Quiz brings some down to Earth
The ‘‘tricky’’ questions
Do you know how long it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun?
If you do, you are doing better than almost half the people who answered a New Zealand Initiative survey testing Kiwis’ general knowledge.
The representative survey, which quizzed 1000 voting-age New Zealanders, unveiled some concerning knowledge gaps in areas like basic maths, geography, and New Zealand and world history.
Fewer than half of the respondents could name the seven continents, under a third knew when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, and about 50 per cent incorrectly answered basic maths questions calculating speeds and percentages.
Almost a third of people thought dinosaurs and humans co-existed, 10 per cent thought former British prime minister Winston Churchill was a fictional character, and almost 20 per cent did not know the capital of Australia.
In response to the question of how long it took the Earth to orbit the Sun, just 53 per cent of people answered correctly.
Author Briar Lipson said the report, Ignorance is not bliss: Why knowledge matters (and why we may not have enough of it), proved although information was now readily available, basic knowledge of subjects like geography, history, and maths was low.
‘‘Though it is encouraging that 85 per cent know New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, and 90 per cent that Winston Churchill was a real, not fictional character, there are serious gaps in what Kiwis know.’’
It was concerning, for example, that a third of people thought antibiotics killed viruses as well as bacteria.
‘‘How can we have a debate on issues such as vaccinations, climate change and GM [geneticallymodified] crops if even such basic knowledge is not present?’’
The respondents’ poor grasp of maths was equally concerning, Lipson said. ‘‘Just over half the
1. How long does it take for the Earth to go around the Sun? (correct: 53 per cent; incorrect: 29 per cent; unsure: 18 per cent)
2. Do antibiotics kill viruses as well as bacteria? (67 per cent; 21 per cent; 12 per cent)
3. Did the earliest humans live at the same time as dinosaurs? (70 per cent; 15 per cent; 15 per cent)
4. In what year was the Treaty of Waitangi first signed? (32 per cent; 37 per cent; 31 per cent)
5. Which country was the first to give all women the right to vote? (85 per cent; 3 per cent; 12 per cent)
6. Was Winston Churchill a real or fictional character? (90 per cent; 2 per cent; 8 per cent)
7. Was the Native Land Court established in New Zealand to return land to Ma¯ori or to make it easier for Pakeha to purchase land? (34 per cent; 35 per cent; 31 per cent)
8. In the sentence ‘‘Their house is large’’, how would you spell ‘Their’? (80 per cent; 11 per cent; 9 per cent)
9. If a car travels at a constant speed of
40 kilometres per hour, how far would it travel in 45 minutes? (48 per cent; 23 per cent; 30 per cent)
10. Imagine you put $100 in a savings account that paid 2 per cent interest. Assuming there were no fees or tax, how much money would be in the account after one year? 57%, 18% or 25% (correct: 32 per cent; incorrect: 37 per cent; unsure: 31 per cent)
11. If you left that $100 in the same account for five years, how much money would be in the account after five years? Less than $110, $110 or more than $110? (39 per cent; 25 per cent; 36 per cent)
12. What is the capital of Australia? (81 per cent;
10 per cent; 9 per cent)
13. Can you name the seven continents? (44 per cent; 33 per cent; 23 per cent) population cannot calculate a simple percentage increase, and only just over a third understand compound interest.
‘‘This is a problem for financial literacy but also for mastering everyday tasks. Try baking a cake, calculating calories or measuring out medicine doses without basic maths.
‘‘There may be disagreement about the relevance of some of the survey questions but we hope there is a consensus that to participate meaningfully in society, some basic knowledge of the world is required.’’
A follow-up report to be released in 2020 will further explore whether New Zealand’s education curriculum is fit for purpose.
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