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Archive: 2013 (107 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Asteroid Impostors and the Planet that Never Was: What’s on Your Diagram of the Solar System?

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune: These are the eight planets of the solar system displayed on diagrams in our educational resources today. Of course, many of us still remember Pluto, which was considered a planet for many years until it was recently reclassified. Pluto's demotion isn't the only dramatic change that's happened to educational solar system diagrams over the years, though.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

What’s Happening in Science Education

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

Have you ever wondered, “is it really possible to fry an egg on the sidewalk if it is hot enough?” or “why do pigeons bob their heads when they walk?” Answers to these and many other science questions can be found on the Library of Congress website Everyday Mysteries: Fun Science Facts from the Science Reference Section.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb? Grave Insights into Customs and Cultures

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

For aficionados of history, graveyards are not creepy settings for Halloween movies, but an opportunity to study human customs and cultural norms of the past and present. The way graves are adorned and the epitaphs they bear can give us information about one life, but can also encourage us to wonder about the people they commemorate and their cultures.