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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No, sorry but I don't think it's excusable to be able to know the Atlantic is east coast/Pac west.  That's not even US geography but knowing about 7 seas.  Not even all 7 but the 2 closest to our country.  I'm not talking state capitals, names of all states or even anything more sophisticated than tracking 2 large bodies of water.  If you look at google maps you would likely notice the names of the ocean if you're looking at a coast of a state east and west.  That's somewhat education but it's also observation.  That Americans can't even track anything obvious is so sad.  While most people in other countries are bi/trilingual, we can't even distinguish between 2 oceans.  I think that's really amazingly devastatingly sad.

I also think that on some level basic elementary school geography should offer up this knowledge.  [/quote]

OP here. This was pretty much my thinking. I recall being taught about the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in very early elementary school, certainly by second grade. Granted these were women in their 30s, but it really made me wonder about the consistency of education in America and whether basic geography is taught in schools today. I have heard that things like penmanship and spelling are no longer emphasized in schools, and I certainly hope basic geography is not another casualty of the internet era where people can look anything up but apparently rarely do. [/quote]

Basic geography is not really taught in schools. My DD did state history and studies state geography in 4th grade, and did state capitals and states in 5th grade, but were it not for me constantly shoving an atlas in her face when she asks questions and traveling with her, she would have zero sense of the basics of geography. [/quote]

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