My very educated mother just made us nice ... ???

A short story based on a sixth grader's question in class this week.

Finishing up his science work for the day, Collin was thinking about what the teacher said about Pluto, that it probably didn't mind that it was now a dwarf planet and not one of the main nine planets of our Solar System.  Then it hit him, from out of nowhere, he had the thought; "What if Pluto does CARE?"

Suddenly he realized that he was actually thinking out loud.

"What are you talking about?" Alex said, as he continued packing up his backpack at the end of class, "Pluto is just a bunch of frozen ice and rock, it doesn't have feelings"

"How do you know? Maybe does and we just don't know it,"  Collin continued, "it could be true, you know!"

The rest of his classmates just rolled their eyes in disbelief, "Seriously? said Samantha, with an air of sophistication, "Pluto is an inanimate object, it is just rocks and ice like Alex said, it can't have feelings, have you been paying attention at all in class, sheesh."

Collin wasn't about to give up so easily and shouted, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" as the rest of his class left for lunch.  "I'll show them, I'll show everybody" he said to himself taking a detour towards the computer lab instead of the lunch room.

Some older kids were already in the computer lab as Collin signed in for the lunch period then headed to the back of the lab for his favorite computer.  He worked through the whole lunch period, missing his recess.

Several days, and missed recesses later, Collin ran into his science class super excited and shouted "I FOUND IT!" then more quietly, "You all have to come and see this."

"Shhhhhh," said the teacher, "Not so loud, but what is it that you want us to see that seems more important than learning science?"

"It is science." Collin replied, "But you have to come to the computer lab to see it."

Curious now, the teacher said, "All right, if only to settle everyone down and get back to work before the period ends, lets take a quick look at your computer."

The class lined up and headed for the computer lab, Collin led the way.   Once all had gathered around the computer screen, Collin hit a button that turned the screen on.

There were gasps, giggles, and screams, along with the teacher picking up the phone and asking for direct contact with NASA.

"See, I was right," said Collin proudly, "Pluto does care, that photo says it all."

What was on the screen?  Do you know?  Once he gets the copy of the photo back from the International Astronomical Association, who are double checking his findings, Collin will post it here.