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Author
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Topic: UK kids: Winston Churchill walked on moon
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Keith Barber
Member Posts: 326
From: Warwickshire
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 03-20-2008 02:36 PM
   
Telegraph: Winston Churchill walked on moon, say pupils quote:
One in three primary school pupils believe that Sir Winston Churchill was the first man to walk on the moon, according to a survey.The children, aged between four and ten-years-old, confused the war time Prime Minister with the American astronaut Neil Armstrong, despite the fact they were born in different centuries and different countries.
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cspg
Member Posts: 6210
From: Geneva, Switzerland
Registered: May 2006
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posted 03-21-2008 01:07 AM
 Revisionists have a great future.... Chris. |
East-Frisian
Member Posts: 586
From: Germany
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 03-21-2008 02:58 AM
And now I know, why the lunar surface is dusty. It was Sir Winston Churchills cigar. |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-21-2008 03:13 AM
Frankly, I'm surprised that they even know that a man called Churchill existed, given edukayshun's political correctness and the "shame" of teaching ENGLISH history.Paul |
DavidH
Member Posts: 1217
From: Huntsville, AL, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 03-21-2008 09:02 AM
Some don't.------------------
All These Worlds Space Blog | Hatbag.net
"America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow." - Commander Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17 Mission, 11 December 1972 |
issman1
Member Posts: 1042
From: UK
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 03-21-2008 11:05 AM
It's nothing to do with "political correctness". It's everything to do with political ignorance.Most UK kids are preoccupied with things other than space travel, astronomy or UK history! I blame the government which devised the national cirriculum. If it bothered to promote space sciences as a serious subject, kids would know Armstrong from Churchill. What is more of a worry to me is that many people in the UK honestly believe the Apollo missions were faked! |
divemaster
Member Posts: 1376
From: ridgefield, ct
Registered: May 2002
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posted 03-21-2008 11:40 AM
Well, we can either BLAME Francis French or tell him that he needs to get back to work. 
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mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-21-2008 12:40 PM
Lets give them some credit for at least knowing that SOMEBODY walked on the moon. Mikie |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-21-2008 12:51 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Smartass Tracy:
Well, we can either BLAME Francis French or tell him that he needs to get back to work.
But I haven't worked in space education in the UK for 12 years now. All those kids are already in college. So it must have all gone downhill after I left...  |
Steve Procter
Member Posts: 1031
From: Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Oct 2000
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posted 03-21-2008 03:01 PM
It's brought up a vision in my head...Winston Churchill doing a lunar EVA with a bowler hat on top of his helmet in one glove he holds a large cigar and the other holding up two fingers in a 'V' sign. Anyone care to play around with Photoshop or similar and come up with it? Steve |
poofacio
Member Posts: 268
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted 03-21-2008 05:58 PM
In a recent survey 4% answered the Question "What is 10% of 150" incorrectly.And they were Maths teachers. The once great England is now a sad little country run by the great unwashed for the great unwashed.
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bruce
Member Posts: 916
From: Fort Mill, SC, USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 03-21-2008 09:55 PM
Good one Tracy ...Bruce |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 03-22-2008 01:19 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Steve Procter:
It's brought up a vision in my head...Winston Churchill doing a lunar EVA with a bowler hat on top of his helmet in one glove he holds a large cigar and the other holding up two fingers in a 'V' sign. Anyone care to play around with Photoshop or similar and come up with it?
Sadly, I couldn't find any photos of Churchill on the lunar surface. It appears his LMP, Clement Attlee, didn't take his photo during the EVA. Some guess that he did it out of spite, because Churchill was first on the surface (and therefore was more likely to be remembered by history). Attlee did take Churchill's photo later, after the EVA, while the two sat in the LM.  |
gliderpilotuk
Member Posts: 3398
From: London, UK
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-22-2008 09:00 AM
quote:
Originally posted by issman1:
What is more of a worry to me is that many people in the UK honestly believe the Apollo missions were faked!
"People" meaning adults, maybe, but not kids. I doubt many children are indoctrinated with a belief that the moon missions were fake (at least not in my son's primary school). This seems to come later in life when people with too much time on their hands subscribe to conspiracy websites and third rate TV shows. Regardless of what you think about the national curriculum, there just isn't time to teach everything, so a decision has to be made about (a) what period of history to cover and (b) WHOSE history to cover, as the current emphasis is on "other cultures". When I was in school history "ended" in 1918 (and I'm not that old!).
Arguably the space program doesn't fit neatly into history modules and a new subject of C20th technology/exploration should be developed, but let's get Churchill's place in history sorted first. Paul |
Delta7
Member Posts: 1505
From: Bluffton IN USA
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted 03-23-2008 07:16 AM
He might have said "Never have so few taken such a large step for so many. Haarrrumph!" |
FFrench
Member Posts: 3161
From: San Diego
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-23-2008 01:20 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Delta7:
He might have said "Never have so few taken such a large step for so many."
That quote, and the photo on this thread, are a very clever and excellent combination! Good job!And it is very true - both in the UK and US - that mandatory curricula can limit the amount that even the best teachers can fit in about history in general, never mind space history. It will come as no surprise that I believe that this is where the museum and science center community has a vital part to play, both for school field trips and in encouraging families to visit on weekends and all learn together. Educational opportunities are vital for people of all ages. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3118
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 03-23-2008 06:58 PM
Are there any reports of American school children believing that John F Kennedy was the first man on the Moon? That would be a little easier to understand. After all, Kennedy would only have been 52. Churchill would have been 94, an age at which most astronauts have retired. |
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