Thursday, March 22, 2007

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

Has anyone been watching this show? It's hosted by Jeff Foxworthy and has made me really wonder how I'm about to get a college degree and don't know any of this stuff. Did I really learn all this stuff by fifth grade? Here are some of the questions:

1. How many months out of the year have 31 days?

2. If the diameter of a circle is 4 then the radius is what?

3. What is the only continent that is also a country?

4. Is the United States in the eastern hemisphere?

5. If y=3x and 3x=12, what does y equal?



Answers:
1. 7
2. 2
3. Australia
4. No!
5. y=12

So, how'd ya do???

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I got them all!

Unknown said...

I did well too :) Got them all. I've been watching this, and it's amazing some of the questions people are getting wrong . . . like "what is the westernmost state . . . California, Arizona, or Nevada?" Craziness.

Lolly said...

I aced it!

Bone said...

I've seen the show once. To me, it only proves that 90% of the stuff you learn in school you never use in real life.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Bone. See...you forget it all once you grow up and get a real job anyway. But it is kind of funny to watch these people stumble over the questions.

MarkD60 said...

Well, I saw the answers, so I didn't even try!

Anonymous said...

It is true that a fair amount of this knowledge isn't important for most people in their day to day lives, but part of the point of schooling isn't just the information, it is the learning and problem solving skills. This is particularly true of math.

However, the social studies is important. How can you hope to understand what is going on in the world if you don't understand basic geography, history and world cultures?

I also disagree that most most only retain 10% of what they have learned in school, particularly if you restrict it to elementary school. While you may not be able to pass written tests, you certainly have absorbed a lot; enough to make a difference.

Can you double or halve a recipe? If so, thank your 3rd grade math teacher!