Myths The myths children believe and what is really true: what happens to swallowed gum, the brain and the senses, colds and the weather, swimming after eating, growing, pets and farm animals, wild animals and tall tales, creepy crawlies, birds and sea creatures. Each lesson sets a myth beside the fact.
The myths course of Mova's primary school: 37 lessons, 640 sentences, each sentence with its syntax tree and pragmatics. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Mova corpus 0.4).
1 What really happens to things you swallow 17 sentences · Jake leans in at break, dead serious: "Swallow your gum and it sits in your tummy for SEVEN YEARS. 2 Your amazing brain and senses 17 sentences · Dramatic music, a glowing brain on screen, a YouTuber whispering: "You only use TEN PERCENT of your brain. 3 Eyes and ears 19 sentences · Grandma pushes the carrots across the table: "Eat up, they'll help you see in the dark!" She heard it as a c… 4 Colds, coughs and the weather 17 sentences · "Coat ON, or you'll catch your death!" shouts Nan from the door, and half the country has heard it every win… 5 Moving, swimming and sport 16 sentences · The beach, a hot day, a packed lunch, and Grandma checking her watch: "Not one toe in the sea for a whole HO… 6 Growing, skin, hair and food 17 sentences · The party is over, there is cake on the ceiling, and Mum groans: "No more sweets, they're bouncing off the w… 7 Pets and farm animals 15 sentences · Poppy hugs her new bunny and announces: "Snowy's getting a carrot every single day, because rabbits LOVE car… 8 Wild animals and tall tales 17 sentences · Picture it: an ostrich, terrified, plunges its head into the sand and stays there, bottom in the air, thinki… 9 Small creatures and creepy-crawlies 15 sentences · Charlie stands in the garden with a spade, grinning: "Cut a worm in half and you get TWO worms. 10 Birds and baby animals 16 sentences · A fluffy chick hops about on the pavement and Molly flings out her arms: "Don't TOUCH it! 11 Animals in the sea and the river 14 sentences · At the fair, Aunt Sue hands over a goldfish in a bag: "Don't worry, love, they've got a three-second memory,… 12 Cats, dogs and animal 'facts' at home 16 sentences · Cats do have a brilliant twist called the righting reflex that turns them feet-down in the air, but they sti… 13 Earth from space 16 sentences · Mr Hughes taps the board, very sure: "The Great Wall of China is the ONLY man-made thing you can see from sp… 14 The Moon, the planets and the stars 17 sentences · A film voice booms: "The DARK side of the Moon, where sunlight never falls..." Spooky music, a cold black wo… 15 Weather, lightning and storms 17 sentences · Thunder cracks over the house and Grandad pats your hand: "Don't worry, lightning never strikes the same pla… 16 Water, deserts and the shape of the land 19 sentences · "Mate, in Australia the toilet flushes the OTHER way round. 17 Magnets, compasses and big Earth facts 16 sentences · That's just two big clouds bumping their heads, love," says Grandad, the way his own grandad told him. 18 Vikings, knights and the Middle Ages 18 sentences · Ned bursts into the classroom in his plastic helmet with two huge horns, roaring "Vikings wore these so enem… 19 Kings, queens and emperors 18 sentences · Ruby is sure Napoleon was tiny and bossy because of it, Henry swears Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and the… 20 Explorers, scientists and inventors 18 sentences · We love a story with one lone hero and one magic moment: an apple bonks Newton on the head, Edison alone lig… 21 Ancient times and famous stories 19 sentences · Isaac is sure the pyramids were built by whipped slaves, Leila knows thumbs down meant death in the arena, a… 22 Food on the floor and kitchen rules 12 sentences · Ollie's crisp hits the floor and he snatches it up shouting "Five-second rule!" Germs, sadly, do not own a s… 23 Petrol stations, pools and things that go bang 18 sentences · Dad snaps "Phone off!" at the petrol pump, your big cousin swears the pool water turns red if you wee, and E… 24 School legends 18 sentences · Oscar swears a kid at his cousin's school skipped a whole year and nobody noticed. 25 Viral facts and chain messages 17 sentences · "Send this to 10 people in 10 minutes or you'll have bad luck for 10 years!" Your thumb hovers over Forward,… 26 Sleepovers and spooky stories 16 sentences · Torch under the chin, someone whispers: "Say Bloody Mary three times in the mirror in the dark and she appea… 27 Everyday sayings and grown-ups' rules 17 sentences · "Turn it off and on again!" says Nan, and the telly works. 28 Where did you read that? Checking sources 19 sentences · Finn holds up his tablet: "It says on a website, so it MUST be true!" Isla waves Grandad's old encyclopaedia… 29 Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests 18 sentences · Ava's gran chats to her tomatoes every morning and swears they grow faster for it. 30 How would we know? Asking experts and spotting tricks 19 sentences · Some claims you can't test with two seed trays in the kitchen: whether MSG is safe, whether a bridge is soun… 31 Friends who cling to a legend 17 sentences · Arguments about facts are rarely only about facts. 32 Siblings, cousins, grandparents and the whole playground — 18 sentences · At Christmas dinner Uncle Mike says "Bulls hate red!" for the tenth year running, and half the family groans. 33 When the teacher gets it wrong 19 sentences · Teachers know a lot, but they are people, and some of them learned myths at school too: "glass is a liquid",… 34 Teachers who listen, teachers who get cross and when the teacher is right after all — 20 sentences · A pupil once told Mr Ellis, "Sir, you're wrong, tomatoes are vegetables!" He wasn't wrong. 35 I was wrong: changing your mind 21 sentences · Last week I told the whole class, "Bulls go mad for red, I'd bet my life on it!" Then I read a zoo website:… 36 Olympiad: which claim is true? ★★★ 18 sentences · This olympiad block mixes the whole course into puzzles: four friends, four claims, and usually only one of… 37 Olympiad: how could you check it? ★★★ 19 sentences · The last olympiad puzzles of the course don't ask "true or false?" but the harder question: how could you fi… ← previous Moneynext → Physics↑ back to the school This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/