A First Glimpse of Student Attitudes about Pluto’s “Demotion”

Abstract

During the fall 2006 semester, following the International Astronomical Union’s decision to no longer classify Pluto as one of our Solar System’s planets, the author asked two sections of introductory astronomy students whether they thought that Pluto should still be considered a planet and why. This brief contribution describes the students’ responses to the decision at two points in the semester, before and after coverage of the Solar System.