Monday, December 31, 2012

Pacific ocean


We learned about one of the really big oceans called the Atlantic ocean
But the biggest one on planet earth is called the Pacific ocean
pacific ocean
(from: wikipedia - pacific ocean)

It's between North America and Asia,
and between South America and Australia.

The Pacific ocean is so big that it covers more of the earth than all of the continents combined!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Apostle's Creed - part 4


We already learned the Apostle's Creed part 1, part 2, part 3:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary,

Now here's part 4:

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.



(from: wikipedia - apostle's creed)

Pontius Pilate was like a governor or a mayor in Rome, and had power to make decisions for trials like a judge.
When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, he allowed him to be crucified.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Luna 2 - First spacecraft on the moon

We've learned about the first satellite in outer space sputnik and the first American satellite Explorer 1.

Then we learned about the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin from Russia.
Followed by the Americans Alan Shepard and John Glenn.

The next big target in the space race was to get to the moon!

The first spacecraft to land on the moon was the Russian's Luna 2, on September 14, 1959.
luna 2
(from: wikipedia - luna 2)

Friday, December 28, 2012

French Alphabet - O P Q R S T U


We already learned French A B C D E F G, and H I J K L M N
now let's learn the next letters:

O - Sounds like oh
P - Sounds like pay
Q - Sounds like coo
R - Sounds like ay-uh
S - Sounds like ess
T - Sounds like tay
U - Sounds like oo (like in pool)

To hear the letters, visit FrenchSpanish Online's alphabet page

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Waves and wavelength


We just learned about the Light Year.

If you are standing in the water in the ocean or a big lake,
you can watch a wave going by you, something like this:
water wave
(from: wikipedia - wave)

If you stood in one place and watched a lot of waves going by, it might look something like this:
harmonic wave

And if you took a picture of a wave while it was standing still it might look like this:
sine wave
(from: wikipedia sine)

If you measured the distance from the start of the up wave, to the end of the down wave that is called the wavelength.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Snail eye stalks, feet and shells


We just learned about the Spectacled Cobra.

When you look at a snail's head, those two things sticking out are the snail's eye stalks
and their eyes are located right on the end of them.
snail
(from: wikipedia - land snails)

The slimy bottom of a land snail that moves along the ground is called the snail's foot,
but it doesn't look or act much like our feet do!
snail bottom

Snail shells are always a part of the body, and the shell grows with the size of the snail.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Distal phalanges


The finger tip bones in your fingers are called the distal phalanges.

There are only four of them in your hand, because your thumb has one less bone than the rest of your fingers.
distalphalanges
(from: wikipedia - distal phalanges)

Monday, December 24, 2012

Atlantic Ocean


We've already learned about the big pieces of land called continents,
such as Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

But what about all that water in between?
Those are all the oceans of the world!

The ocean that's between North America and Europe,
and in between South America and Africa
is called the Atlantic Ocean.

It's the second biggest ocean in the world.
atlantic ocean
(from: wikipedia - atlantic ocean)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Apostle's Creed - part 3


We already learned the Apostle's Creed part 1 and part 2:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord

Now here's part 3:

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary,


(from: wikipedia - apostle's creed)

Saturday, December 22, 2012

First Americans in space - Alan Shepard, John Glenn


We just learned about the First Human in Space - Yuri Gagarin.

The first American to go into outer space was Alan Shepard.
alan shepard
(from: wikipedia - alan shepard)

He flew in a spacecraft called the Freedom 7, on May 5, 1961.
freedom 7

Alan Shepard made it into outer space, but did not orbit the earth like a satellite.

The first American to orbit the earth was John Glenn.
He orbited the earth three times.
john glenn

His spacecraft was called the Friendship 7
freedom 7
(from: wikipedia john glenn)

Friday, December 21, 2012

French Alphabet - H I J K L M N


We already learned French A B C D E F G, now let's do H I J K L M N

H - Sounds like ah-sh
I - Sounds like ee
J - Sounds like zhee
K - Sounds like kah
L - Sounds like el
M - Sounds like em
N - Sounds like en

To hear the letters, visit FrenchSpanish Online's alphabet page

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Light Year


We know that a Cheetah can run 75 miles per hour.

And the Speed of Sound is 760 miles per hour.
Only super fast jet planes can go faster than that.

And even faster is the Speed of Light, 670 million miles per hour!
That's 670,000,000 miles per hour, way faster than a cheetah or even the fastest jet plane ever made.

If you could travel as fast as the Speed of Light and you went that fast for a whole year (365 days)
then the distance you traveled is called a Light Year.

A light year is a very very long distance.

To get some idea of how far it is, if a cheetah ran as fast as it could for a whole year,
it could go all the way to the moon and back.

If a jet plane went as fast as the speed of sound for a whole year,
it could make it to the moon and back 11 times,
but still couldn't reach the planet Mars or our Sun.

But if you went the speed of light for a whole year,
you could go around the earth 277 million times.
That's 277,000,000, look at all those zeroes!

You could go to the planet Mars and back 98,000 times,
to the sun and back 35,000 times.

The farthest planet in our solar system is Neptune,
and you could even go to Neptune and back 1,000 times.

So the speed of light is super fast, and traveling that fast for a year is a super crazy big long distance!

light year
(from: wikipedia - light-year)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Spectacled Cobra


We just learned a little about Beaver Tails.

The Indian Cobra is also known as the Spectacled Cobra
can you guess why by looking at the picture?
spectacled cobra
(from: wikipedia - indian cobra)

If you look at the markings on the back of the cobra,
it kind of looks like someone is wearing glasses,
and glasses are also sometimes called spectacles.

The Indian Cobra's head isn't always spread out like that,
they have something called a hood which fans out when they feel threatened.

Normal:
indian cobra

Threatened:
indian cobra

So if you see a snake standing up like that with it's hood out,
you know the snake feels threatened by you!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Intermediate phalanges


The finger bones in the middle of your finger are called the intermediate phalanges.

They are connected to the proximal phalanges,
but there are only four intermediate phalanges, because the thumb does not have a middle thumb bone.
distalphalanges
(from: wikipedia - intermediate phalanges)

Monday, December 17, 2012

Asia


Asia is the largest continent in the world.
asia
(from: wikipedia - asia)

It is East of Europe, and West of North America if you go across the Pacific Ocean.

Some of the countries in Asia are Russia, China, India, Japan, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Apostle's Creed - part 2


We already learned part 1 of the Apostle's Creed:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

Now here's part 2:

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord


(from: wikipedia - apostle's creed)

Saturday, December 15, 2012

First human in space - Yuri Gagarin


We just learned about Explorer I the first satellite every launched into space by America.

The first person to ever go into outer space was Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut.
Cosmonaut is the word the Russians used for astronauts.
yuri gagarin
(from: wikipedia - yuri gagarin)

His spacecraft was called the Vostok 1, and it did one orbit of the Earth on April 12th, 1961.
vostok 1
vostok 1
(from: wikipedia - vostok 1)

Friday, December 14, 2012

French Alphabet - A B C D E F G


The French alphabet looks just like the English one,
but it sounds a little different

A - Sounds like ah
B - Sounds like bay
C - Sounds like say
D - Sounds like day
E - Sounds like uh
F - Sounds like eff
G - Sounds like zhay

To hear the letters, visit FrenchSpanish Online's alphabet page

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Speed of light


Just like the speed of sound is very fast, the speed of light is even faster!
The speed of sound is 760 miles per hour.

The speed of light is over 670 MILLION miles per hour!

So when you turn on that flashlight, the light goes out from the light bulb so fast that no boat, car or airplane can go faster.

When the sun shines, it is very far away, but it takes eight minutes for a ray of sunshine to hit earth going at the speed of light!

speed of light
(from: wikipedia - speed of light)

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Beaver Tails


We just learned about the Cheetah.

Beavers live in houses called dams that they build in the rivers out of mud and sticks.
They get the wood from chewing on it with their teeth,
which keep growing and growing for their whole life so they don't get worn out from all the wood chewing.

When a beaver is in danger they take their big flat tail and whack it loudly on the water as a warning to other beavers.
beaver
(from: wikipedia - north american beaver)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Proximal phalanges


We just learned about the Metacarpal bones in the hand.

The first bones in your fingers closest to the main part of your hand are called the proximal phalanges.
proximal phalanges
(from: wikipedia - proximal phalanges)

There are five of them numbered one through five, starting with your thumb bone and going toward your pinky.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Europe


We just learned about the African Continent.

Europe is a continent that is East of North America, across the Atlantic Ocean.
europe
(from: wikipedia - europe)

It is one of the smaller continents, but it has more countries than the other continents, with 70 total countries!

Some of the more well known are: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece
europe

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Apostle's Creed - part 1


We just learned about the Tenth Commandment not to covet.

The Apostle's Creed is a something you say that helps explain what you believe in.

It's kind of a big thing to memorize all at once, so let's just start with the first line:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.


(from: wikipedia - apostle's creed)

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Explorer 1


We just learned about the Russian satellite sputnik.

The first satellite from the United States that made into outer space
was called Explorer 1
explorer
(from: wikipedia - explorer)
It was launched January 31, 1958.

Friday, December 7, 2012

French - Six seven eight nine ten


We counted to five, now let's count to ten in French!
6 six - sounds like see /?/
7 sept - sounds like set /?/
8 huit - sounds like oo-ee /?/
9 neuf - sounds like neff /?/
10 dix - sounds like dee /?/

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Speed of Sound


We just learned about Sound Waves.

When sound travels through the air, it moves very very fast, about 760 miles per hour!
That's faster than you can see, faster than you can run, and faster than any normal car you drive on the street!

Jet airplanes can go faster than the speed of sound, and when they get past that speed they make a big noise called a sonic boom.
Going faster than the speed of sound is called breaking the sound barrier.
sound barrier
(from: wikipedia - sound barrier

The first person to break the sound barrier in a jet was Chuck Yeager in the Bell X-1 jet on October 14, 1947.
chuck yeager
(from: wikipedia - chuck yeager)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Cheetah


We just learned about the Wild Turkey Snood.

The cheetah is the fastest animal on land, it can run 75 miles per hour.
That's as fast as a car on the highway!
cheetah
(from: wikipedia - cheetah)

The black lines on a cheetah's face that look like tears are actually used to help keep the sun out of the cheetah's eyes for hunting.
cheetah face

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Hand bones - metacarpals


We just learned about the Carpal Wrist Bones.

The bones in your hand are called your metacarpals.

If you feel in your hand, you can feel the long thin bones going out toward each knuckle and finger.
metacarpals
(from: wikipedia - hand)

The metacarpal bones are numbered one through five, starting with your thumb bone and going toward your pinky.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Africa continent


We just learned about the Equator.

Africa is a continent that is home to many countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

There are 57 countries on the African continent!

africa
(from: wikipedia - africa)

The African continent is home to animals like giraffes, rhinoceroses, elephants and lions.
rhino
(from: wikipedia - rhinoceros)

And in the country of Egypt they have pyramids!
pyramids
(from: wikipedia - pyramids)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Tenth commandment


We just learned about the Ninth Commandment to not covet your neighbor's house.

The tenth commandment that God gave to Moses is:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his.

This means do not sit and think about how much you want anything that belongs to your neighbor.
(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)



(from: wikipedia - thou shalt not covet)

Saturday, December 1, 2012

sputnik


We just learned about the Hubble Space Telescope.

A satellite is something that floats into outer space around a planet.

The very first satellite to go into outer space from earth was called sputnik.

sputnik
(from: wikipedia - sputnik 1)

It was launched in 1957 and stayed in outer space for 22 days before falling to the earth.

Friday, November 30, 2012

French - One two three four five


Let's count to five in French!
1 un - sounds like un /?/
2 deaux - sounds like doo /?/
3 trois - sounds like twah /?/
4 quatre - sounds like coo-ah-twah /?/
5 cinq - sounds like sahnk /?/

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Sound waves


We just learned about Positive and Negative sides of batteries.

When you make a sound, like plucking on a guitar string, it makes a vibration that pushes through the air.
guitar strings
(from: wikipedia - seven strings guitar)

Those invisible vibrations in the air are called sound waves and if you could see them you'd see they look a lot like the waves you see in the water.
sound waves
(from: wikipedia - sound waves)

The waves travel through the air until they hit your ear, then you hear the sounds!
ear
(from: wikipedia - ear)

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Wild turkey snood


The fleshy skin that flops over the top of a turkey's beak is called the snood.
snood
(From: Wikipedia - snood)

A male turkey is called a tom or gobbler, and a female turkey is called a hen.
turkey
(From: Wikipedia - wild turkey

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Wrist bones - carpals


We just learned about the Radius and Ulna in the forearm.

The bones in your wrist are called your carpals.

You can't even really feel them all, but there are eight carpal bones in there!
carpals
(From: Wikipedia - hand)

The bones have crazy names like scaphoid, lunate, triquetral, pisiform, trapezium, trapezoid, capitate and hamate.

Whew!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Equator


The middle of the earth, half way between North and South is called the equator.

The north and south parts of the earth are called hemispheres.

(From: Wikipedia - Equator)

The weather is always hot on the equator because that is where the sun's rays shine most directly on the earth.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Ninth commandment


We just learned about the Eighth Commandment to not lie.

The ninth commandment that God gave to Moses is:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house.

This means that if your friend or someone else has something that you would like to have,
don't sit and think about how much you want that thing, be happy with what you have.
(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)



(from: wikipedia - moses)