Literacy Scavenger Hunt

Prompt: Create a definition of literacy. What do you think it means to be literate? What kind of
people are literate? What kind of people are illiterate? Where do you typically hear the term used
and for what? Can you provide examples from your own life that may explain how you arrived at
your definition?

Literacy is a thorough understanding of a subject, most often referring to reading and

writing. This specific definition has been derived from my own understanding of literacy and its
role in my own life. For example, I am literate in reading, writing, and math. This serves to hold
true because I have been educated on these subjects from the time I was 6 years old. I have an
extreme understanding of these topics because of how thoroughly I have been taught. I am
literate in many other subjects and topics, such as Christianity, but school subjects are probably
the most common. Being literate means that one holds knowledge on a specific topic, idea,
subject, or field through being educated. Usually, people who have been fortunate enough to get
an education and attend schooling make up those who are literate. Those who are illiterate are
usually made up of those who have never been educated before.

Prompt: Read the article, Dumbing Down: Then and Now. Choose one of the sections and try
to take the test. Record your answers as a group. Then address how education and literacy may
have changed over the years (is being literate now the same as being literate a hundred years
ago?) How may it be different? (give specific examples) Has literacy evolved? Devolved?
Stayed the same? Or is it something else altogether? If there were a test like this given now, what
would the categories be? How have our educational needs and literacy requirements changed?

Geography Test
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend? Climate is the weather condition over time.
Climate depends on wind, humidity, location, season, etc.
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas? Kansas is landlocked; therefore, is
distant from bodies of water. This makes Kansas very hot.
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean? Rivers have served as a source of drinking water
for humans for centuries. Oceans hold wildlife which makes up the ecosystem as well as supplies
food to humans. Bodies of water also serve to cool down land temperature.
4. Describe the mountains of North America. These mountains stretch out over a large distance of
land and do not stand to be as tall as other continents mountain ranges.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St.
Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco. Denver is a city in Colorado and St. Helena is an
island on the Atlantic Ocean. Other than these two, I truly have no idea what the rest of these are.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. New York, Charleston, Philadelphia, and
Florida.
7. Name all the republics of: Europe and give the capital of each. I have absolutely no idea
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude? The Atlantic Coast is

further away from the Equator than the Pacific.

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers. The ocean
water evaporates back into the sky, condensates into clouds, and falls once again as precipitation.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth. The Earths plates shift
while the Earth spins while revolving around the sun.

Over the years, I believe that education has become less broad and rather focuses on
subjects more specific to a students location. In the geography test above, students were
expected to know precise information about various continents despite what country they lived
in. In modern day schooling, education has changed so that it pertains mostly to a students
specific location; such as the history of their town, state, or continent. Literacy is also different
now than it was one hundred years ago because it has become more divided into smaller subjects
or topics. One hundred years ago, being literate meant being educated on almost everything in a
broad subject category, as seen above in the geography test. Now, being literate refers to holding
thorough knowledge on one specific topic, idea, subject, or field. Although the definition of
literacy has remained the same throughout history, its context has evolved. If this test was given
now, the categories would probably be grammar, writing, math, science, and history.

Clearly, the real purpose of the literacy test was for people to fail so that they could not vote. The
language used in the questions was very vague so that mistakes could easily be made. I am
literate and still struggled greatly in understanding what was being asked of me in the questions.