Friday, February 29, 2008
New mnemonic for planets
Now that there are officially 11 planets (since Ceres, Pluto, and Eris are now considered "minor planets") we need a new way to remember their names. National Geographic Kids thus sponsored a contest for the best new mnemonic, or memory device. The winner was a ten-year-old from Montana named Maryn Smith, who came up with "My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants." What was her reaction to winning? "I was sort of embarrassed", she told the Washington Post. It took her and her mother just 10 minutes to come up with the phrase which will now be made into a song by Lisa Loeb and included in astronomer David Aguilar's next book, "11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System." If you don't like Maryn's idea, Sky and Telescope has issued a new challenge: "Try your hand at crafting a planet mnemonic of your own . . . You get extra credit if it makes sense with — and without — the inclusion of Ceres, Pluto, and Eris." In my opinion, the best entry posted so far is "Mother's Very Expertly Made (Cranberry) Jelly Sandwiches Unavailable Now (Please Enquire)". Makes the ten-year-old look pretty smart, doesn't it?
Labels:
mnemonic,
National Geographic,
planets,
solar system
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment