Planet or not? Pupils weigh in on Pluto

River Ridge Elementary School teacher Carolyn Martindale recently asked her fifth-grade science pupils how they felt about scientists' decision that Pluto would no longer be classified as a planet. Here are their answers:

- I am very disappointed! I have remembered the fun rhyme of the order of the planets. Now what is it going to be? Pluto should be a planet because it has a satellite. I still want that included as a planet in our solar system! Period!

- Ashley Behrend

- I agree with scientists (that Pluto should not be a planet), because Pluto is too small.

- Nick Kirk

- Darn! We had to study, hear lessons and even do essays on Pluto. Now it is not a planet. Work for nothing. It orbits the sun, it has a moon, it is a planet!

- Luke Baggett

- Scientists should keep looking to see if Pluto is a comet or not. They should put a probe on it to see if it is really a comet.

- Dalton Foss

- I don't mind the scientists' decision because it doesn't affect life so much.

- Connor Peterson

- I am very disappointed that scientists say that Pluto is not a planet. It was my favorite planet other than Earth.

- Will Watson

- If Pluto is a comet, then why doesn't it have a tail?

- Peter Choi

- Pluto should be a planet to me because the whole time I have been alive, it has been a planet. One thing I don't really know about is planets, so now because Pluto is not a planet, I am going to do some research.

- Sydney Penney

- I think Pluto is a planet because it has seasons, a satellite called Charon, and it has an atmosphere. Besides, I've known about Pluto for so long.

- Alex Jones

- I feel that they (scientists) should have left Pluto the way it was as a planet because it was a planet for over 70 years.

- Nick Weinand

- I believe Pluto should be a planet. It is round, has seasons, and it's been a planet for so long. Why say "no" now?

- Victoria Valentin

- I think that it is OK (that Pluto is not a planet) because Pluto is nothing like the other planets and it is very peculiar that it orbits its own moon.

- Bishop Dancy

- I think Pluto should be a planet because it has four seasons and it is round.

- Lara Cook

- I disagree with the scientists. Pluto should be a planet because it has seasons, a moon, and it is round like all of the other ones (planets). Why can't it be a planet?

- Stephanie Reville

- I don't think Pluto should be a planet because it is smaller than our moon.

- Angel Rauls

- I feel that if Pluto is not a planet now, then it should not have been made a planet in the first place.

- Michelle Lee

- I disagree with the scientists' decision because Pluto has always been a planet. It's my favorite one.

- Caroline Miller