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:19 AM
link   
thank goodness that today we have no child left behind ... eh?



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:23 AM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 



Your Ipad is connected to the internet so any question raised can be quickly looked up with a simple google or yahoo search.....No critical thinking there!


I was once told something by a wise old Gunnery Sergeant that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “You don’t have to have all the answers, Marine. You just have to know how to find them!” Very simple yet potentially life changing (it was for me). I never looked at things the same way again…it made me seek answers rather than throwing my hands up and saying "I don't know".

That was a great find. I wouldn’t say things have been dumbed down but this does show how the focus of our educational system has changed.

Very interesting…



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:37 AM
link   
Even if this test was from 1895 it would not matter - most people could not pass the same test from 1995. It is estimated that adults retain less than 30 % of all they learned in high school as they get older. You don't even retain much from one year to the next. This is where education fails us. They need to get students interested in specific studies that child is interested in and leave all but the basics behind. In that manner, the kid will retain more of the stuff that really matters to him as he gets older.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:39 AM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 

I noticed no multiple choice or true or fase questions.

It must have been rough on the teachers to have to read and grade all those test.
Hand written answers. Oh no

We dumb down our kids because we don't want to teach them, we give them the answers and hope they pick the right one. It's like giving them a hint. Easy questions mean easy answers, means less to correct.

Our kids are not dumb, our teachers have become lazy, or to be more fair, and less offensive our education sytem is corrupt. Class rooms were not as crowded back then.

If I knew I was going to need to write out my answered there was no multiple choice I would pay attention and study my arse off.

If I was testing my students and there was no multiple choice test, I would teach my arse off. Especially if I knew my job was on the line.

edit on 18-2-2013 by Observationalist because: Elaborated on teachers and classrooms


+3 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:45 AM
link   
I absolutely love this topic OP. I homeschool my two kids (ages 8 and 10) . I have spent hours researching the wealth of options for curriculum and *ways* to teach it all. Not only have we "dumbed down" our material in the public schools so that everyone can understand it (No Child Left Behind) but we also force all children to learn the same way. One of the ways people absorb information is categorized into visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic / tactile learners.

As an example, my son is definitely a tactile / kinesthetic learner. He has to touch everything to understand it. He has to move non stop to absorb it. However, in most public schools the kids aren't allowed to get up and move much.

Forcing children to learn the way most public schools teach is similar (IMO) to forcing left handed children to write with their right hand. I am sure some of you would say it isn't a big deal but you are taking away the individuality of the child and teaching them to conform to all the other kids. You also take away some of their success. Not only do they have to try harder and spend more energy to focus on learning the material like the rest of the kids but they are also having to force themselves to learn HOW to learn like the rest (example: making a kinesthetic learning ONLY learn through auditory methods). To me that is just energy wasted.

Those that just can't seem to conform are then made to sit by themselves (singled out and marked "bad" by the rest of the students) facing a wall all day every day and FURTHER not allowed to move. Or reprimanded and sent to some type of ISS (in school suspension) for a week at four years old when they barely know what they did 5 minutes ago.

These kids have trouble advancing unless they have an understanding support network... most kids don't and so it seems that many of them have issues with the material itself which is truly incredibly simple. Then after sitting at a desk much of the day and the teacher "deciding" they don't deserve their 30 minute recess for the day... the children have to spend 2+ hours every evening doing homework when they get home.

Instead of teaching children to think outside of the box they have to learn what is on the test. As long as they can correctly answer the questions on the state mandated exams the districts get their funding. Everyone wins right?

Not entirely the teacher's faults though. In many cases they have 30+ students and when one or two children in the class just cannot learn the way the rest can they do whatever they can to keep up with the demands the school places on them.

It seems to me that society doesn't expect children (or adults) to think outside the box or have a wealth of information IN THEIR HEADS anymore. We are all just sheep and as long as we know the basic information to do our jobs then we can make it in this world. Not my idea of an education.

Or course, this is just MY opinion on the matter. As a homeschool parent and entirely devoted to my children above all else, I feel VERY strongly about anything affecting them. I may not be correct or be doing the right thing at all times but I try to do the right thing by them and teach them strength, originality, truth, honesty, compassion, integrity, leadership, teamwork and love.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:47 AM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 


S&F&




Thought reponse through critically, deleted
edit on 18/2/13 by soficrow because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 10:56 AM
link   
Intelligence is relative to consensus of the time. These things were very important to know for some in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. Even at that time a person who studied the stars or someone who studied medicine would not think this knowledge was worth knowing. Same with a farmer living off the land and bartering with his neighbors. The value we give to things is artificial, it is based on a worth that is derived from society. The work and investment it takes to make something coupled with the real need for it should determine it's worth. We don't need a world full of rocket scientists, we don't need that many doctors. This is unless we make a need for these services using different ways including educating the public that these things are necessary or making the public fear consequences of not having them.

I would say that our present dumbing down is because we are following a conditioning of deceit which makes us not be able to see the truth. Is what you know real? is it necessary for mankind to know all the things that we are taught are necessary. I'd be happy having chickens. a couple of livestock, and a nice garden. I guess I'd still need a million bucks to defend myself when the county came after me for having animals running around.


+4 more 
posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 11:30 AM
link   
"I can't answer these questions" is not the same thing as "These questions demonstrate that students in earlier days were better educated than today's students." Just about any test looks difficult to those who haven't recently been steeped in the material it covers.

If a 40-year-old can't score as well on a geography test as a high school student who just spent several weeks memorizing the names of all the rivers in South America in preparation for an exam, that doesn't mean the 40-year-old's education was woefully deficient — it means the he simply didn't retain information for which he had no use, no matter how thoroughly it was drilled into his brain through rote memory some twenty-odd years earlier. I suspect I'd fail a lot of the tests I took back in high school if I had to re-take them today without reviewing the material beforehand. I certainly wouldn't be able to pass any arithmetic test that required me to be familiar with such arcane measurements as "rods" and "bushels," but I can still calculate areas and volumes just fine, thank you.

The questions on this exam don't reflect only items of "basic knowledge" — many of the questions require the test-taker to have absorbed some very specialized information, and if today's students can't regurgitate all the same facts as their 1895 counterparts, it's because the types of knowledge we consider to be important have changed a great deal in the last century, not necessarily because today's students have sub-standard educations



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 11:48 AM
link   
It's an obsolete test. The comparison is absurd. As the world has changed, so has our need for being edumacated towards various specifics within it.

I wonder how many people in the US graduated high school back in 1895 compared to 2012? Perhaps that would be a better marker for progress, or lack there of.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 11:54 AM
link   
This is old and been posted numerous times before. Your email contacts are a bit behind the times.

How would 1895 8th graders do on this test like this?
New York 2010 Final Science Test

The kids who can learn what is being taught today (many can't handle it), have a much more vast store of knowledge than their counterparts did in 1895.

The sum of all chemical reactions in the human
body is known as
(1) feedback
(2) metabolism
(3) dynamic equilibrium
(4) biological adaptation

The main function of hormones in the human
body is to
(1) identify and destroy microbes
(2) regulate body functions
(3) transport blood to cells
(4) store energy

Which human organ system produces sperm or
egg cells?
(1) digestive system (3) respiratory system
(2) nervous system (4) reproductive system

Naturally occurring variations within a species
are mainly the result of mutations and
(1) sexual reproduction
(2) dynamic equilibrium
(3) metabolism
(4) camouflage

During which process does a caterpillar become
a butterfly?
(1) fertilization
(2) metamorphosis
(3) asexual reproduction
(4) biological adaptation
edit on 18-2-2013 by sligtlyskeptical because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 12:59 PM
link   
reply to post by Chrisfishenstein
 

the public school system has definitely been stupefied substantially since the past, but i question whether that is a real test.

a few things stand out: question 2 under arithmatic isn't solvable because a bushel is a measure of weight, not volume, so it would be impossible to tell how many would fit. not enough information.

secondly the question dealing with $35,000...well, that much money back then is equivalent to $6,874,000 today. highly unlikely.
observationsandnotes.blogspot.com...

there are probably other anomalies, but i didn't go further.



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 01:01 PM
link   
reply to post by sligtlyskeptical
 

2

2

4

variations don't come from mutations. sexual reproduction plays a role, but asexual organisms display variations over time too.

2

i believe those are the right answers, and i didn't cheat either.

edit on 18-2-2013 by Bob Sholtz because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 18 2013 @ 01:10 PM
link   

Originally posted by Tardacus
I don`t believe that is an 8th grade test from 1895.


If it had been a test, I doubt many students had passed it. This is more of a reflection of the twisted teacher than of the times.




top topics



 
48
<<   2  3  4 >>

log in

join