[meteorite-list] Planet Definition

From: Francis Graham <francisgraham_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Aug 3 15:04:47 2005
Message-ID: <20050803190440.33531.qmail_at_web54706.mail.yahoo.com>

--- David Weir <dgweir_at_earthlink.net> wrote:

> Francis,
>
> What's wrong with teaching kids the actual facts,
> even if they aren't
> readily conducive to pigeon-holing?

   My old lunar friend Dave brings up something very
important. It IS MUCH BETTER to allow students to
decide what a planet is in their minds, and teach them
that Pluto, Xena, etc. are bodies that orbit the sun,
are approximately spherical, and are different from
Earth, Venus, Mercury, Mars because they are largely
made of ices and not rocky, and different from
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune because they do
not have colossal hydrogen atmospheres. This would be
the better approach, much, much more informative.
   But we all know what will really happen. Test item
on state-mandated proficiency test: "How many planets
are there in the solar system?" a. 9 b. 10 c. 14 d.8"
One right answer.
   Such would be neither in the spirit of science or
scientific. But: state-mandated.
   So Dave, I know where you heart is.
Francis Graham

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Received on Wed 03 Aug 2005 03:04:40 PM PDT