Are you smarter than a 8th grader

[Jumptrout51]

8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina , KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case..
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.


Arithmetic (Time,1 hour 15 minutes)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. Deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. Wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3.. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 lbs. For tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6,720 lbs. Coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre?
8.. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt


U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton , Bell , Lincoln , Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865..


Orthography (Time, one hour)
[Do we even know what this is??]
1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis-mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last..
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks
and by syllabication.


Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?!


NO, I don't have the answers!

[Chill-N-Grill]

[sosprey]

Kids have always been smart, why we don't ask them to do more is a mystery.

[Sir reel]

IT WAS 1895!! The reason all the questions seem so easy.....we've had 114 years to improve our school systems.

[SHOWBOAT]

8th Grade Final Exam:

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

must have been when kids still attended a full day of clasess....

[TallyFish]

I have seen this 8th grade test many times, sometimes used as a inditment of the US education system, other times for general comparission of the knowledge base of the day but most often just for fun. I choose to view it through the lens of the second option. You'll notice that there is no reference to bytes, giga- tera- or bite my tail. No miles per gallon, no MRI, no donor card sign up, in short very little carry over to life today. It is a reflection of life in 1895, interesting buy hardly comparable to life today. Notice too that the English used is very different than we use in 2009. I choose to not read too much into the differences expressed by the "test". However, if you apply a critical eye to the test you may find some questionable knowledge application. As an example: Question in Arithmetic 7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft.. Long at $20 per metre? Doubt #1. the question demands a knowledge of the English ( currently called US customary) and metric systems of measurement. While it was suggested that the US move to the metric system in 1866 by Congress it never happened and would not surface as an issue again till the 1970s. Next doubt: is the working knowledge and jargon of the lumber industry of the US and countries using the metric system. Higly unlikely IMHO! Now, once the test is under way and no clarification may be saught some real questions pop up to confound the problem. The Width and Length measurements are given however, as stated the problem is unsolvable. The thickness is not stated! Oh, you could make an assumption that the thickness is 1 inch but it may be incorrect. After all if you go to a lumber ( preferably one that sells hardwood) mill and forget one measurement and they will be all over your lack of knowledge and seek clarification. Doubt #3, you must convert board feet to cubic meters. All the students knew how to do this by simply knowing that 1 bdft = 0.00235973722 cubic meters.

After all the work maybe I'll choose the third option and just look at the test a fun.

Oh the answer? 1.5102318208 cubic meters @ 20 dollars per cubic meter= $30.20

[Jumptrout51]

Thats a lot of lumber for 30 bucks.

[jsuber]

Can you see my house from up there TF.

[TallyFish]

Can you see my house from up there TF.

Let....me....see,,,Oh yes, there it is at the intersection of Officious Dolt Street and Pious Pulpit Ave. Of anyone on the forum I thought you would be the most appreciative of a little humorus pontifcation.

JT, you are correct, 640 bdft for $30 that would be a great bargin in todays dollars. Not sure how good a deal it was in 1895.

[fishinfool]

TF, are you sure about the conversion of board feet to Cubic meters? One board foot is 12 inches X 12 inches X 1 inch. Given that definition it is probably correct to assume the test question implies the thickness is one inch. Next, board feet is considered a square unit of measure. Cubic meters is considered a Cubic measure equalling 1 meterX 1 meter X 1 meter or roughly a cube of wood a little over 39 inches on each of it's 6 sides. I believe the conversion was from foot square to meter square and the thicknes would be the same at one inch or 2.5 cm

[fishinfool]

Oh by the way, the answer to how many board feet is in the equasion is 240. 240 bdft is .57 cubic meters. $20 X 0.57 = $11.4
FF

[Jumptrout51]

Juan of you can go to the head of the class. I just don't know which Juan.

[TallyFish]

FF, while my original post was more about how the test is used as a comment on our current educational system and the bd. ft. problem used to substantiate an unrealistic knowledge base in 1895 however, I'll address your post.

I agree that one would have to assume that 1" was the thickness otherwise there would be no problem. Eric Sloan in his book "a Reverance for Wood " writing about old timey wood use indicates that "board" was the accepted term back in the day for a 1' or there abouts piece of lumber.

I disagree with you that board feet is a square unit of measure. As you state a board foot is 1 inch X 12inches X 12 inches that is the definition of cubic and with that I agree. So, the bd ft formula for any size lumber would be thickness X width X length divided by 144, with 144 being the amount of cubic inches in one board foot of lumber. Square measurement is length X width as in area.

Now, the problem as stated ( assuming one inch thickness) is 40 boards at 1 inch thickness X 12 inches wide X 16 feet long. So, the fastest way to look at the solution is that for every one foot of length there is one bdft of material thus in every board there is 16 board feet. 16 bdft X 40 boards is 640 bd ft. Or one could keep every measurement in inches and restate the problem as 1" X 12" X 192"= 2304 cubic inches divided by 144 = 16 X 40= 640!

[leesburgga]

Regardless of board feet, thickness of the board, or the metric conversion factor, the bottom line of all of this discussion is that the focus of collective school system in this country today is often diverted from educating children. While there are some incredible teachers out there, and my children have been fortunate enough to have some of them, a focus of public education today is to try to make sure no child is embarrassed because they may not accomplish what other students are accomplishing. Oftentimes, the accomplishments are closely following behind efforts. To all of the teachers out there that are investing in your students and truly trying to develop them into young men and women, my hat is off to you and I thank you.

[TallyFish]

Leesburgga, well put and right on the mark. The most important teacher your child will ever have is the parents.