i love me some third graders!

HATE MAIL FROM THIRD GRADERS
"It's not easy being a public enemy," writes Neil deGrasse Tyson in his book The Pluto Files. When Neil's museum grouped Pluto not among the planets but rather with icy comets in an obscure region called the Kuiper Belt, he heard from thousands of outraged Pluto defenders. It's tough being called a heartless Pluto-hater, particularly by a dismayed eight-year-old. Below, peruse a few of the letters elementary schoolkids sent Neil, and see how their tone shifted over the years, as the public slowly came to accept Pluto's fall from planethood.—Susan K. Lewis

Madeline's protest
September 19, 2006
The debate over Pluto's status continued to percolate, but in August 2006 the International Astronomical Union took a key vote that officially knocked Pluto out of the pantheon of planets. Young Madeline Trost of Plantation, Florida disagreed.

Siddiq's wisdom
March 26, 2008
Perhaps Siddiq Canty, a second grader at the Roland Lewis Elementary School in Tampa, Florida, summed up the brouhaha over Pluto best: "thats [sic] Science."


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