Things that have Changed Since You were in School

[Locutus of Bored]

The Triceratops / Torosaurus debate that was making the media rounds recently got me thinking about long-held theories and concepts that were taught when I was in school that have since changed.

Notable examples include the official recognition of the mariner's longstanding tradition of there being a distinct Southern Ocean and the debate over the classification of Pluto. I was still in school during the breakup of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, and the end of the Cold War, or else I would include that as well.

So what are some significant examples of things you were taught that have changed since you've left school? If you're still in school you can participate too, though we might get angry at you for making us feel old.

 

[FordSVT]

That Canada has ten provinces and two territories. Now there are three.

That somewhere in the world was Carmen Sandiego.

 

[RoJoHen]

Along the dinosaur route, I remember when the Brontosaurus existed. Then they were suddenly like, "Nope, Brontosaurus was never actually a dinosaur." And I was sad.

Pluto is the obvious one. Still kind of annoyed about that.

I actually just learned about the Southern Ocean on the TrekBBS a few months ago. I had never heard of it before. I also learned that different countries have different ideas of how many continents there are; I always assumed that was a universally agreed upon concept.

 

[thestrangequark]

Brontosaurus became Apatosaurus, and it is unlikely that Stegosaurus used its plates for protection -- how would they have sex?! I teach my students when we go to the AMNH that Stegosaurus used his plates as a body heating/cooling system: the plates had blood vessels in them, bad for armor, but good for laying flat in the sun to warm up, and standing up in the wind to cool off.

When we study dinosaurs I also read them the fantastic book Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!, which is great fun.

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh, didn't we learn that some dinosaurs also had feathers?

 

[thestrangequark]

Oh, didn't we learn that some dinosaurs also had feathers?

I didn't, but I teach that now.

 

[Jetfire]

Las Vegas show Dinos...

 

[Amaris]

1] Pluto was still one of the nine planets

2] Brontosaurus was still a real dinosaur. I just learned a few posts back that apparently, no, Brontosaurus was not a real dinosaur. In rebellion, I have screamed at all of my "Land Before Time" movies, crying "Why? Why did you lie?!"

3] The only kids who had cell phones were the ones with rich parents.

4] In science, it was still taught that the universe would have the Big Crunch, and then another Big Bang.

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh, didn't we learn that some dinosaurs also had feathers?

I didn't, but I teach that now.

I meant, "Haven't we learned that since we were in school?" I certainly never learned about feathers when I was little.

 

[Amaris]

I graduated in 1999, and at that time, the idea of feathered dinosaurs was starting to become popular.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, I definitely didn't learn anything about dinosaurs after elementary school, so that's possible.

 

[Jetfire]

I graduated in 1999, and at that time, the idea of feathered dinosaurs was starting to become popular.

In 1999 school shootings were popular...don't remember anything in 1996 or before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting

There were some 1996 and before...but

ok 4 in 1996 and only 3 in 1999.

 

[Davros]

The Berlin Wall
The Soviet Union
DvD's
Cd's
Home video game consoles improved beyond the Atari
My school became the most infamous high school in America.
There were no Star Trek Spin Offs outside of the animated series
We have gone from the 5th Doctor to the 11th on Doctor Who

 

[Maestro]

Records, cassettes, and VHS are virtually gone.
CDs aren't far behind.
The 8 track is now something to record upon.
There was one father/son pair and one father/son pair only to be President: John Adams and John Qunicy Adams; now there's George Bush and George W. Bush.
Hillary Clinton is no longer from Arkansas.
No new Star Trek currently on TV (TNG premiered when I was in 5th Grade).
Nixon, Ford, and Reagan are dead.
Doctor Who is back on the air.
Prayer in schools is a no go, but creationism is part of state curricula.

 

[Thena]

In first grade, we had a Dinosaur Week where the entire elementary school got together and pained a huge dinosaur mural on the playground. It felt cool knowing that a piece of me would be there forever as a reminder for future students.

It lasted 5 years before they tore up the playground to add an addition to provide new office space, and they build it right on top of where our mural used to be.

 

[Spot's Meow]

The most obvious example after reading the OP is Brontosaurus becoming Apatosaurus. Of course, we all know that the real name is "long neck."

I am having a hard time thinking of other examples, my brain is kind of fried today.

 

[nevermore]

Of the things I remember being taught, obviously Pluto, which I made a Papier-mâché model of in 6th grade as part of a class-wide model of the solar system. I guess I would still pass that. Other than that, the Soviet Union fell apart between 8th and 9th grades, so that was a shock, especially when countries started changing their names willy-nippy. And I've just learned about the fate of the poor Brontosaurus.

In first grade, we had a Dinosaur Week where the entire elementary school got together and pained a huge dinosaur mural on the playground. It felt cool knowing that a piece of me would be there forever as a reminder for future students.

It lasted 5 years before they tore up the playground to add an addition to provide new office space, and they build it right on top of where our mural used to be.

I can't even tell you how sad this makes me. At my school, there's this great Dr. Seuss mural on the Lower School wall that was painted by a senior class as their graduation gift to the school in the 70's. Not only is it still there, but every 10 years or so, the senior class will touch it up as part of their graduation gift. It' a great tradition.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, I know the pain of that, too. When I attended the Scripps-Howard Regional Spelling Bee, I placed 16th, which may not seem like much, but it was the first time anyone at our school had ever even made it to such an event, and my Principal shook my hand and told me "you helped put our school on the map". Then, some ten years later, about a year after that Principal passed away, our school gets torn down and in it's place, they created a parking lot.

What makes it worse is that this parking lot has no purpose. It's not used for anything, there are no businesses near it that would need a parking lot, and so it just sits there, empty, while thousands of dreams and hopes from all the children that had ever attended that little elementary school, were paved over without a care.

 

[SVD]

Pluto, VHS becoming obsolete, bye bye analog TV.

 

[Starbreaker]

When I was in school, we learned to read by learning all the vowels and the different sounds they made. Now, they just teach kids to learn by sight, which is probably a million times easier than trying to sound out every letter in a word.

I was also allowed to have cokes, ice cream, etc. at lunch. Now, kids gotta eat healthy. I sub a lot, and the kids are excited when they get to eat actual french fries instead of those awful sun chips.