Many elementary students think that they know much about the early days of colonial America thanks to movies such as Disney's Pocahontas. The web site, The Real Pocahontas, contrasts the Disney movie version with the historical facts (in real life). Dave Morenus asserts that the Disney version resembled the original just enough to confuse everyone. The Disney movie did capture the spirit of Pocahontas and her people, it did have accurate settings, and John Smith was saved by her. According to this website, “The rest of the movie is pure fiction.” He then has a contrast chart showing the many differences between the movie and actual history. For example, in the movie Pocahontas and Smith were both young adults when they met. In reality, Pocahontas was a girl of 11 while Smith was a man of 28. Morenus assertions are echoed by The Pocahontas Myth website which is written by Powhatan Renape Nation people; this website claim “The film distorts history beyond recognition.”

Students' perception of space have been modified beyond fact by TV and movies. The AmazingSpace: Overview of Myths and Realities emphasizes that “Teachers should be aware of the misconceptions students harbor because they impede students' ability to see the 'big picture' in the various sciences; hamper students' ability to apply science principles meaningfully to everyday life; and diminish students' ability to appreciate the links among science concepts and generalizations.” The Star Trek and the Enterprise TV shows have helped to promote many myths about space. For example, students (and adults) believe that “black holes suck up nearby material. They do not. Material generally falls into a black hole when it collides with other material orbiting the black hole. The collision alters the material's orbit. Instead of orbiting a comfortable distance from the black hole, the material is now orbiting too close to the black hole. Then the black hole's enormous gravity traps the material in a one-way spiral to oblivion”. Another major myth that students have is that astronauts can quickly travel to another star. According to the Space.com website, it would take 76,000 years to reach another star. Likewise, the students'myth about teleportation, made famous by Star Trek, is not a reality. People cannot be transported photon by photon from one location to another.

Often students have learned folk-sayings about health that are not supported by health facts. According to an article based on Today's Health section, one popular health myth is “Fresh is always better than frozen .” Dorothy Foltz-Gray disproves the myth by stating that produce is frozen at its peak so its full nutritional value is maintained. She asserts that unless fresh produce is consumed the same day, it may lose nutrients due to heat, air, and water. Likewise, she dispels the common health myth that if people get cold, they will catch a cold. She states the a virus, not the cold weather, produces a cold. She adds that people get a cold because they are indoor more and therefore, they are cooped up in small spaces where they are exposed to the cold virus sprays from others. Students probably have many more health-related myths that interfere with their true understanding of health.

Teachers not only have to teach facts and concepts but first they have to identify the previous “learning” about the concept. Very probably, they need to be myth-busters so that students understand that their present understanding is not based on fact but on myths. Teachers bust the myths and supply factual knowledge and concepts so that students can advance in their learning.

Dr. Harry Grover Tuttle focuses on assessing and improving student learning through low- and high-tech tools.

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