So, there I was, innocently telling a class of 4th-6th graders about how we would be reading one real, non-fiction story about space and one pretend, fiction story about space, when I learned that I believe something that makes my students think that perhaps Teacher is a wee bit stupid.
They don't believe that Neil Armstrong really walked on the moon. I couldn't have been more astounded if they had tried to convince me that I had purple polka dots all over my face. Apparently, they agree with the nutters who think it was faked by the American government. This is apparently because the flag appears to be fluttering in the wind, something to do with shadows and angles of light, and the mysterious deaths of the three astronausts (are they all even dead? i thought neil armstrong lived to be an old man?). This left me a bit speechless and unsure of what to say next, beyond that while I understand that that there are people out there who believe that the moon landing was faked, they are in the minority and I am not one of them. Which means that my students are still pretty unimpressed with my historical savvy.
Sometimes, teaching is a really weird job.
1 comment:
None of the three are dead. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin & Michael Collins are all still alive and kicking. Here's a good site that discusses the 'myth' and all the various 'evidence' usually cited: http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html if you want to discuss this further with your class. Apparenly Fox put out a TV show a while ago that supported the myth and this site debunks the show, but it's quite good at debunking the general belief, too. Also useful is this site from a prof at the University of Arizona (who must know less than the crackpots at Fox): http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/
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