Note: I originally wrote this over the Christmas vacation and lost it. So I am trying to recreate it from my notes. Not quite as good as the original.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are a wonderful time for multiple generations to sit around the table and share stories about the good old days. Around our table the conversations usually lean towards education and science. My parents were in high school during the mid 1940’s and we were talking about what the school day was like. It was not much different from today thought they had a longer lunch as kids walked home for lunch. Their schools still stand and are in use. I loved hearing about how they played kick the can and stick ball in the street. You could not do it on the same streets today. There was no TV, phones in the house, nor computers. You created your own play out of your imagination.

Conversation drifted on to what was taught in classes. It amazed us that so much has been added to what is taught but little has disappeared in the curriculum. For example in the area of earth science my Dad and Mom learned about Continental Drift but since that time the theories of sea floor spreading and plate tectonics have been but forth. The textbooks get bigger but the day and year are still about the same length. Add to that state mandated tests, technology standards and the additional social programs added to the curriculums, no wonder everyone is stressed.

Here is a list we generated of some of the changes since 1945. It is only a short list imagine all the other additions we expect our students to learn.

Chemistry/Physics
The Discovery of New Elements
Curium (Cm)
Americium (Am)
Californium (Cf)
Einsteinium (Es)
Fermium (Fm)
Mendelevium (Md)
Nobelium (No)
Buckminster Fullerenes
Atomic/Hydrogen bombs
Linear Accelerators
Quarks
Solar Cells

Biology/Medicine
Vaccines: Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Hepatitis B
The Structure of DNA
DNA linked to genetics traits
DNA Testing, gene specific medicines
Human Genome project
Cloning
Cancer treatments – radiation and chemo
New Antibiotics
Scanning Electron Microscope

Astronomy/Earth Science
Sputnik
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Skylab
Space Shuttle
Space Station Mir
Hubble Telescope
The Kuiper Belt
Pluto a planet and then not
International Space Station
Mars Exploration Rovers
Theory of Sea Floor Spreading
Plate tectonics

History
WWII
Indian Independence
British Empire begins to break down- many new nations arise
Korean War
McCarthy Era
Vietnam
Fall of the Soviet Union
Persian Gulf War 1 & 2
Cuban missile crises
Water Gate
9/11