Thursday, August 31, 2017

Strike-Slip Fault


We just learned that a fault is when two tectonic plates crash into each other.

There are different types of faults, and different ways that the earth's crust moves during faults.
One type of fault is a Strike-slip fault, also known as a wrench fault, tear fault or transcurrent fault.

When an earthquake happens at one of these faults, the ground shifts side to side.
To show this, put your two hands in front of you on a table, with your palms flat on the table.
Have your hands touching at the sides of your thumbs and pointer fingers.
Slide your right hand forward away from you, and slide your left hand toward your body.
That is the same way the earth moves, slipping the two pieces of the earth's crust next to each other, but keeping them touching.

(from: wikipedia - fault (geology))


(from: wikipedia - fault (geology))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tongs

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Vietnamese Mossy Frog


We just learned about the Banded Bullfrog.

Another type of frog is the Vietnamese Mossy Frog, or theloderma corticale.

These frogs are found in rainforests in Northern Vietnam, China and Laos.

They get their name because they have bumpy green and brown skin that looks like moss growing on a rock.
This helps them hide from animals that would want to eat them!

If these frogs get scared, they will curl up into a ball and play dead.


(from: wikipedia - theloderma corticale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Sharpey's Fibres


We just learned about the ligament.

We know that tendons connect muscles to bones.
The part where the tendon is actually connected to the bone is tied to the bones with something called Sharpey's Fibres.

These are made of collagen, and they are tied into the outer parts of the bone so that the muscle stays connected.


(from: wikipedia - sharpey's fibres)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anterior Roots

Monday, August 28, 2017

Mexico States


We just learned a lot about the Canadian Provinces and territories.

Let's move on and talk a little about the States in the country of Mexico.

Mexico has 31 states, and one of them is the big city of Mexico City.

The states are: Baja California Sur, Colima, Campeche, Nayarit, Tlaxcala, Aguascalientes, Quintana Roo, Zacatecas, Durango, Morelos, Querétaro, Yucatán, Tabasco, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Hidalgo, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Baja California, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Puebla, Jalisco, Veracruz


(from: wikipedia - states of mexico)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hindu Kush

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Anthony the Great


We just learned about the first monk, Paul of Thebes.

Another famous hermit also known as a monk was Anthony the Great.

Just like Paul of Thebes, he lost his parents at a young age.

He decided to give everything he had away, so he sold his land to his neighbors, gave the money to the poor, and then went off into the desert to live alone.

Legends spread that he was a wise person, so people would come to him and bring him food and ask for advice.
After a while, some other people decided that they wanted to live away from other people just like him, so he helped them learn how to live in the wilderness, pray and be wise.
These people are thought of as some of the first groups of monks living near each other.


(from: wikipedia - anthony the great)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pelican

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Neptune - Coysevox


We just learned about the St. Cecilia - Maderno.

Another famous Baroque sculpture is Neptune by French sculptor Charles Antoine Coysevox in 1702.

Coysevox was a great sculptor even at the young age of 17, and sculpted many things throughout his life.

He was known for creating very detailed sculptures, like Neptune.

(from: wikipedia - antoine coysevox)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ara Pacis

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Fault


We just learned about the Tectonic Plates.

Another part of earthquake science is a fault.

When the tectonic plates smash into each other, the place where the earth's crust touches from two different plates is called a fault.
When the plates move, not every part of the crust will run into other parts.
There are a bunch of different types of faults, depending on how the two pieces of crust run into each other.


(from: wikipedia - earthquake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chisel

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Banded Bullfrog


We just learned about the Coqui Frog.

Another type of frog is the Banded Bullfrog, sometimes also called the chubby frog, asian painted frog, rice frog or bubble frog.

These are narrow mouth frogs, with round bodies, brown backs and cream colored bellies.
They have stripes down the sides of their body that can be tan or pink.

The chubby frogs are very slow but they eat a lot.
Sometimes they can be seen in the forest sitting by an ant trail, eating ants one by one, up to a hundred ants!

(from: wikipedia - banded bullfrog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indochinese Spitting Cobra

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Ligament


We just learned about the Collagen.

Another type of connective tissue is the ligament.

We learned before that tendons connect muscle to bone.
Ligaments connect bones to other bones.


(from: wikipedia - ligament)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grey Column

Monday, August 21, 2017

Yukon


We just learned about the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

Another Canadian territory is Yukon.

This territory has the smallest number of people of any province or territory, with only about 36,000 people in the whole territory.

It is up in the north west part of Canada, and borders with Alaska.


(from: wikipedia - yukon)

The Yukon flag is green for the forests, white for snow and blue for the lakes and rivers.
In the middle is the coat of arms, above a wreath of fireweed which is the flower of Yukon.


(from: wikipedia - flag of yukon)

The coat of arms has red mountains with gold discs, for the mountains in the area and the rich gold minerals in the area.
Above that is the red and white cross for England, with a disc in the middle showing a "vair" which is squirrel fur.
Above the shield is an Alaskan Malamute dog standing on snow.


(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of yukon)

The most popular job in Yukon is mining.
In 1897 there was a big rush of people called the Klondike Gold Rush, where people went into northern Canada looking for gold or other precious materials like silver or copper.

(from: wikipedia - klondike gold rush)

The highest mountain in Canada is Mount Logan, in Yukon.


(from: wikipedia - mount logan)

The lowest temperature ever in North America was at a town called Snag, where it got down to -81 F.

(from: wikipedia - yukon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Karakoram

Sunday, August 20, 2017

Paul of Thebes


We just learned a little about Monks.

Some famous people from the Bible like Elijah and John the Baptist were known to go live off in the wilderness by themselves, praying and living in nature.

The first person to be known as a hermit or a monk was Paul of Thebes.

A long time after Jesus died on the cross, there were people around who did not like followers of Jesus.
When Paul of Thebes was young, his parents died.
He was afraid that people who did not like Christians were going to come after him, so he ran away into the desert.
He found a cave in the desert with a water stream nearby and a fruit tree, and lived there alone praying and worshiping for almost a hundred years.


(from: wikipedia - paul of thebes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Peacock

Saturday, August 19, 2017

St. Cecilia - Stefano Maderno


We just learned about the statue Fontana della Barcaccia by Pietro Bernini.

Another famous baroque sculpture was St. Cecilia by Stefano Maderno in 1599 AD.

St. Cecilia was a martyr from the time of the Roman Empire, which means she was an innocent person who was killed, and people looked at her like a hero.

The story says that when she was killed, she had three fingers sticking out on her left hand, and 1 finger on her right hand.
This was to show her belief in the Holy Trinity belief of three in one, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The sculptor Stefano Maderno was a famous Italian sculptor in the Baroque time, after Michelangelo and before Bernini.

(from: wikipedia - stefano maderno)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Capitoline Brutus

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Tectonic Plates


We just learned about the earthquake Hypocenter.

Another part of earthquakes is the Tectonic Plates.

The scientist who study earthquakes have mapped out 15 big areas on the earth, on every continent and around the oceans.
These areas are called tectonic plates, and they move around little by little every year.
When one tectonic plate area moves, it bumps into another tectonic plate, and it causes an earthquake!

These plates are millions of miles wide, and over 60 miles deep.
Because they are so huge, when they bump into each other the earth crashing together has a lot of force and makes a big problem.


(from: wikipedia - list of tectonic plates)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sledgehammer

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Coqui


We just learned about the Golden Mantella.

Another type of frog is the Coqui.

This frog mostly lives in Puerto Rico.
They get their name from the sound they make, a "CO" and a "KEY".

Because there were so many of these frogs in Puerto Rico, many people have written songs about the coqui frog.


(from: wikipedia - common coqui)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gaboon Viper

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Collagen


We just learned about Tendons.

Another part of connective tissue is Collagen.

This is mostly what tendons and other connective tissue are made up, along with skin and many other parts of the body.

Collagen is a protein, that under a microscope looks long and stringy and wraps around other collagen long strings.
These long strings all together work to make a bigger rope.

(from: wikipedia - collagen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spinal Nerve

Monday, August 14, 2017

Nunavut


We just learned about the Canadian Territory of the Northwest Territories.

Another Canadian Territory is Nunavut.

This is the newest territory in Canada, and was separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999.
It is the largest territory, and the northernmost.


(from: wikipedia - nunavut map)

The flag of Nunavut has gold on the left and white on the right, with a red inuksk in the middle, and a blue star in the upper right hand corner.
The blue and gold are for the riches of land, sea and sky, and the red is for Canada.
The inuksuk is a stone monument that was used by the First Nation Canadian people long ago to guide travelers.
The blue star is for the north star.


(from: wikipedia - flag of nunavut)

The coat of arms of Nunavut has a blue and gold round shield in the middle and pictures of the sun, the north star, a stone lamp, and an inuksuk.

Above that is an igloo for the old life of the native people.
There is a caribou on the left, and a narwhal on the right for the natural life and survival.
Below them are plants, arctic poppies, dwarf fireweed, arctic heather, and an iceberg.
The words at the bottom are say "Our Land, Our Strength" in the Nunavut Sannginivut language.

(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of nunavut)

The first English travelers to ever meet an Inuit person were in 1576 in Nunavut.

(from: wikipedia - nunavut)

The northernmost city in Canada is called Alert. It is about 500 miles from the North Pole.
There are only 62 people living there!

(from: wikipedia - alert, nunavut)

The place in Canada with the lowest average temperature is called Eureka.

(from: wikipedia - eureka, nunavut)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Himalayas

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Monks


We've learned a lot about the book of Proverbs.

Through the years, many Christians have become monks.

Monks are people who live all by themselves, study the Bible, try to live good lives, and usually help give back to the communities.

The word monk comes from the Greek word "monachos" or "monos" which means alone.

The first monks just were all by themselves, but later groups of monks started to live together in places called monasteries.


(from: wikipedia - christian monasticism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dove

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Fontana della Barcaccia - Bernini


We just learned about the sculpture of Saint Bibiana by Bernini.

Another famous Baroque art sculpture is the fountain Fontana della Barcaccia by Pietro Bernini in 1629 in Rome.

This fountain is in the shape of a sunken boat with water flowing all over the sides.

There was a legend of a river flooding 1598 and carrying a boat into this plaza and leaving it there when the flood waters went away.
This fountain was made based on that story.

Pietro Bernini is the father of the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.


(from: wikipedia - fontana della barcaccia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Trajan's Column

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Hypocenter


We just learned about the earthquake Epicenter.

Another important thing in earthquake science is the Hypocenter.

This is the spot underground where the earthquake first started.
The epicenter is right above the hypocenter, but at the surface of the earth.


(from: wikipedia - hypocenter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Straight Peen Hammer

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Golden Mantella


We just learned about the Kihansi Spray Toad.

Another type of frog is the Golden Mantella.

This is an endangered type of frog from Madagascar.
They do not have a very large living area, and they are very colorful, so they are caught a lot for pets.

These frogs are are tiny, and are bright orange, bright yellow or bright red.
They are poisonous in their natural habitat because of what they eat, but in a cage they are not poisonous.
Their croak is just like a clicking sound, and they usually hide out when they are calling each other since they are small and have to hide from predators.


(from: wikipedia - golden mantella)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Savu Python

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Tendon


We just learned a little about the Connective Tissue.

One type of connective tissue is a Tendon which connects muscle to bone.

Tendons are like a bunch of long thin ropes all bundled together, wrapped in and around the parts or your muscle, and then tied into your bone.

When your muscles tighten, the tendons stretch out until they are tight, just like a rope gets tighter when you pull on it.
As it gets tight, it pulls on the bone it is attached to, which is what moves your bone around.
So your bicep has tendons connected to your forearm, and when you want to bend your elbow, your biceps pulls on your tendon which pulls on the bone and it bends!

(from: wikipedia - tendon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Foramen Magnum

Monday, August 7, 2017

Northwest Territories


We just learned about Prince Edward Island.

Canada has provinces and territories, which are a lot like the provinces.

One of the provinces is Northwest Territories which is in the northern part of Canada.

The name for this territory in the native Inuktitut means "beautiful land."
This is a very cold territory, with temperatures getting as low as -40 F.
The territory used to be almost all of Canada, but then it was divided up more and more into the other provinces.


(from: wikipedia - northwest territories)

The flag is blue with a white stripe in the middle.
The white is for snow and ice, and the blue is for water.
In the middle is the coat of arms of the Northwest Territories.

(from: wikipedia - flag of northwest territories)

The crest has two golden narwhals on top with a compass rose in the middle.
Below them is a white strip with a wavy blue line in the middle that is for the Northwest Passage.
Below that on the left is a green background for the forest and gold rectangles for the gold mines.
On the right is red for the tundra, and a white fox for the fur hunting.


(from: wikipedia - coat of arms of the northwest territories)

The Great Slave Lake is in Northwest Territories, and it is the deepest lake in North America.


(from: wikipedia - great slave lake)

There is an ice road on the Great Slave Lake that is used when the lake freezes over.


(from: wikipedia - northwest territories)

There are many mines in the Northwest Territories, like the Diavik Diamond mine in Lac de Gras.

(from: wikipedia - diavik diamond mine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shisapangma

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Proverbs 21 - Righteousness and Justice


We just learned about Proverbs 19 - The purpose of the Lord.

Another famous Proverb is Proverbs 21.


To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice..

In the times of the Old Testament, people would sacrifice burnt offerings of animals to God as ways to ask for forgiveness.
This Proverb says that God would rather have people do the right thing than have to ask for forgiveness!


(from: wikipedia - bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Good Shepherd

Saturday, August 5, 2017

Saint Bibiana - Bernini


We just learned about the Medal of John VIII Palaeaologus by Pisanello.

Another sculpture called Baroque style is the sculpture of Saint Bibiana by artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1624.

The sculpture shows St. Bibiana standing in a robe holding palm branches.
Her mouth is open and she's looking at the skies, and her face and body positions show lots of feelings.

The Baroque style had sculptors trying to show more movement and energy in sculptures, many times reaching outward, and usually viewable from the front sides and back.
In the past a lot of statues did not have much to look at on the back or sides, because they were supposed to be up against a wall so no one would see that side.
Baroque style a lot of times was a statue in the middle of a fountain, so all sides were sculpted.

Bernini was a very famous sculptor in the Baroque style, and some people even feel like he was the one who invented the style and made it popular.


(from: wikipedia - saint bibiana (bernini))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Epicenter


Let's keep learning about Earthquakes.

When an earthquake happens underground, the spot on the earth's surface above where the earthquake is strongest is called the epicenter.


(from: wikipedia - epicenter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cross Peen Hammer

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Kihansi Spray Toad


We just learned about the Bumblebee Toad.

Another type of frog is the Kihansi Spray Toad.

These true toads were almost extinct at one point, and there were only 70 of these toads left in the whole world!
They lived in Tanzania near a waterfall, and they needed the misty kind of spray that came off of the waterfall to survive, but their waterfall was changed after a dam was put in place, and some water was flushed into where they live that had pesticides.

There are none of these toads living in the wild, only in zoos where they are trying to rescue them.
There are now thousands of them, but they are still trying to find a place for them in the wild to bring the toad back to it's natural habitat.

(from: wikipedia - kihansi spray toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fox Snake

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Connective Tissue


We've learned a lot about the Integumentary System, everything from skin to hair to nails!

Another important part of the human body is all of the Connective Tissue that holds things together.
Tendons are connective tissue that connect muscle to bone, and ligaments connect bone to bone.
All of these types of cells are very important or our muscles and bones would not work together.
They are almost like the strings in a puppet, and without them we fall down!


(from: wikipedia - connective tissue)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spinal Cord