I used to believe that if I was drawing a map at school of a real place, if I got it wrong it would change the real coast line so I had to be really careful.

Claire

Kentucky's nickname is the "Bluegrass state" and when we were driving cross country I couldn't hardly wait to get there because I thought the grass was going to actually be BLUE! My mom couldn't figure out why I kept asking "How many more miles 'til we get to Kentucky?" then when we crossed the state line and the whole world was still green, you can't even imagine how disappointed I was. I still kind of have a grudge against Kentucky :)

Summerset

I used to think that stones had feelings, and hated having to stay out in the cold and get rained on. So every time my parents took me outside, I'd collect piles of rocks and only abandon one when I saw another that looked more in need of rescue.

Liz

I used to believe that Mt. Rushmore was a natural phenomenon.

LauraBee

I devised a huge theory of what the earth is composed of simply because of the word 'lavatory'.

In first grade, our teacher would line us up to go to what she called "the lavatory". I had never heard a bathroom called such a thing, and I immediately understood that I was uncovering some ancient science that only I knew: lava was made of wee and poo and that in going to the bathroom, we were in fact "making lava". I was very smug about this hidden knowledge.

The next year, we learned about the layers of the earth, and of course "lava" was just another word for #1 and #2. All the plumbing must reach below the Earth's crust and pour all the "lava" into this ever-expanding pocket of sewage! I was always afraid of digging holes because I thought if I dug too far, the world would be flooded in poop. Volcanoes were disgusting, and I was very grateful that I didn't live anywhere near one.

LavaChick

I used to believe the sky was a big inverted bowl, and the horizon was where the "bowl" touched the land. We were not allowed to stray any farther than the curve in the road in each direction because my parents said "there was nothing to see out there anyway". I promised myself that when I was big enough, I would walk past the curve in the road, find the edge of the bowl, and lift it up to see if there was anything on the other side.

And then one day I had PROOF that the world was as limited as my parents said! My visiting aunt and uncle promised to take me for a drive in their new car. Their promise was forgotten until the very last minute, but I was determined to have my ride, so they drove me to the curve in the road, turned around, and came back. When I asked why, they said because the road didn't go any further than that. I was too short to see over the dashboard, so I fell for it. Heh.

h.a. Seattle, WA

My crochety great aunt who my older sister and I couldn't stand used to live next door. To try and stop her from coming over, my sister used to make me dig holes for her to cover with leaves in the hopes that she would fall down one never to be seen again. I guess our depth perception was lacking because these traps were about two feet deep maximum. However, me sister would order me to stop digging periodically and feel the bottom of the pit to make sure it wasn't getting warm, as our mother had shown us a Time/Life book with a picture of the center of the earth and we didn't want to spring a geyser of hot molten lava.

albertine

When I was about 7 years old, I had a map of the world on my wall. One day I noticed that South America could fit into Africa quite nicely. I came to the conclusion that they used to be connected and over time they had floated apart. I told my mother about my observation and the next thing she did was to send me to a child psychologist.

john

I used to think that Mount Rushmore was naturally formed - I couldn't understand how Mother Nature knew about the four presidents.

Dill Wilson

I used to believe that rocks could grow. We used to go to the lake when we were kids and on the way there was a big boulder in the middle of a field. My father told me that when he was a little boy that the boulder was just a pebble. I was convinved that every year the rock was getting just a little bigger.

Angie

When I was little I used to believe that each country was on a different planet. After I learned about continents, I thought that they all floated on top of the oceans. After I learned about continental drift, I thought we could watch (down at the beach or somewhere) as the other continents came smashing into us (or us into them). I thought that if I was really lucky, a volcano might grow in our back garden overnight.

Susan

I used to believe that if you dig a hole in the ground and put pepper in the hole, the ground would sneeze.

Cookie

I believed that every location south of
where I grew up (New Jersey) would also be
'downhill.' I really wanted to 'coast' my
bike to Florida.

Carolyn

When I was really little, I thought that maybe mountains and valleys were created by dinosaurs. I thought dinosaurs were big enough that, when they made a step, mud would squish out from under their feet and form the mountains; valleys were left where their footprints originally were.

Devon

when i was little i used to believe that the reason mt. rushmore was so special was because it was a natural occurence. i was actually disappointed when i found out it was man-made. weird kid, huh?

Rabia

When I was in school learning about the Civil War, I saw the headlines in the old newspaper about a Divided Nation (Union). I thought that somehow United States had a split in half. After the Civil War, the country magically glued itself back together.

David

When I learned at school that the continents move, I though that one day I will see the pyramids of Egypt outside my window (I was living on a greek island)

Giorgos

When little, I used to think the "groynes" (sea defences) at the sea-side were all broken down ships, that had landed on the beach at regular intervals..

ade

I used to believe that, in cities, if you dug deep enough in anyone's lawn, eventually you'd hit the concrete.

Kevin Fox

When I was little I was taught that the planet Earth was round, like a ball. I mistakenly thought that we lived on the inside, like inside a balloon. Years later I was very disturbed to find out that we lived on the outside. . . Planetarium movies still upset me.

Melanie Young