To think that every person above age 10 at least should know that the moon affects the tides?

[HateSummer]

I was working with someone aged in their early 20's recently who had never heard of this and were really shocked. I was really shocked they didnt know.

Isn't this basic science taught in primary school? Along with the moon cycle and seasons?

There is a part of the world proudly devoted to maintaining its ignorance

Tide goes in, tide goes out - you cant explain that!

I didn't realise this until I was well into adulthood. Certainly didn't crop up in my education- although I didn't really do science (before the days you had to take it)

I'm old (for MN) and, although I have a general awareness there is some sort of link (and that this is to do with why Easter moves dates), I couldn't explain it or claim to know anything about it.
I don't remember being taught it in Primary school (although I don't remember much about Primary, so I might have been), but I certainly have never taught it to anyone in all the years I have been teaching.

Not sure it is any more important a snippet of information than zillions of other things some people know and others don't.

Was chatting to a chap (Cambridge grad) once about my recent trip to Iceland. He said he'd been on an English-teaching scheme where he'd been offered a choice between Reykjavik and Barcelona, and had chosen the latter as "isn't it dark all the time in Iceland?".

I agree. General Knowledge seems to be on the wane. The average, educated, citizen of Athens might actually know more (of their) science, philosophy, geography etc that the average person today. Their education and learning was an important part of who they were.

These days we dont have space for all that in our heads. The womens magazine section in a supermarket gives a clear indication as to why.

There is another school of thought that says the tides have nothing to do with the moon at all.
If the moon had such pull and affect on the seas, why then, does it not affect other large or even small bodies of water in the same way.....Lake Superior for example?
How does the moon, which is many times smaller than earth, have a gravitational pull on only the seas?
Check out YouTube for really straight forward explanations of why the moon might not affect the tides at all....keep an open mind....
.

Dear god!

My Mum's friend came to visit at Mum's coastal village and complained that she couldn't live their because the high tide was at such an inconvenient time and she liked the s coast better because the high tide was in tne morning.

Fucking annoys me that basic science is so poorly taught at primary school.
That people actually don't know what an atom is.
That people don't know what air is made of.
Yet depend on technology massively.

Um...the sun does rise and set at different times everyday

Haven't you ever looked at an almanac?

Um...the sun does rise and set at different times everyday hmm. Haven't you ever looked at an almanac?

Why would someone need to look at an almanac to know that the sun rises and falls at different times every day? I can't believe anyone over the age of 10 in the U.K. wouldnt have worked that out for themselves!

I blame state education!

I blame people who think school is responsible for their children's entire education as you seem to imply!

Nope I didn't know that but I do now so thanks for sharing

I once knew someone who thought sunset times could change like the weather. We were visiting once during winter and he actually said "the sun won't set until after 6pm tonight - I read it on Facebook"
It set a about 4.45 as usual

the sun does rise and set at different times everyday

Yes, but not in the same way as the weather does, which I think was the point of the original comment. I.e. the change in sunset times is regular and predictable whereas the weather does what it wants to.

OK, yes, I know meteorologists can forecast the weather. Sunrise and sunset is far more predictable in its changes!

It's on the new 'harder' content rich specs for GCSE geography. So it seems it's expected knowledge for a 14-16 year old who takes geography which as you will know OP is an optional subject attracting less than 50% of the yearly cohort nationally.

Hardly something any 10 year old ought to know. The people alluding to research that suggests that actually it's nothing at all to do with the moon may also have a point- scientific opinion on the subject is beginning to divide.

The average, educated, citizen of Athens might actually know more (of their) science, philosophy, geography etc that the average person today.

It's worth remembering that citizens in ancient Athens were a minority of the population. Women, slaves, freed slaves and immigrants couldn't be citizens. So actual citizens of Athens only made up something like no more than 30% of the population.

No, it isn't. I think Verbena was being mischievous - hence the winky face.

Julius Caesar should have checked more on his tidal knowledge - tides in the Med are a bit different to UK tidal ranges.

www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/julius-caesar%E2%80%99s-first-landing-britain

The Britons sent emissaries to Caesar to sue for peace, along with Commius with his tail between his legs. Caesar took hostages from them and after four days, on the 30th, the cavalry transports at last appeared, but were blown away by a sudden fierce storm and forced back to Gaul. The gale coincided with an exceptionally high tide and many of Caesar’s ships dragged their anchors and were wrecked on the beach. The Britons took note and started to muster their forces again.

I do expect thought that there are many people in the UK who probably haven't seen the tides and know that they can have a massive tidal range.

I didn't know that. In primary chill I remember being taught about friction & how an eye works not much else.

In secondary I did biology & chemistry, very little physics.

Lottie: does all this info change hands in Geography classes? Do kids not ask endless curious questions at the beach and have it explained by parents?

Remember this:

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/douglas-carswell-tides-ukip-experts-science-mp-a7318461.html

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell has become embroiled in a bizarre argument with scientists over whether the moon or sun causes ocean tides.

Scientific knowledge generally holds that tides are primarily caused by the gravitational pull of the moon orbiting the earth. The sun has a much more limited effect; the moon's proximity to the earth means it has a higher gravitational gradient.

Carswell and James display united front at Ukip national conference
However, committed eurosceptic Mr Carswell on Monday challenged a top scientist at Sussex University’s Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) over the claim, arguing that the sun in fact primarily causes tides.

I don't understand. How can something made of cheese affect anything?

I work with people (adults! ) who don't know:

• the order of the alphabet
• the order of the months
• who the prime minister is
• who Hitler was
• that the Pope is Catholic
• that there are 7 continents (there are only 5 apparently and the UK is one of them 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Nothing surprises me anymore.. but I do think it's pretty bad that people can leave school now without such basic knowledge.

Basic science doesn't generally include this - it's more electrons, circuits, cells, .... stop being so up yourself and realise that there is a lot to learn in the world.

Some do and some don't evidently.

And if a parent doesn't know they obviously don't get told.

FFS huge numbers of children never get taken out of their home area never mind to a beach.

I know- my children will know (when they aren't still toddlers...) you know, many/most middle class families will chat about these things but it isn't too much of a stretch to believe that not everyone is the same...