It’s 6:06 AM on August 25, 2006, and today, we only have eight planets orbiting the Solar System. How do we know. We go to Wikipedia, and look up Solar System. There it says:
Major features of the solar system (not to scale). Featuring the Sun, eight planets, asteroid belt, a trans-Neptunian object and a comet.
Now I’m not saying that Wikipedia is THE place to go to do your research. I am say, thought, that this is what the Wikipedia is good at — having more up-to-date information than more traditional sources of information.
This development also indicates once again why we should be spending more effort teaching our children to find the facts, and less effort teaching them to memorize the facts.
2¢ Worth!
Image Citation:
“Solar System.” Wikipedia. 25 Aug 2006. WikiMedia. 25 Aug 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_system>.
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Exactly! When I heard that yesterday, I first chuckled. I immediately thought of the exam on general content I had to take in the 90s that asked about the planets and the order of them. Ah, memorizing. Then I thought of the money publishers will make and districts will lose in purchasing them. Finally, I thought of the great dsicussions science teachers will have this fall.
Funny, I just wrote about this yesterday myself. Can you imagine all of the schools that are cracking open their brand new science textbooks. Already outdated…from day one. Do you think the textbook comapnies are going to give these schools there money back? Hmm.
As I mentioned in my post. I’ll take my chances with an up-to-date online resource and a good understanding of information literacy skills any day over an outdated, “trusted” textbook.
http://nlcommunities.com/communities/brianmullnl/archive/2006/08/24/84948.aspx
Wiki does have its limitations and credibility problems on occasion with information that is too updated.
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/15329809.htm
dt
Nothing to really do with Wikipedia in this comment but one of my favorite folk singers, Christine Lavin’s, tribute to Planet X.
http://www.christinelavin.com/022200planetx.html
Wonder if the facts are correct in the song? 😉 I wonder where she obtained her information since it was many years before Wikipedia existed! 😉
Kathy Schrock