Have a tough time remembering the nine planets in a sequence? Try this — My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. But soon your mother may not be serving you any more pizzas. Pluto (or pizzas), the tiniest and farthest planet from the Sun in our solar system, was discovered by Lowell astronomer Clyde Tombaghin in1930. Sixty years later, it is in danger of being ostracized from the planet club. Pluto is named after Roman god of Hades, the place for the dead. Its lone satellite Charon is the name of the boatman in Roman mythology who ferries your soul after death across the river Styx into Hades.

Pluto’s fixation with death seems to have scared the eight big bullies of our solar system. They, in turn, have complained to scientists on Earth that Pluto is not one of us and should cease to be member of the exclusive club. The scientists, after peeping through their telescopes and doing lots of calculations, have come to the conclusion that could make the already-cold Pluto "dead cold". Pluto is very small with a diameter of just 2,260 kms. Even the Moon, our satellite, is much bigger. And Ceres, the largest asteroid (933km), is almost as big as the planet itself. But Pluto is different. While Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are rocky, and Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn are planets full of gas, Pluto is largely ice. Scientists have also discovered other eccentricities of Pluto as well. Its orbit has a greater tilt than any other planet. Thus, it moves in an unusual ellipse while crossing the orbit of its neighbour Neptune. But if Pluto is not a planet, then what really is a planet?

For ancient Greeks anything that wandered against backdrop of stars was a planet. They discovered seven of them — the Sun, the Moon, Mars Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. With the coming of Copernicus’ Sun-centered theory, the Earth joined the planet club and the Moon became its satellite. And the Sun was promoted to the status of a star. Then a planet is anything that goes around the Sun. In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the planet Ceres. But later it was found to be too small to be a planet — just 600 miles in diameter. Soon it joined the newest club of the solar system — the asteroid club along with many other new members of the club.

But Pluto continued to remain a mystery. It applied for life membership to the planet club in 1978 when its satellite Charon was discovered. ‘Come on,’ it pleaded, ‘only a planet can have a satellite.’

‘No dear,’ said the dadas of the club. ‘Ida the asteroid has a satellite called Dactyl and has not been enrolled as yet.’

The dejected Pluto hung around for more than 10 years without an identity. In the 1990s, astronomers discovered many icy bodies beyond Neptune which shared some of Pluto’s eccentricities like its unusual orbit. These objects were named Kuiper belt after the American astronomer Gerard Kuiper. Pluto was asked to join them. From being the baby of our solar system, it became the Big Brother of the Kuiper belt.

GETTING THERE
Optimum use of the school bus fleet: School bus routes should cover a lot of area, with the fleet picking up as many students as possible.

Car pooling: This is quite a workable idea today. Students coming to school from the same neighbourhood should be encouraged to car-pool, after working out the cost of petrol and vehicle wear and tear.

THE CLASSROOM
Saving energy: Sometimes, we’re so busy making the world a better place that we forget to switch off the fans and lights when we leave the classroom.

And paper: At the end of a year, there are usually lots of blank pages left in exercise books. These make great rough books and note-pads when torn out and stitched/stapled. Re-using the flip-side of photocopied notes also saves paper. Also photocopy on both sides of the paper.

THE WATERING HOLE
The green canteen: Plastic and thermocol throw-away cups may be cheap and convenient, but they are extremely eco-unfriendly. Investing in some good reusable crockery is cheaper in the long run.

School taps: Make sure that drinking water taps and bathroom taps aren’t left running and don’t leak. This will save precious water.

Catch water: A school could work out a system of catching rainwater and storing it. Take a space of 25 sq metres, perhaps the roof, in a city that gets 50 cm of rain in a year. The amount of run-off would be close to 12,500 litres per year. That’s two months of water supply for a family of four – for everything that a family does!

THE GREEN PATCH
Over-watering: Many schools have a field, a lawn or a green patch that is its pride. The mali often leaves the hose spouting water, making soggy patches all over the grass. This does not make the grass any greener. If possible, use sprinklers or a drip-system of watering. These are much more efficient.

Home’s best: Plant indigenous or local species of plants and trees which are acclimatised and aren’t water-guzzlers or need artificially-heated hot-houses.

CLUBBED TOGETHER
An eco-club that invites interesting speakers to speak at the assembly,, organises trips to successful projects or gets involved in green networks is a must

Wall Mag: An eco-mag that’s informative and entertaining, but easy to produce, serves as a platform for sharing new ideas and good experiences. Good work and upcoming events should be displayed on a notice-board. The third alternative is combining these to make a Wall-Magazine.

WASTING AWAY
Recycling garbage: If you have the space, make a compost-pit to turn organic waste produced in the kitchen, etc, into soil-enriching manure that can be used on school lawns. This reduces the use artificial fertilizers.

SCHOOL VASTU
The design of a school building should be such that it optimises on natural lighting and air flow. This can reduce the use of lights and fans to a very great extent. So, orienting a building and its doors and windows so that they catch the dominant wind and light directions is very important in energy-saving, besides influencing the atmosphere. Doesn’t a dark, artificially lighted school make you feel dull?