One of William's favorite video series is Magic School Bus, and I think he learns quite a bit from them. They were, however, made several years ago and science is always evolving and changing. Conversation while car schooling:
William: Know what my favorite planet is? The blue one.
Me (aka doesn't know anything or DKA): You know they aren't really the color shown in Magic....
William: Which one is the blue one?
DKA: I don't know. (Wild guess.) Neptune.
William: Yeah, that's the one.
DKA: So...How many planets are there?
William: (Giving the answer anyone educated in the good old days would tell ya) NINE!
DKA: Well, they used to say nine, but now, Pluto is no longer a planet. There are eight.
William: No, mom, (in exasperated voice) there are nine.
DKA: Pluto is too small.
William: Mom, you can't just stop being a planet! A planet is a planet!
DKA: Well, it still is the same size and in the same place but now it is called something else.
William: No, a planet is a planet, get it? You can't just stop being a planet. RIGHT?
DKA: Yes, a planet is a planet.
Half of the people in the USA would agree with that. After all, that's what we were taught, so it must be right. How did you feel about Pluto's demotion?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
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6 comments:
I can't wait until I'm old enough to say to my kids,
"When I was your age, Pluto was still a planet!"
along with
"We watched VHS when I was your age. Stop complaining about the digital download!"
-Melissa N.
I always find the fascination with catergorisation fascinating. Don't get me wrong, as a biologist I loved Carolus Linnaeus' contributions to classifications. Every time I enter a modern Western library I am delighted to understand and use Melvil Dewey's decimal system for categorising books. And as a lawyer I reflect on the value of categorising heads of damages and injuries and remedies.
And it still can seem a bit silly from afar.
Other minds have concurred with William...
"What is in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Act II, scene ii
Cheers Junosmom!
Gee, I must have missed the news flash that Pluto was no longer a planet. When did that happen?
And what's the minimum size limit for being considered a planet?
Sorry, for now I'll have to agree with Wlm.
I thought I read somewhere, there was such an uproar about the demotation of Pluto that they made it back into a planet. I'll have to look around.
Ah, I was wrong. It's a dwarf planet-not a real planet. ;)
Pluto will always be a planet (and a silly cartoon dog) to me.
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