I asked Laney the same question, like 3 times in my attempt to leave the daycare center. So I asked her, "What planet are you living on today?" She looked at me quizzically, so I repeated, "Are you on another planet today, are you living on Pluto?" She kept up her puzzled look. I stressed again, "I mean Laney, you don't seem to be hearing me today, that is why I asked if you were living on ANOTHER planet, besides EARTH."
"I know what you mean Jen. Its just, Pluto is a dwarf planet, not a real planet. I don't think anyone can really live there."
Oh. No I am not smarter than a second grader.
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Pluto IS still a planet. Please let the children at the day care center know that support for Pluto's planet status is a legitimate scientific position. The controversial IAU demotion of Pluto was done by only four percent of its membership, most of whom are not planetary scientists, in a process that violated the group’s own bylaws. It was immediately rejected by an equal number of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Even now, efforts are underway by both scientists and lay people to overturn the IAU decision. A good source on talking to children about planets and Pluto is Alan Boyle's new book "The Case for Pluto." It has a section at the end specifically geared toward teaching children.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! Cameron is studying the solar system at school and has also been enlightening me about dwarf planets as well as the "Goldilocks zone." He's in kindergarten. And I thought science was my strongest subject. *sigh*
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