# Outdated information you were taught in school **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329 "2006-08-26T15:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/21 "2006-08-26T20:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=Jayn\_Newell] I just worded it kind of badly. When I was learning Canadian geography Nunavut hadn’t been formed yet, so I was taught that Canada only had two territories. [/QUOTE] But then, it wouldn’t count, would it, since that info WASN’T outdated at the time. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/22 "2006-08-26T20:46:16Z")
That Colombus found America. The people people found in America were Indians (now Native Americans). That I would actually use Geometry and Calculus in everyday life. That it really is necessary for boys to learn how to sew in Home Economics (I still have horrid thoughts about that sweater I made). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/23 "2006-08-26T21:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] But then, it wouldn’t count, would it, since that info WASN’T outdated at the time. [/QUOTE] No. Even ignoring the first sentence of the OP that mentioned “information [she] learned in school that’s now considered false, inaccurate or outdated”, **Jayn\_Newell** said she graduated in 2003 when Nunavut was created in 1999. So while I doubt she was actually taught by her teachers that there were only two territories her last three years in school, there’s a good chance that her learning materials were outdated and if Canada’s anything like the US when it comes to education, still are. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/24 "2006-08-26T21:03:35Z")
The Empire State building was the tallest building in the world. (Class of '57) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/25 "2006-08-26T21:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] That Colombus found America. The people people found in America were Indians (now Native Americans). [/QUOTE] That the Pilgrims wanted to establish a colony with religious freedom for all (yeah right). That the local Indians taught them how to farm local crops and saved them from starvation and in gratitude the Pilgrims invited to feast and “the Indians had never seen such a feast” [QUOTE=FormerMarineGuy] That it really is necessary for boys to learn how to sew in Home Economics (I still have horrid thoughts about that sweater I made). [/QUOTE] Yeah, I’ve never had to sew, but learning how to cook has come in handy. On the flip side nothing I learned in 3 years of middle-schoo shop class has ever proved useful. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/26 "2006-08-26T21:26:09Z")
For those who remember “Hemo the Magnificent” here’s “Unchained Goddess” [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157135/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157135/) I saw this one at least twice in grade school, and liked it too. Good information, and a touch of humor. Capra also was a director on this one. The IMDB listing has an interesting quote from the film. ---
**Author:** ![shizaru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@shizaru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shizaru)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/27 "2006-08-26T21:33:44Z")
That hiding under your desk will help you survive a nuclear attack from the commies. _I didn’t buy that even when I was in elementary school._ ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/28 "2006-08-26T21:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=shizaru] That hiding under your desk will help you survive a nuclear attack from the commies. _I didn’t buy that even when I was in elementary school._ [/QUOTE] My father was taught to hide under his desk and _pray_. I guess that’s as good advice as any. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/29 "2006-08-26T21:48:48Z")
[QUOTE=Aesiron] No. Even ignoring the first sentence of the OP that mentioned “information [she] learned in school that’s now considered false, inaccurate or outdated”, **Jayn\_Newell** said she graduated in 2003 when Nunavut was created in 1999. So while I doubt she was actually taught by her teachers that there were only two territories her last three years in school, there’s a good chance that her learning materials were outdated and if Canada’s anything like the US when it comes to education, still are. [/QUOTE] By the time Nunavut was created Canadian geography wasn’t in the curriculum at all, and it never came up in relation to anything else. Regardless of whether our schoolbooks were up to date or not, it was never mentioned during those three years anyways. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/30 "2006-08-26T23:11:47Z")
I came across a letter my first grade teacher sent home. In it, she mentions how blessed she is that God has given her such wonderful students to teach, and that she prays with His guidance she’ll help us learn what we need to pass to the second grade. It was a public school, and from what I remember, Mrs. Mace wasn’t particularly religious. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/31 "2006-08-26T23:18:53Z")
We were taught allll about how to read computer punch cards in 8th grade. They told us to pay attention because this was the future and we would need to know this if we wanted to get a job when we grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/32 "2006-08-26T23:28:11Z")
When I graduated high school, I was expected to memorize every stinkin’ formula for finding the area of a geometric solid, among other things, and calculators were considered “cheating”. I cheated like a bastard, and graduated anyway. This was in 1982. I went back to school in 2001 to get my teaching credentials, and had to take some math. They allowed me to use a calculator, and provided me with all the formulas I’d need, right there on the test. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/33 "2006-08-26T23:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=Eva Luna] Does anyone else remember [Hemo the Magnificent?](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6302182484/sr=8-3/qid=1156606644/ref=pd_bbs_3/104-1171455-9978366?ie=UTF8) [/QUOTE] AFAIK Hemo is still scientifically accurate. IIRC It should still be entertaining too. A stereotypical Italian helps us learn about circulation. Brother Scientist blows us all away when he says “Sea water.”. I’d love to get my hands on a copy. Hemo makes learning fun. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/34 "2006-08-27T01:09:45Z")
How many elements are there now? Last time I saw a Periodic Table there were 102. The legitimate government of China was located on the island of Formosa. Yugoslavia was a single country that stretched from Italy to Greece. A whole bunch of African nations had different names back then. I learned how to use a slide rule in high school. In college I learned how to cue a record, splice tape, edit film and develop photographs in a darkroom. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/35 "2006-08-27T01:23:30Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] That the Pilgrims wanted to establish a colony with religious freedom for all (yeah right). That the local Indians taught them how to farm local crops and saved them from starvation and in gratitude the Pilgrims invited to feast and “the Indians had never seen such a feast”/QUOTE] > [@FormerMarineGuy](#): > > ``` > That Colombus found America. > > ``` I was taught both of these as well. My school offered a very . . . _edited_ version of history. > [@I Love Me](#): > > We were taught allll about how to read computer punch cards in 8th grade. My school’s “computer science” courses (which I took in 1995 and 1996) taught that computers recorded their data on tape. Where I went was a Christian school. They taught Creationism, and worse, it was really\* outdated \*Creationism. (Using the Pildown Man as “evidence” evolutionists don’t know what they’re talking about, and making erroneous claims about how geologists date strata.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/36 "2006-08-27T01:35:39Z")
Oh yeh, dinosaurs. Not only were they cold blooded, but the Brontosaurus spent most of it’s time in the water to support it’s tremendous weight, and ate soft swamp plants because they were easy to chew. And they became extinct because the mammals came along and ate all the dinosaurs’ eggs and the dinosaurs were too specialized to adapt to a cooler climate. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/37 "2006-08-27T01:53:03Z")
I too learned about the 9 planets, the 4 food groups, and the 2 Germanies. I learned how to use log tables in high school. Only sailors and bikers have tattoos. When the record beeps, it’s time to advance the filmstrip to the next picture. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/38 "2006-08-27T02:01:56Z")
[QUOTE=I Love Me, Vol. I] We were taught allll about how to read computer punch cards in 8th grade. They told us to pay attention because this was the future and we would need to know this if we wanted to get a job when we grew up. [/QUOTE] Oh ha, yes, the punch cards. Good thing we learned them, because we wouldn’t be gainfully employed in the 21st century without them. My personal favorite was from health class, that doctors have proven menstrual cramps are all in your head. I also caught the high end of the States Rights trend when discussing the Civil War – it was fought _entirely_ over States Rights and slavery was a non-issue. I realize people are still debating the finer points of this one, but I’m pretty sure that _some_ combination is generally accepted these days. We also used the model of the atom that looks like the solar system – I know it has a name, but that picture that looks like a ball in the middle with little balls on a track around it. My chemistry teacher explained that it was already outdated, but that the most current models were more complex than the needs of 8th graders. Which made me feel a little insulted. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/39 "2006-08-27T02:05:17Z")
[QUOTE=Aesiron] No. Even ignoring the first sentence of the OP that mentioned “information [she] learned in school that’s now considered false, inaccurate or outdated”, **Jayn\_Newell** said she graduated in 2003 when Nunavut was created in 1999. So while I doubt she was actually taught by her teachers that there were only two territories her last three years in school, there’s a good chance that her learning materials were outdated and if Canada’s anything like the US when it comes to education, still are. [/QUOTE] Oh, I see. Okay, never mind! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329/40 "2006-08-27T02:08:34Z")
I was way out of school by this point, but “640K of RAM is more tham you’ll ever need” comes to mind 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/outdated-information-you-were-taught-in-school/370329.md?page=3)