Alright I found this article and thought it was a bit interesting!? I am still trying to find out how these astronomers came to this agreement so if anyone finds it before I do I would love to know. Now How Will Students Learn the Planets? Friday, August 25, 2006 3:39 AM EDT The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas." That and variations on it are the way millions of people learned to remember the names of the planets in the solar system — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. The problem is that an international convention of astronomers decreed Thursday that tiny Pluto no longer meets the definition of a planet. What a way to spoil a good mnemonic. Now how will students learn the planets? Some possibilities: —My Very Extravagant Mother Just Sent Us Nachos. —My Very Elderly Mother Just Sits Up Nights. —Major Volcanoes Erupt, Making Jolts, Shaking, Unsteadying Nerves. —Make Very Extraordinary Meals of Jell-O, Strawberries and Unsalted Nuts. —Mary's Violet Eyes Make Jack Stare Until Noticed. The planetary change also spells trouble for science museums. The National Air and Space Museum, for example, has a popular song called "The Family of the Sun," set to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell," that children love and which helps them learn the planets. Spokesman Mike Marcus said a decision on rewriting it has not been made yet. The museum also has a scale model of the solar system outside that spans the length of the National Mall. At least cutting planets eliminated fears that the museum model would have to float new, more distant planets, in the Potomac River to stay on scale.
What??? Do you realize, this will change the face of education? Curriculum publishers will have to reprint all their books to make them accurate. HMMM! Every human on earth thinks that Pluto is a planet. Isn't that something? Can you imagine all the brains that will have to be deprogrammed if Pluto isn't a planet after all? LOL!
Okay, I just called Handsome to ask if he knew about this because he is quite the solar system type of man. His response was,"Of course I do. Who doesn't?":? He said he always thought this but figured he was wrong. Well, the genius was right all along. I had to scold him, of course, for holding out on me all these years.
Huh, shows how much I know. I thought I had read that they decided it IS, after all, a planet! Where'd I go wrong???!
You know Deena, you could be right. With our scientists views now adays, it wouldn't surprise me if they said that Earth was really a moon and the Moon was a planet.
I read several articles about it.. the Scientists don't agree and it's a huge controversy. Apparently a good way to start a fight between professionals on the subject is to bring it up in a big meeting where they all are. I think the Curriculum "Exploring God's Creation with Astronomy" even has an assignment where kids look at the facts and decide for themselves if it is or not.
OH yeah! I forgot that they were deciding on the actual defition of the word "planet" this week. I'll have to go read up more on it.
What day is it? Maybe they'll decide it IS a planet on MWF, not on THS, and Sundays fill flip-flop! That is about as sensible as anything they've come up with so far! And what about the "uncharted" planet they keep saying is beyond Pluto? Well, *I* plan on teaching my (eventual, hopefully!) grandkids about their Grandma sitting in nine pickles!
Yea, Like my dh said it's a fade they are going through, have to keep them busy so they get a pay check and spend the tax payers money. I don't agree it's something they do to waste time and money. Pluto is a planet! in my book and will always be. Poor Pluto!
Apparently they decided the current definition of "planet" Wiould immeadiately up the planet count to 12, and that 44 other things were about to be proposed to be considered planets. So assumming all 44 were approved there would have been 56 planets! (Some say dozens some said hundreds!) Try thinking up a nemonic device to memorize all those. Instead they voted to make the definition more narrow and in doing so it dropped Pluto.. so instead of at least 56 planets we have 8 now.
My very excellent mother just sent us NADA! How's that? LOL, yeah, we were just talking about this whole thing over the weekend. Pluto is definitely out. Not a planet. I accept it. I do wish, though, that I didn't have this adorable book The Planets in our Solar System all picked out for this school year. Oh, well. It'll be an interesting bunny trail to discuss Pluto's non-planetcy
Jacci, is that a book with fold out pages, and in poem form? I think we have the same thing, and it is cute.
I remember reading a long time ago that scientists have been debating for some time whether or not to classify Pluto as a planet. This will likely come up again and again......
That does sound like a sweet little book, but mine is different. It's one of the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out-Science books. I'll keep it, but maybe I'll draw a large red circle with a line through it all around the illustrations of Pluto
heh Since Pluto is now called a Dwarf Planet Just use a marker and write DWARF above the planet title.
