How am I going to explain to my 4 year old, after a year of teaching him about the planets.. that Pluto isn't a planet anymore?? He's not going to get it..
2006-08-24 06:15:09 · 17 answers · asked by Imani 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Keep it a planet.
If you say he won't get it, then why try to teach him. He wouldn't GET Calculis, would you try to teach him that? Besides, people will always believe Pluto is a planet. Like the sears tower in Chicago, now has an offical Japanese name. It will ALWAYS be the Sears Tower.
I personally belive this is a ploy by scientists to make a name for themselves (they'll never beat Stephen Hawkings)
2006-08-24 07:18:00 · answer #1 · answered by Valerie D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please make sure you avoid the phrase "Pluto is not a planet anymore". This will utterly confuse him or teach him something thats not true. This phrase will make him think that Pluto actually was a planet yesterday, whereas in all of our lifetimes Pluto has not been an actual planet, we have all simply believed it to be.
So just tell him that Pluto is not a planet and never was. If he asks why you told him otherwise before, just tell him that you were wrong because your source was wrong. Also dont tell him that science can change or anything like that, he won't understand it and will be more confused.
2006-08-24 13:19:47 · answer #2 · answered by mvpbeast 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Teach him that sometimes bullies will take away things... and the bullies in the science world took away pluto as a planet. Let him cry, it is a sad story.
Or
Tell him that people don't want to call Pluto a planet anymore, because it isn't politically correct just like we can't say retard. It's mentally challanged.
Pluto is like tomato to vegetables...its a fruit but should be a vegtable in my mind.
2006-08-24 13:25:27 · answer #3 · answered by missy 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I teach 6th grade science and we're going to have to work this out too, but I think it would be more challenging with a 4-year-old! Make sure he understands that Pluto still exists, it's still out there, we just decided to put it into a different category. Connect it to something he's familiar with, like food. Maybe show him an apple, banana, grapes, and fruit snacks. Separate the fruit snacks and talk about their similarities and differences to the fruit and why they should be put into a different category. Then tell him it's kind of like that with Pluto.
Or, he might be totally fine with you just saying that we're not calling it a planet anymore... try it!
2006-08-24 13:27:26 · answer #4 · answered by srbeach 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That planet deserved it for having the same name as a cartoon dog ... LOL
But, seriously just explain to him the great world of change and how today Pluto is no longer a planet ... by this example you open a new view on life for your child w/o getting a difficult explaination
2006-08-24 13:18:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pluto is a planet
2006-08-24 13:20:33 · answer #6 · answered by Mike-Call 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tell him he was lucky he did not have to remember the names of 53 planets. If the proposal to accept anything that was fairly spherical had got through that would have happened.
Personally I feel sorry for xena (dwarf planet indeed!).
2006-08-24 13:52:41 · answer #7 · answered by deflagrated 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tell him that now that they have discovered a new planet pluto is being bumped out
2006-08-24 13:21:34 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a 21 yr old college student in chemistry and physics and I don't get it. Just explain to him that words are constucts of humans inate need to communicate and that words change meaning.
2006-08-24 13:19:08 · answer #9 · answered by satanorsanta 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Heh, kids are resilient...he'll get over it. I'm lucky, my son is only two and hasn't learned the planets yet. Heck, we're still working on distinguishing "star" from "sky"...though he can say "moon" and point to it.
2006-08-24 13:21:31 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋