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?
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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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