So, in the Free-Ride house we’re pleased as punch that Pluto hasn’t lost its planetary status. (No, we don’t consider the “plutons” lesser planets. Eccentric in their orbits, perhaps, but there’s nothing wrong with that.)
As well, we are pleased that the “tenth planet”, whose local fans call it Xena, will be recognized as a plutonic planet. Indeed, we welcome the other two plutons to the fold.
The only problem is, we’ll be needing a new song.
“Nine planets, fine planets” is a nice little ditty, but now there are twelve. What would we even rhyme with “twelve” in the chorus to an update of the planets song? (“Elf planets” is a non-starter, so don’t even suggest it.) And, the update needs to incorporate information not only on relative distance of each of the twelve from the Sun, but also, one would hope, useful information about the distinguishing marks of plutons vs. classical planets.
The original lyrics are here. Your proposals for updates are welcome in the comments.
Category Archives: Kids and science
Friday Sprog Blogging: take a breath.
The elder Free-Ride offspring had a bit of a meltdown after dinner. Witness the calming effects of science:
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: (To sobbing elder offspring) Taking some deep breaths might help you calm down.
Younger offspring: Do we breathe carbon dioxide?
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: No, we don’t. Plants breathe carbon dioxide.
Elder offspring: (Still crying) We breathe air.
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Yes. Do you know what it is in the air that we breathe? I think they mention its name in your Yoga Kids video.
Elder offspring: (Sniffling just a little) Oxygen?
Friday Sprog Blogging: pirates!
Because some people are on record as questioning my ability to turn any conversation into a conversation about science:
“What do pirates have to do with science?”
What don’t pirates have to do with science?
Nature study at home.
How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan. Illustrated by Loretta Krupinski.
This is a nifty science book for little kids. Our favorite thing about this book is that it’s all about getting empirical.
Vacation Sprog Blogging Hiatus? I think not!
Elder offspring: You’re going to have to put up a post on your blog saying that there will be no Friday Sprog Blogging next week.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do I have to do that?
Elder offspring: You’ll be at your conference and we’ll be on vacation, so we won’t be able to talk about science with you.
Dr. Free-Ride: That’s true, but I can talk to you on the phone.
Elder offspring: Yeah, but what if you ask us questions and we say, “Sorry, we haven’t done anything that has to do with science”?
Dr. Free-Ride: You don’t think I could find a way to connect what you’re doing on your vacation with science somehow? Child, you underestimate me!
Friday Sprog Blogging: how the dinosaurs really went extinct.
On the eve of the elder Free-Ride offspring’s birthday, we ate at a restaurant where the kids’ entrees were served with Dino Tots. Hilarity ensued.
Elder offspring: Please pass the ketchup. I’m going to make a tar-pit on my plate.
Friday Sprog Blogging: bugs!
It has been very hot in these parts. Last night, the Free-Ride family had a picnic in the back yard. There were also some bugs.
Younger offspring: There are lots of bugs out here!
Elder offspring: Don’t worry, the mosquitos don’t come out until later.
Younger offspring: Good, I don’t want a mosquito bite.
Dr. Free-Ride: I know a good way not to get mosquito bites: invite Uncle Fishy over. Mosquitos love Uncle Fishy!
Younger offspring: Ticks, too?
Dr. Free-Ride: I don’t know about ticks.
Elder offspring: Hey, when you’re tasty, you’re tasty.
Cool book for curious kids.
The World’s Fair asks:
Are there any children’s books that are dear to you, either as a child or a parent, and especially ones that perhaps strike a chord with those from a science sensibility?
I’m going to offer one current favorite of the sprogs’: The Coolest Cross-Sections Ever by Stephen Biesty. This is not a book for sitting down and reading all the way through. Rather, it’s a big book where kids can flip to a page that grabs them and read through (or have someone older read to them) all the description and labels on the detailed cross-sectional diagram.
The cross-sections range from modern cities, 14th century castles, space ships, geographical features, to human anatomy, including — the perennial favorite — the digestive system. Also, it seems to have gotten the sprogs to thinking a little about the challenges of representing a three-dimensional world in two dimensions.
It’s a big book, though, so you probably need to find room for it on the top shelf of your bookcase, and you’ll want to be careful not to drop it on your toe.
Friday Sprog Blogging: gross stuff makes learning fun!
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, can you get your slime lizard [a plastic lizard embedded in slimy goo] off the table before dinner?
Elder offspring: Sure.
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do you two like gross stuff so much?
Younger offspring: I don’t know.
Elder offspring: We just do.
Friday Sprog Blogging: fragments of conversations about dinosaurs.
Younger offspring: If we lived near a stegosaurus’s house and a tyrannosaurus’s house —
Dr. Free-Ride: Did they really live in houses?
Younger offspring: If they lived in houses, their houses would be really big, and if we lived near them, they would be so big that they would scare us to another house!
* * * * *
Elder offspring: There was one that’s a meat-eater that was the size of a modern chicken. Also, parasaurolophus was a plant-eater who ate pine needles.
Younger offspring: Do you know the biggest meat-eater of all was tyrannosaurus rex?
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: I thought it was allosaurus.
Younger offspring: They’re the same size. They’re both the biggest.
* * * * *