Geography check

[Almighty Colin]

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/...es/mapgame.html (http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html)

[RawAlex]

I got down to 8 before issues... mostly African nations that just don't get talked about much...

Alex

[slavdogg]

that was a cool test
i got most of them right until i got to Uzbeks and turkmens, Tajiks
and than Mali in Africa i wouldnt have known.

[slavdogg]

doesn't this map look a little funny ?

[RawAlex]

It is a bit of a funny slice, you rarely see Morocco all the way to pakistan in one slice... especially confusing without India on the end to keep it in place.

:-)

Alex

[Anthony]

13, before the first wrong one, Damn afghanistan and uzeblecstan whatever. =o)

[PornoDoggy]

I probably could have done better if a lot of the African countries hadn't had three names apiece since I was in school; finally did get them all, though. I think I had 15 or 16 before it became a question of best guestimate.

[cj]

I got most of the way through it, but got stuck on some really obvious ones. I got the african ones easier than I did middle east ;/

the only reason i passed geography in school is because the teacher had to give me extra marks because I could draw good maps and always colored inside the lines

:biglaugh:

up until a few years ago I thought most of south america was in europe

<_<

[Penthouse_mike]

I had every right until I got to down to four, when I confused

Qatar and UAE
and
Kyrgyzstan and tajikstan

Cool link.

[gigi]

Well, unlike you guys I did alot worse than I thought I would... :P

I got half of the middle east right and the east side of Africa wasn't too hard, and then morocco on the north/west....other than that...I was lost
:o

[gigi]

BTW, where the hell is Bahrain?? I've filled out the map and I don't see anywhere for it to go???

[added]
Nevermind...I found it....that damn teenie tiny island just north of Qatar....sigh...lol

And, I'm proud to say, after my dismal first attempt, I've been practicing and I can now place each and every country (save Bahrain) starting from the A's correctly without any mistakes...hehe

You learn something new everyday! :gbounce:



Last edited by gigi at Mar 31 2003, 10:18 PM

[cj]

its the tiny little island in the big bay thing next to that other island

LOL

hope that helps

:biglaugh:

[Rox]

I totally sucked, just like when I was in high school. I think I got 4 right before having to just sort of guess (and WHY Azerbaijan was one of the first I got right is totally BEYOND me!).

Of course, I blame it on the fact that I've been out of school now for about 25 years and haven't had any real reason to study geography -- and besides, some of the countries on that map didn't even EXIST back then! :nyanya:

[gigi]

Originally posted by cj@Mar 31 2003, 10:20 PM
its the tiny little island in the big bay thing next to that other island

LOL

hope that helps

:biglaugh:
LOL, thanks CJ....I knew it had to be there somewhere....lol....and your description and instructions were very accurate....hehehe :yowsa:

[cj]

I guess I didn't learn as much as I had thought (or hoped) i did LOL

[spanno]

"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." :o)

[cj]

and australians and canadians too if this thread is anything to go by ;-)

[slavdogg]

i gotta say i've always wondered where exactly Bahrain and Qatar were in the Persian Gulf Area. I finally saw both on TV when war started.

[sarah_webinc]

best assigment I ever had in school was when we were given a blank map of the world. We weren't allowed to pass the course until we could fill in all the countries without more than two mistakes.

It has been a while since that test but even now it works like a puzzle. Once you get the main ones in place you can fill in the ones around it by just thinking of who has invaded whom.

[Almighty Colin]

Does anyone else think this would be a good tool to teach geography in public schools? Send those kids to the computer lab! Make it a competition. Results posted on the board. That's what I would have done when I was teaching.

[Almighty Colin]

Interesting thing about anglicized spellings of Middle-Eastern country names and Arabic names in general. There are different phonetic schemes for translating Arabic into English.

So Iraq can also be Irak
Osama can be Usama
al-Qaeda can be al-Kaeda



Last edited by Colin at Apr 1 2003, 08:59 AM

[OldJeff]

That was fun mental masturbation, but that is about all it is good for.

I have heard 1,000 times how so many Americans can't find Iraq on a map, absolutely useless information.

Why don't we see how many middle eastern students can fill in the US States on a blank map, just as useful.

It is about as useful as knowing all the state capitals, not at all, except for trivia games.

What America needs to know about the Middle East is - They hate us, they hate everything about us, and would be very happy if we were gone from the planet.

For the record I did OK - got about half of them, which pisses me off because those brain cells will never be able to store some usefull information like the theme song from Gilligan's Island

[sarah_webinc]

wether you think it is important or not - which I do - how would it HURT?

Okay, so I was a travel agent for a bit while going through universitty so the geography assigment I had really did help me in my life but come on there is nothing wrong with the average kid knowing atleast where things are. Also, I bet the average middle eastern kid with the benifit of a bit of education could point out the larger states like CA, Texas, Florida but I wonder how many of our kids could point out three middle eastern countries.

Saying 'they are ignorant too' is not a reason to stay that way yourself.

[Almighty Colin]

My take:

A map is just a flat representation of the world. It is really just an incredibly oversimplified projection of a three-dimensional world onto a flat two-dimenional plane. It doesn't give you much accurate information about the real world. It is VERY symbolic. I know when I am reading a history book it helps to think something like "OK, then Rommel went this way and up the coast and then he stopped and went inland" and I can picture in my head this flat-map representation of where Libya and the Mediterranean coast are, for example. Very simplified.

Knowing the locations of places on a map adds to our understanding of the world only a little bit. If one is interested in the history of Israel in the 20th century it would help to know where Israel, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan in relationship to each other are. It seems that we often don't think it through to its conclusion of how incredibly varied any particular terrain is and how vast the distances really are.

Since knowledge is comparative, knowing the locations of countries on a map will generally put you one up on most people you talk to but it is really only the simplest sort of information. Since knowledge is valued to a certain degree in our society, knowing it is better than not not knowing it.

It's like thinking of an atom as little + signs and N signs inside of a ball surrounded by little pill shaped objects [electrons] that are circling around with - signs on them. It's a lot easier than trying to picture the real thing but not very accurate.








Last edited by Colin at Apr 1 2003, 10:48 AM

[OldJeff]

Sarah,

I did not say that knowing where the countries would HURT anything, nor did I say that not knowing the US states made Middle Eastern people ignorant.

I said that the information is pretty much worthless on both sides.

Since this "test" is being used so often to demonstrate American ignorance and lack of education why is not the reverse true ?

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by OldJeff@Apr 1 2003, 11:02 AM
Since this "test" is being used so often to demonstrate American ignorance and lack of education why is not the reverse true ?
I missed that part?

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by Colin@Apr 1 2003, 08:34 AM
Does anyone else think this would be a good tool to teach geography in public schools?
I should have looked at the domain name before I said something so obvious.

[OldJeff]

You're right Colin

I missed that part as well :)

Those words were not in the original post, but that is the feeling behind it

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by OldJeff@Apr 1 2003, 11:24 AM
You're right Colin

I missed that part as well :)

Those words were not in the original post, but that is the feeling behind it
In MY original post?

[spanno]

I couldn't find Palestine on that map ? :o

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by spanno@Apr 1 2003, 11:36 AM
I couldn't find Palestine on that map ? :o
Nice

[sarah_webinc]

Originally posted by OldJeff@Apr 1 2003, 08:02 AM

Since this "test" is being used so often to demonstrate American ignorance and lack of education why is not the reverse true ?
i just figured cause it was on an education site it was to teach rather than to demonstrate anyone's ignorance.

[OldJeff]

Colin - we need to stop

I meant my post on the Map Quiz

I think I am adding confusion to the gumbo :headwall:

[Almighty Colin]

Originally posted by OldJeff@Apr 1 2003, 11:44 AM
Colin - we need to stop


Agreed! I was lost.