Bald Eagle - nest & plumage

The bald eagle's next is over 8 feet wide.
That's longer than any grownup person is tall!


(From: Wikipedia - bald eagle)

The "bald" part of the name, comes from an old word that actually means "white".

The size and color of the feathers of a bird is called "plumage".

Pectoral Girdle

The clavicle and scapula together make up what is called the pectoral girdle.


(From: Wikipedia - pectoral girdle)

Cardinal Directions

We just learned a little about the North America Continent.

On a map, if you see the letters N, E, S, W they stand for North, East, South, West.
Those are called the cardinal directions, and they are used to tell where something is at on a map.

(From: Wikipedia - cardinal direction)

So if you are in Michigan, you might say that it's very cold up North and very warm down South.
New York is to the East, and California is to the West.

A fun way to remember the letters is the sentence: Never Eat Soggy Waffles!



(From: Wikipedia - world map)

You can use a special tool called a compass to figure out which way is North, no matter where you are!


(From: Wikipedia - compass)

Fifth Commandment

We just learned the Fourth Commandment about honoring your father and mother.

The fifth commandment that God gave to Moses is:

Thou shalt not kill.

This means not to kill another person.

(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)


(from: wikipedia - thou shalt not kill)

Earth's Seasons

The earth's seasons, spring, summer, fall and winter, are all different temperatures because of the way the earth is tilted and how the sunlight shines on it.

When the top of the earth (where North America is) is tilted at the sun, that's when it is summer, the hottest time of the year.

When the top of the earth is tilted away from the sun, that's winter, the coldest time of the year.


(from: wikipedia - season)

French - How are you?

In French, to say How are you? you say Comment allez-vous?.

The way you say it is different than the way it looks though, it sounds more like como tah lay voo.

So the next time you see your Mom or Grandma, you could say:
Bonjour Madame, comment allez-vous?

And it sounds like:
Bohzhoor mahdahm, como tah lay voo?

Spark Plug

We just learned about a car's Muffler

Inside a car engine, when the pistons go up to push on the gas and make it ready to explode, the spark plug is the thing that lets out a little spark like a match lighting a fire, and BOOM the gas explodes and pushes the piston back down.


(From: Wikipedia - spark plug)

The spark plug gets it's electricity from the car's battery, which looks like a big square block.


(From: Wikipedia - lead acid battery)

Humpback Whale - Baleen Plates

We just learned about the Lion's Mane

Let's learn about Humpback Whales!

Humpback whales don't have regular teeth like humans or other animals, they have something called baleen plates.

Baleen plates are kind of like the bristles on a brush. They grow down from the top of the whale's mouth, and are very close together.

(From: Wikipedia - baleen)

When a whale wants to eat, it gets a huge mouthful of water that is filled with things like krill, which look like very small bugs that live in the water.

(From: Wikipedia - humpback whale)

Then the whale closes it's mouth and pushes the water out through it's baleen plates.
The krill are too big to get pushed out, so the whale gets to eat them. Yum!


(From: Wikipedia - krill)

Clavicle and Scapula

We just learned about the Esophagus

The bones on the upper part of your shoulder are called the clavicle (or collarbone) and the scapula (or wingbone).

The clavicle is the bone in the front that goes from your neck to your shoulder.
It is connected to your sternum (middle of your chest) and your scapula.

The scapula is the bone in the back that sticks out like a wing, and connects up to the back of your shoulder.
It is connected to your clavicle and your upper arm bone.


(From: Wikipedia - Clavicle)

North America Continent

United States of America (USA) is a country, and is part of something bigger called a continent.
The continent that USA is a part of is called North America.

There are other countries in North America, like Canada which is above the USA, and Mexico which is below the USA.

All of North America (in green):

(From: Wikipedia - North America)

Canada:

(From: Wikipedia - Canada)

USA:

(From: Wikipedia - United States)

Mexico:

(From: Wikipedia - Mexico)

Fourth commandment

We just learned about the Third Commandment to keep the Sabbath Holy.

The fourth commandment that God gave to Moses is:

Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother that it may be well with thee and thou mayest live long upon the earth.

This means to listen to your parents, be good to them, and don't disobey them.

(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)


(from: wikipedia - honour thy father and thy mother)

Orbit

We just learned a little about our Solar System.

Let's learn about Orbit!

The earth orbits around the sun, which means that it spins around the sun kind of like the outside of a ferris wheel or merry go round.
It takes one year for the earth to do a full orbit around the sun.

(From: Wikipedia - Solar System)

The moon orbits around the earth, and we see a full moon about every 27 days, almost a whole month.
If there are two full moons in one month, that is called a blue moon.

(From: Wikipedia - Lunar Month)

The earth spins (rotates) and when it does a full spin around that takes one day.

(From: Wikipedia - Earth's Rotation)

French - Mr, Mrs, Miss

In French, the word for Sir or Mr. is Monsieur pronounced like muhsyuh.
(google translate)
The word for Madam or Mrs. is Madame pronounced like mahdahm.
(google translate)
The word for Miss or a young lady is Mademoiselle pronounced like mahdmwahzehl.
(google translate)

Muffler

A muffler is the part of the car that helps make the engine quieter.
When the engine runs it creates smoke, or exhaust, and that exhaust goes out through the muffler and then the tailpipe.


(from: wikipedia - exhaust system)

Without the muffler the car engine would be very loud.
The word "muffle" actually means to wrap something up to make it quieter,
so just like you can cover your mouth to make sounds quieter the muffler makes a car quieter.

Lion's Mane

A lion's mane (only found on male lions) is used to make the lion look bigger and stronger to scare away other animals.

(From: Wikipedia - Lion)

You can tell how healthy a lion is by looking at it's mane. The thicker, fuller and darker the mane is, the healthier the lion.

Esophagus

We just learned about the Lumbar Vertebrae


The esophagus is the tube that goes down your neck, and brings the food from your throat to your stomach.

(#1 in picture. From: Wikipedia Esophagus)

The part at the back of your throat that connects your mouth to your esophagus is called your pharynx.

United States of America

The United States of America (Also called "USA" or just "America") has 50 states.

(From: Wikipedia - United States)

The American flag has 50 stars on it because there are 50 states.


The national bird (like a mascot) for America is the bald eagle

Third Commandment

We just learned the Second Commandment to not take God's name in vain.

The third commandment God gave to Moses is:
Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day.

(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)
This means you should take one day out of each week, like Saturday or Sunday, to worship God.


(from: wikipedia - sabbath)

Solar System

Our sun and the planets that spin around it are called our "Solar System"


There are other stars in the universe that have planets around them called "Planetary Systems", but the word "Solar" is just for our sun.

(From: Wikipedia - Solar System)

French - Hello, goodbye

In French, the word bonjour (pronounced: bohzhoor) means Hello,
(google translate)

Au revoir (pronounced: Oh revwah) means goodbye.
(google translate)

Pistons

We just learned about Hardware and Software.

Let's learn a little about car engines.

Inside a car's engine is something called a piston.
It is inside a small metal tube, and it moves up and down.
When it moves up, it squishes the gasoline in the tube (which comes from the gas tank) and electricity comes from the spark plug and BOOM the gas explodes.

The gas explosion pushes the piston down, and that pushing over and over again is what makes the pistons run the engine and spin the wheels.


(from: wikipedia - internal combustion piston engine)

Giraffe Horns

We just learned a little about what is Inside Bees

Let's learn about giraffes! The horns on a giraffe's head are called "ossicones".

A female giraffe's ossicones have fuzzy black hair, and a male's are usually bald.


(From: Wikipedia - Giraffe)

The males will use their ossicones when fighting (or "necking") with other giraffes.


(From: Wikipedia - Giraffe)

Lumbar Vertebrae

We just learned about the Thoracic Vertebrae.


The five vertebrae in your lower back are called the "lumbar" vertebrae.

To help remember that, think of your back hurting so you put your hand on your lower back, and you have five fingers on your hand.
L is for lower and lumbar, and five fingers for five vertebrae!

(from: wikipedia - human vertebral column)

Great Lakes (HOMES)

There are five lakes in the United States called the "Great Lakes" and an easy way to remember the names of all five is the word HOMES.

H - Huron
O - Ontario
M - Michigan
E - Erie
S - Superior


(Image from: Wikipedia - Great Lakes)

Second commandment

The second commandment God gave to Moses is:

We just learned about the First Commandment to have no other gods.

Let's learn the Second Commandment:

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain.

(from: wikisource - Luther's Small Catechism)

This means you should not say God or Jesus unless you're talking to God or about God.
Saying things like "Oh my God" is an example of what not to do.


(from: wikipedia - ten commandments)

Planet Names

An easy way to remember the planet's names is to remember a funny thing to say:
My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos

The first letter from each of those words matches up with the first letter of a planet!
My - M - Mercury
Very - V - Venus
Educated - E - Earth
Mother - M - Mars
Just - J - Jupiter
Served - S - Saturn
Us - U - Uranus
Nachos - N - Neptune

This is also the right order for the planets too, from the closest to the sun (Mercury) to the farthest away (Neptune)

(From: Wikipedia - Solar System)

Remember that Pluto is still out there, but it's not a planet anymore!

Hardware & Software

For computers, the word hardware means all of the hard parts of the computer, like the screen, buttons, keyboards, all the bits and pieces inside a phone or laptop or desktop computer.


(From: Wikipedia - Personal Computer Hardware)

The word software means all of the things that the computers do, like games and programs that run and make the computer work.



(From: Wikipedia - Angry Birds)

Inside Bees

A bee's heart runs all along the heart of it's body.

(from: wikipedia - insect morphology)

They have holes in their bodies called spiracles that are openings where they take in air to breathe.

(from: wikipedia - spiracle)

Thoracic Vertebrae

We just learned about the Cervical Vertebrae.

The middle part of your spine is called the Thoracic Vertebrae.
Remember that your ribs are called the Thoracic Cage, and your Spine is made up of vertebrae.

(from: wikipedia - thoracic vertebrae)

Peninsulas

A peninsula is some place where land is sticking out and is surrounded by water.

Lake Michigan has an upper peninsula and lower peninsula surrounded by the lakes.

(from: wikipedia - michigan)

And Florida is a peninsula sticking out into the ocean.

(from: wikipedia - florida)