Whitsett, who is the president-elect of the NSTA, emphasized that the refigured solar system can energize teaching the true meaning of science.<\/p>\n
“It’s not a collection of facts. It’s a process. It’s a way of solving problems. As our understanding of these facts changes, then the science changes a little bit,” he said.<\/p>\n
Science and understanding change, but this change is not so earth-shattering, he said.<\/p>\n
“The solar system right now is exactly like it was 24 hours ago,” Whitsett pointed out. “Nothing’s changed in that time period — just the name by which we define each of these things.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And I also like how we can possibly seize upon this story to give science education in general a boost.<\/p>\n
Whitsett believes the change will focus attention back on science, which he thinks has been relegated to a supporting role in recent years.<\/p>\n
“Ever since No Child Left Behind was passed, there’s been a tremendous emphasis on reading and math, and as a result, especially in elementary schools, science has taken a back seat,” he said.<\/p>\n
“What we have is something that’s been making a lot of press. Students are going to be asking questions, and I’ve always found that the best time to teach is when kids are asking questions, ” Whitsett said. “Anything that gets kids engaged and thinking about science has got to be a good thing.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I just love how newspaper stories about the demotion of Pluto from planet to dwarf play up the whole personification of the solar system thing. It’s as if there is some seismic shift in planet hierarchy and the planets’ feelings … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=33","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":0},"title":"Pluto makes for a teachable moment","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 10, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a cute story about students and teachers talking about Pluto's status change. There are a number of good points made in this story, such as, science changes all the time to deal with new discoveries, and facts dictate those changes, not emotion. Fifty-five middle school students spent a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the Classroom"","block_context":{"text":"In the Classroom","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=47","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":1},"title":"Florida Citizens for Science statement released","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The following statement was released to area media today: Florida Citizens for Science Statement Denouncing \"Darwin or Design\" Publicity Event A creationism event to be hosted at the Sun Dome Sept. 29, called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Darwin or Design? Resolving the Conflict,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is a great example of a slick public relations campaign attacking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Alert"","block_context":{"text":"Alert","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=27","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":2},"title":"Academies of Sciences statement on evolution","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a very well-stated, clear declaration about evolution (pdf) from 67 national acadamies of science. Bottom line: teach it, it's science, it's important. We, the undersigned Academies of Sciences, have learned that in various parts of the world,within science courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence, data,and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "In the Classroom"","block_context":{"text":"In the Classroom","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1115,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1115","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":3},"title":"Find innovative ways to inspire and educate","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. has a good article in the Orlando Sentinel today stressing the importance of education to our country's future. President Obama has made an excellent start at refilling this crucial educational pipeline. He has tripled the number of National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1250,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1250","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":4},"title":"The Nation’s Report Card on Science in Florida","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The National Center for Education Statistics today issued it \"Report Card\" on science education in the U.S., and broke their results down by participating states. The report indicates that Florida is not special at all when it comes to science. We're buried deep in the middle of the pack. Here's\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":830,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=830","url_meta":{"origin":17,"position":5},"title":"Science tidbits","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"December 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"-- There is a new kid-friendly section of the St. Johns River Water Management District website that teaches about the Indian River Lagoon. It's the most diverse estuary in North America, and characters Sabastian and Luie Snook want to tell kids all about thier habitat. Check it out here. --\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=830#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}