In Our Solar System (Bye Bye Pluto)

If you were camping or vacationing on a remote island this summer, you may have missed the news! This summer scientists changed the number of planets in our solar system. Pluto has been reclassified as a “dwarf planet,” leaving our solar system with just eight planets instead of the nine we all learned in school! This is BIG news, and it will be some time before books and even educational websites reflect the change. In the meantime, you can use this song to educate your students and stay on top of things - so to speak!

You might also want to visit the following sites for more information:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/planetsf-20060824.html
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060824_planet_definition.html

In Our Solar System (Bye Bye Pluto)

Motion during chorus: place fists in front of body and make large circles parallel to the ground, as in the popular dance move

Chorus:
Around and around the sun we go
In our solar system
Around and around the sun we go
In our solar system

Eight planets goin’ round the sun
Just count to eight and then you’re done
Count 4 plus 4 or 6 plus 2, it’s an easy thing to do (hold up fingers)

Mercury’s closest to the sun (show pictures of our “new” solar system)
Then Venus, then the Earth we’re livin’ on
Then Mars and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune’s the very last one

We all thought until recently
That Pluto was a planet too
Now scientists say its just too small
And its gravity will not do