One of the questions has a metric conversion in it...would this have really been on an 1895 test?
The questions were not changed to the best of my knowledge. Metrics were used albeit infrequently and usually for a specific purpose. I was always astonished by the broadness of my grand parents knowledge. Seemed like they knew a bit about everything.
I’m guessing that this curriculum is from a private school. Schools were very different back then. They were oriented toward one becoming an “apprentice” in many cases and about age 14.
I also question the climate questions. People in Kansas were not all that concerned with temperatures of the oceans. I can tell from the picture that these were simple country people.
I have a similar photograph of my grandmother’s first grade class at Mason Hill, PA. It was probably 1897, though.
Everyone is questioning the use of a metric measurement but is failing to note that the question is incongruous, The student is asked to quantify an area by a linear measurement. That doesn't make sense.
Sure. Metric is not new. It was founded by France in 1791. Any International trade (cloth, chocolate, etc.) would have led to an encounter with the metric system.