A grade 6 USA history assignment. Wondering how hard it really is to memorize something like that.

confusion
happiness
delusion
estatic

I am sure there are more states.

True and False. What do I win.

Lessee...probably the geographic method is best. So...

Alaska
Hawaii
Washington
Oregon
California
New Mexico
Utah
Arizona
Colorado
Nevada
Wyoming
Montana
Idaho
North Dakota
South Dakota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Iowa
Kansas
Missouri
Oklahoma
Texas
Alabama
Mississippi
Arkansas
Tennessee
Georgia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Florida
Kentucky
Virginia
West Virginia
Illinois
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Rhode Island
New York
New Jersey
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine
Connecticut
Massachusetts

...how many is that? *counts* 45. OK...um...

...well, sorry to whomever I left out.

Oh, wait.

Indiana. 46!
Um...um...gimme a minute...

Can I count Puerto Rico and Guam?

>> Wondering how hard it really is to memorize something like
>> that.

Nah, the real question is how hard it is to compensate by getting a good grade for the next test.

Minnesota. That's 47...

I had that sort of quiz in 6th grade. My trick was to visualize a map of the US and start from one corner (Maine) and proceed North to South, then East to West.

The hard one for me was memorizing and reciting the state capitals.

You'd think Pierre, SD is pronounced "pea-air", but they pronounce it "peer." Kinda small town, I liked passing thru when the cottonwoods were shedding.

Why US has so many states?

China only has thirty one provinces and regions!

I think it's funny how the U.S. states get larger and the lines either run straight or follow rivers as you go east to west. It looks like whomever drew the map either lost interest or ran out of time/ink toward the end.

Nebraska, Maryland, and Louisiana

Looks like that Geographical method ain't workin' out for you, eh?

I did it geographically by doing the coasts then filling in the middle, and I took a while remembering Arkansas, but I got them all.

Actually, when Jefferson drew up plans for the states that were to be created from the land ceded by the original colonies the map he drew up looked similar.

But those areas were already occupied and enough people complained about the lay out not following natural bounderies that it was changed.

I think the western states were laid out before there were enough folks in them to raise a ruckus. So they got laid out closer to surveying lines.

There was a song I learned in 6th grade music class, "Fifty Nifty United States", it had a little section where the group singing the song called out the states in alphabetical order. I can still skip ahead in my head that part of the song, and rattle them off on cue.

Not terribly useful, of course, but I have done it to win some bar bets.

I learned that song too, but it's been so long that I can only remember snippets. ("NEW Hampshire, NEW Jersey, NEW MEXICO...NEW YORK!")

And I'd just like to say that with 47/50, I got 94%, which is an A, so I'm happy.

(Just don't ask me the capitals.)

For your next bar trick, name all the elements. There is a variation of the Gilbert and Sullivan song "Model of a modern major general" that has all the elements except for 1 or 2.

Solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

Facetiousness aside, I tried to do this a while back prompted by a rerun of a Friends episode) and it took me about 6 hours. However, I'm not American, so that fact I could do it at all surprised me. (Or perhaps not being American is an advantage, seeing as most Americans can't even locate Europe on a map. :D)

"Why does the US have so many states?"

Because we're America god damnit. Don't ask so many stupid questions.

Rats, I forgot the Bose-Einstein condensate.

If you believe that, I have an Einstein Rosen bridge for sale.

We? :P

I have Tom Lehrer's The Elements on CD at home someplace. It was accurate at the time it was written in the 60s. There are numemerous new ones invented/discovered since.

Everyone missed New England.

During my sophomore year of high school, a buddy and I ended up in a regular US Geography course. The first day, the teacher spent the entire period telling the class that our grad would be based on one of two things:
1) all the work from the semester OR
2) a test which consisted of a numbered map of the US where you had to name the state and capital.

As long as you got atleast 40% on either one, you could pass.

The second day of class, the buddy and I walked in and asked to take the test. The teacher was ticked but we pointed out his own rules. 30 seconds into the test, I realized that the states were numbered alphabetically. 2 minutes into the test after we were both nearly done, the teacher added the requirement that he would be checking the spelling of all names.

I misspelled "Pierre" for South Dakota, so I got a 99, but the buddy got a 100.

Once he had our A's, we slept the rest of the semester.

> Everyone missed New England.

No, they just all know the words to the song -

"I don't want to change the world,
I'm not looking for a new England"

Since they were not looking for it, they didn't find it. QED.

>> Rats, I forgot the Bose-Einstein condensate.

... and the Fermionic Condensate

And in a spirit of whimsy, how many could name the Canadian provinces and territories? (ten and 3 respectively). We won't even talk about the provincial capitals for non-Canadians.

I could only name twelve. The newest one is set up after my citizenship exam.

I should read much about aboriginal people and their culture.