NOVA Online | Teachers | Media-Rich Program Ideas | The Pluto Files

TOPICS: Earth, Exploration, Investigations, Space

The Pluto Files

Since its discovery in 1930, Pluto has held a warm place in the public imagination. So when the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium stopped calling Pluto a planet, director Neil deGrasse Tyson found himself at the center of a firestorm. But what is it about this cold, distant, icy rock that captures so many hearts? Is it a planet? Is it just an ice ball? The debate continues, as NOVA travels cross-country with Tyson to find out.
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Welcome to NOVA's "Lesson Ideas." This new feature mines NOVA's vast library to bring you a robust selection of interactives, video clips, and lesson plans you can use to make science come alive for your students. Come back each week for a new collection centered on a different topic area.

Subject areas covered: Earth Science, Space Science

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Present the program's overall science
or career topics to your students.

EXAMINE PLUTO
Use these resources to provide background for the lesson ideas suggested in the "Learn the Science" and "Discover Careers" sections.

Introduce key science topics and concepts with these media-rich resources.

EXPLORE PLANETS
Discover more about planets.

INVESTIGATE SPACE
Find out more about what makes up our universe.

See what it's like to work in the field.

Related Careers
Find out about careers related to space science.