Poll of the Day > Knowing the order of the solar system planets by heart

(+) Yeah! (+)

Pluto and Eris should be planets.
And even if Pluto isn't because it's barycenter is above the surface, Eris has no such problem nor does Sedna

SinisterSlay posted...

Pluto and Eris should be planets.
And even if Pluto isn't because it's barycenter is above the surface, Eris has no such problem nor does Sedna

I once watched a convincing argument that Pluto should be a planet based on its physical characteristics alone (e.g. a thin but substantial atmosphere.)

PikachuMaxwell posted...

I'm just wondering. The reason why I ask is because I am a science tutor and I notice many of the kids don't know the order of the solar system planets by heart....

Gotta teach them the mnemonic.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Gotta teach them the mnemonic.

Guess I should!

King Phillip Eagerly Munched Nine Pizzas

All I know is the moon is made of cheese.

wwinterj25 posted...

All I know is the moon is made of cheese.

Sorry your outdated.

It was determined to actually be a giant egg.

SinisterSlay posted...

Sorry your outdated.

It was determined to actually be a giant egg.

No, it's a space station.

january, february, march, venus, neptune, uranus, september, october, the dog from mickey mouse

The planets? Really?

Thread should number of days for every month. Or... grammar.

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Potatoes

Yep, played a lot of Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? as a kid. Used to be able to name most of the (at the time) named moons of the planets as well, but that knowledge has long since been wiped from my brain.

Yes. I even knew them when I was only 5 years old. I always loved space stuff.

My very excellent mother just sat under new pines

Dikitain posted...

Yep, played a lot of Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego? as a kid. Used to be able to name most of the (at the time) named moons of the planets as well, but that knowledge has long since been wiped from my brain.

That's similar to how I learned all the countries of the world and their capitals back in 7th grade, but I've probably lost 3/4ths of that since then.

Though that's also not helped by the number of nations that ceased to exist after I learned them or didn't exist until afterward (mainly in Africa and the Balkans, and the USSR as a whole).

Yeah bro I watch Kurzgesagt

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Gotta teach them the mnemonic.

My very educated mother just served us nachos.

Kings Play Chess On Fine Grained Sand

Yes, even how Pluto was before Neptune for awhile when I was a kid

Anyways real answer, memorization isn't super useful. If the kids ever need to know the order, they can look it up. Better to learn reading writing and math, the core skills you need for life.
Almost no one actually has all the planets and newly minted dwarf planets memorized.

It's such an irrelevant thing, I don't know why you'd care to memorise it. It's like in school being made to memorise the periodic table like it isn't literally a lookup table.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

It's like in school being made to memorise the periodic table like it isn't literally a lookup table.

It is a lookup table, but a lot of the more practical things you're looking up are worth memorizing to be able to use that information without needing to dig out a table every time. Specifically, column numbers (for non-transition metals) dictate a lot of the chemistry each element can be involved in, and knowing how each element relates to others is handy to relate to the various trends of reactivity, steric hindrance, and other properties that the periodic table indicates.

Of course, in practice, most people only use a small handful of elements and just end up memorizing the properties for those ones, looking up less familiar ones whenever they come up. Still, being able to skip a lookup step is handy, so it can be worthwhile to have at least a working knowledge of the table memorized, much like it's worthwhile to be able to do simple math mentally instead of having to fish out a calculator to double a recipe or whatever.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

It's such an irrelevant thing, I don't know why you'd care to memorise it.

Because planets are interesting

Yes.

only the classic 9, the new ones I sadly barely know the names of

after the idiots in charge enforced that stupid new nonsensical system where planets are magically not planets anymore for literally no good or practical reasons, legitimate information about our solar system became extremely hard to find and compile, it's a complete mess

most people these days can't even list 8 of our plants or in order, let alone all of the known ones in or out of order

idiots ruined science, hence the state of the world we live in today

i don't really see how being a dwarf planet makes pluto not a planet. it's even still in the name. figure it's kinda like how the gas giants are still planets but they're obviously different. it's still a planet, it's just small. i'm not against the extra classification, but some of the logic involved with it seems off.

It was probably a moon that got flung away

Nade_Duck posted...

i don't really see how being a dwarf planet makes pluto not a planet. it's even still in the name. figure it's kinda like how the gas giants are still planets but they're obviously different. it's still a planet, it's just small. i'm not against the extra classification, but some of the logic involved with it seems off.

Pluto orbits Charon and together they orbit the sun. That's the only part of the definition of a plant that kind of makes sense and why Pluto doesn't count anymore. But Eris is even bigger than Pluto. It should be a planet and Pluto should be the same as Ceres.

Also at this point calling a planet a dwarf should be offensive. It's a little planet.

I know the order, but it's hard for me to list them in the correct order without thinking "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas."
Pluto was still considered a planet when I learned that one.