On Thursday, the international astronomical intelligentsia decided to make parents across the United States feel hopelessly outdated with the most significant news for grade school dioramas ever: Pluto is no longer a planet.
Pluto’s 76-year stint as the ninth rock from the sun came to a sudden end because it does not “clear the neighborhood around its orbit” — part of the new planetary definition of the International Astronomical Union conference held in Prague, Czech Republic.
Though 300 of the 2,500 members at the Prague conference even bothered to vote, area teachers must now scramble to alter lesson plans as the school year begins.
“Well you know, textbooks are outdated now,” said Michael Kaspar, director of science for DC Public Schools, “but it’s going to be one of those great teaching opportunities … it elevates the discussion.”
The news broke late Thursday afternoon during the first-ever District science teacher summit. Questions arose immediately among teachers as to how the non-planet will be presented to sixth-graders once they begin their earth science classes this fall.
One teacher, Sami Alamiri, an earth science teacher at the Minnie Howard School in Alexandria, had his students compare classroom models on Friday with the latest information on the Internet.
Howard Gardner High School in Alexandria plans on scrapping textbooks in favor of newspaper articles as a modern approach to explaining the cosmological shift in our solar system.
“I think that’s great. It’s wonderful that we’re always searching for a newer and better understanding of our solar system,” said Adison Helmke, dean of science at Howard Gardner, “it definitely was my favorite planet in fourth grade.”
The bottom line, however, is that what used to be the farthest away and easiest to remember of all the planets is now known as a “Plutonian” or “Trans-Neptunian” object. It will join a new class of “dwarf planets” along with other such colorful members as Ceres, Charon and UB313.
