Sunday, March 31, 2013

Leviticus


Let's keep learning about the other Books of Law in the Old Testament.

We already learned about Genesis, and Exodus. Next up is Leviticus.

The word Leviticus just means a book about the Levites.
The Levites were the group of people that God picked to be in charge of keeping his laws.

So the book of Leviticus is mostly about rules or laws that God made for his people.
There are over 200 different laws in Leviticus!



(from: wikipedia - book of leviticus)


Saturday, March 30, 2013

Kuiper Belt


Remember we talked about Pluto and how it's part of something called the Kuiper belt?
(kuiper rhymes with viper)

Well it turns out that lots of things are floating around in that area,
over 100,000 different things called Kuiper Belt Objects or KBO for short.
kuiper belt
(from: wikipedia - kuiper belt)

They come in all sizes, some even close to the size of Pluto!

Friday, March 29, 2013

French - The chair is small


We learned last time that to say This house is big
you would say Cette maison est grande

Let's learn more about the things we see every day.

To say The chair is small you would say La chaise est petit
The - La - sounds like lah /?/
chair - chaise - sounds like shez /?/
is - est - sounds like ay /?/
small - petit - sounds like puh-tee /?/

All together it sounds like lah shez ay puh-tee /?/

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Solid, Liquid, Gas


We just learned a little about Light Bulbs.

Have you ever gone sledding in the snow?
What about swimming in a pool?
Have you ever seen water boil on a stove?
What about a bright neon sign for a store?

If so, then you've seen the four types of matter in our world:
solid, liquid, gas and plasma
states of matter
(from: wikipedia - states of matter)

We see water all the time in three of the four types.
An ice cube is water when it's solid, and the steam that rises from boiling water is actually the water turning into a gas.
There are lots of types of solids made from things other than water,
like the dirt you walk on, or the chair you sit in.

Solids can turn to liquids when they get hotter, like lava is actually rock as a liquid!

Sometimes gases are really hot like steam from water,
but sometimes gases are just normal temperature like the air we breathe.

Plasma is what happens when a gas gets really hot, and when the parts of the gas get really full of energy, and whenever you see a bright neon sign, it's filled with plasma!
neon
(from: wikipedia - neon sign)

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wolverine


We just learned about the Arctic Fox.

Don't judge this animal by his size!

The Wolverine is known to be a very ferocious animal,
and even sometimes will try to fight a bear or wolf for food!
wolverine
(from: wikipedia - wolverine)

The wolverine is also famous.

One of Michigan's nicknames is the Wolverine State and the University of Michigan uses the wolverine as it's mascot because of it's fierce reputation.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Parietal bones


We learned before that the frontal bone is part of the neurocranium.

Also part of the neurocranium are two parietal bones, left and right.
They are the large bones in your skull that make up most of the top and sides for your head.
parietal bone
(from: wikipedia - parietal bone)


Monday, March 25, 2013

Brazil


We just learned about the Caribbean Islands.

The largest country in the South American continent is Brazil
brazil
(from: wikipedia - brazil)

In Brazil they speak the Portuguese language.
To say hello, you would say Olá.

The largest city in Brazil is São Paulo, with over 11 million people.
It's the biggest city in all of North and South America!
são paulo
(from: wikipedia - São Paulo)

The most popular city for tourists is Rio De Janeiro
rio de janeiro

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Exodus


Let's keep learning about the other Books of Law in the Old Testament.

We already learned about Genesis, next up is Exodus.

The word Exodus is Greek, and it means "Going out".
It is all about God's people the Hebrews and how the escaped slavery from Egypt with God's help.

The main person in Exodus is Moses.

The book tells of his birth and how as a baby he floated down the river
and was found by the Queen of Egypt to be raised as his own.

Then when he became older he fled Egypt and spoke to God in the burning bush

He returned to Egypt and demanded the Pharaoh let the Hebrews go.
When they didn't, God punished Egypt, sending things called plagues.

Then finally the Hebrews were free and they fled Egypt, but the Pharaoh tried to get them back.
When they chased Moses and the Hebrews, God parted the Red Sea for the Hebrews, but let it flood and drown the people chasing them.

Finally the Hebrews were free, and God gave Moses the Ten Commandments as rules to live by.

(from: wikipedia - the exodus)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Pluto


We just learned about the planet Neptune.

Pluto's not a planet, but it used to be!

For about 75 years, Pluto was one of the nine planets in our solar system.
Then someone changed what it takes to be a planet, and now Pluto is called a Dwarf Planet.
pluto
(from: wikipedia - dwarf planet)

Scientists saw that in outer space near Pluto,
there were other things near the same size floating around.

In an area called the Kuiper belt they found four other Dwarf Planets
so Pluto's not really alone out there, it's just not a big planet like the other eight!

The five Dwarf Planets are Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.

Friday, March 22, 2013

French - This house is big


Let's learn how to talk about the things we see every day.

To say This house is big you would say Cette maison est grande

This - Cette - sounds like set /?/
house - maison - sounds like may-zown /?/
is - est - sounds like et /?/
big - grande - sounds like guh-on /?/

All together it sounds like set may-zown et guh-on /?/

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Light bulbs

We just learned about the Electrical Circuit.

Another part of electricity is how light bulbs work.

Inside a light bulb there are two wires that send electricity two a wire in the middle called the filament

This makes the filament glow super bright. It is typically made of a special metal called tungsten. (Sounds like tongues ten) light bulb
(From: Wikipedia - light bulb)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Arctic Fox


We just learned about the Chameleon.

The arctic fox's fur changes color from brown in the summer, to white in the winter!
arctic fox
(from: wikipedia - arctic fox)

It does this of course to blend in to the snow so it can hide from predators or prey.

The arctic fox also has super great hearing.
If there is an animal buried underneath the snow, the fox can listen to find exactly where it is,
then pounce down into the snow and get it!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Frontal Bone


We learned before that the part of your cranium where your brain is at is called the neurocranium

There are eight bones that make up the neurocranium,
one of them is called the Frontal Bone
frontal bone
(from: wikipedia - frontal bone)

It starts above your forehead, and goes all the way down to the top of your nose and eyeballs.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Caribbean Islands


We just learned about the country of Greenland.

We've covered the larger countries in North America,
but there's one thing we haven't mentioned yet... the islands!

The area that is South of the state of Florida is called the Caribbean Sea.
There are more than 30 island countries there, spread out over 7,000 islands!

caribbean islands
(from: wikipedia - caribbean)

The most populated islands in the Caribbean are Cuba, Dominican Republic and Haiti, each of them with over 10 million people.

There are over 40 million people spread across those small islands,
more people than live in the whole country of Canada!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Genesis


Remember we learned about how the Old Testament is all about what happened before Jesus was born, and that you can split it up into 4 parts: Law, History, Poetry, Prophecy.

There are five books of Law, and they are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The first book Genesis means beginning.

There are many well known people from this book that you might remember:

Adam & Eve - The first people God created.

Cain & Abel - Children of Adam & Eve.

Noah - Built the ark to avoid the flood.

Abraham - Made a promise with God, father of the Israelites.

Isaac - Abraham's only son, almost sacrificed but saved by an angel.

Jacob & Esau - Twins, Jacob gets renamed as Israel.

Joseph - Coat of many colors.


(from: wikipedia - Book of genesis)

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Neptune


We just learned about the planet of Uranus.

Neptune is the eighth and last planet in our solar system,
but it wasn't always that way!
neptune
(from: wikipedia - neptune)

For almost 100 years, Neptune was known as the last planet in our solar system.
Then in 1930, someone discovered Pluto!

For 40 years, Pluto was the furthest planet from the Sun in our solar system,
but then in 1979 it's orbit brought it closer to the Sun and Neptune became the furthest (and ninth) planet.

It was like that for 20 years and then switched back to Pluto being furthest.

Then in 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet,
making Neptune the furthest again.

Friday, March 15, 2013

French - We are surprised


We've now learned how to say I am happy,
you are sad, he is angry, and they are excited, in French.

Now let's learn how to say We are suprised.

We can break it up into the three words:
We - Nous - sounds like nooz /?/
are - sommes - sounds like sum /?/
surprised - surpris - Sounds like see-uh-puh-ee /?/


All together Nous sommes surpris sounds like noo-sum-see-uh-puh-ee.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Electrical Circuit


Now that we've learned about voltage, current and resistance,
we can try to understand an electrical circuit.

Remember what we've learned already by comparing electricity to water flowing through a pipe:
Voltage - The speed of the water flowing through
Current - How big around the pipe is
Resistance - A part where the pipe gets smaller and makes it tougher for water to get through

When people draw pictures to represent electrical circuits, they use special pictures and letters:
electrical circuit
(from: wikipedia - electrical circuit)

v with the circle and +- in it stands for voltage.
i with an arrow stands for current
R with the zig-zag lines stands for resistance

So if you think of it like a water hose, the faucet is starting at v and the voltage
is how much you've turned on the faucet. Just a drip or full blast?.

The current i is for how big around the hose is.
Is it just a regular garden hose, or a big fire truck hose?

The resistance R is if there are any kinks in the hose,
or if anything is stuck in the hose.

You can see that all those things together make the water come out of the end of the hose really fast or really slow!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Chameleon


Can you move your right eye without moving your left one?
Can you cross your eyes?
Can you have one look up and the other look down?

A chameleon can do all of these things!
chameleon
(from: wikipedia - chameleon)

There's no hiding from a chameleon, even if you're standing behind, above or under them, they can move their eyes and see you.

And if you're a bug, they use their super long tongue to reach out and grab you for lunch!

Chameleons are great at hiding too, when a bigger animal comes along.
They can change their body to all sorts of colors!
panther chameleon
(from: wikipedia - panther chameleon

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Facial Skeleton


Remember we already learned that the head bone or human skull is called the cranium,
and that the part in the back of your head that holds your brain is called the neurocranium

The part in the front that has your face is called your facial skeleton, viscerocranium or splanchocranium.
facial skeleton
(from: wikipedia - facial skeleton)

It's everything from your forehead to your nose to your cheeks and mouth.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Greenland


We just learned a little about the Central American Countries.

If you go North and East from the US or Canada, you will find a country called Greenland.
greenland
(from: wikipedia - greenland)

It is an island, and the largest island on the Earth that is not considered a continent.

At over 800,000 square miles, Greenland is larger than the largest US state Alaska (under 700,000),
but with less than 57,000 people, it's less populated than the least populated US state Wyoming. (over 500,000)

This is mostly because almost all of Greenland is covered in a big sheet of ice!
greenland ice sheet


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Old Testament


We just learned a little about the Old Testament and New Testament.

The Bible can seem like a really huge book if you look at the whole thing.

But if you can look at it and can understand the different parts, it can be less confusing.

The Old Testament can be looked at in four sections:
Law, History, Poetry, Prophecy

There are 5 books of law, 12 books of history, 5 books of poetry,
5 books of major Prophets, and 12 books of minor prophets.

We'll learn more about these next time!


(from: wikipedia - old testament)

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Uranus


We just learned a little about Saturn.

Uranus is the third biggest planet in the solar system and almost the furthest from the sun.
It is over 14 times bigger than Earth
uranus
(from: wikipedia - uranus)

The most interesting thing about Uranus is the way it rotates or spins.
The way Earth and the other planets spin around, you can think of them like spinning tops orbiting the sun.

But Uranus doesn't spin like a top, it acts more like a ball rolling on the ground.
The orbit is completely sideways!

This means that for half of it's year, it's South Pole is facing the sun,
and for the other half, it's North Pole is facing the sun.

Since a year on Uranus is 84 Earth years long, that means it's sunny in the North Pole for 42 years!

Friday, March 8, 2013

French - They are excited


We've now learned how to say I am happy,
you are sad and he is angry in French.

Now let's learn how to say They are excited.

We can break it up into the three words:
They - Ils - sounds like eels /?/
are - sont - sounds like sown /?/
excited - excité - Sounds like ex-ee-tay /?/


All together Ils sont excité sounds like eel-sown-ex-ee-tay.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Resistance


Remember we said before that the three basic parts for most of the electricity that we see every day are:
Voltage, current, and resistance.

We can learn about electricity by comparing it to how water flows through a pipe.
We learned that voltage is like the speed that the water is going.
and that current is like the size of the pipe.

You can think of the Resistance as anything in the pipe that would slow down the water.

So if the pipe got smaller in the middle, that would make it so not as much water could flow through.
resistance
(from: wikipedia - hydraulic analogy)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Alligators and Crocodiles


We just learned a little about Zebras.

What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?
alligator and crocodile
(from: wikipedia - crocodilia)

Can you see any difference?

One of the easiest differences to see is that the alligator on the left has a larger rounded mouth and nose
and the crocodile on the right has a smaller pointed mouth and nose.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Human skull


The whole human skull is called the cranium.
human skull
(from: wikipedia - human skull)

The part of the human skull that protects and holds your brain is called the neurocranium.
It is sometimes also called the braincase or brainpan.

neurocranium
(from: wikipedia - neurocranium)

Monday, March 4, 2013

Central American Countries


Below the three biggest countries, Canada, USA and Mexico,
you'll find 7 more countries that make up what is sometimes called Central America.

central america
(from: wikipedia - central america)

The countries are:
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Gautemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.

These 7 countries together make up 41 million people, (just 10 million more than Canada)
and all lumped together are smaller than Mexico.

They all have very warm weather since they're so close to the equator,
and 5 of them have coastlines on both the Pacific and Atlantic ocean.

The country Panama even has a canal going through it,
which is a water way that lets boats go through.
panama canal
(from: wikipedia - panama canal)

This is very helpful for travelers so they don't have to go all the way around South America!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Old Testament and New Testament


We just learned about the Apostle's Creed.

Did you know that the the Bible is split up into two parts?

The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament is a history of all the things that happened up until the birth of Jesus.

The New Testament starts during the time of Jesus, and tells of his birth, death and his followers.


(from: wikipedia - old testament)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Saturn


Saturn is the 2nd largest planet in our solar system, right behind Jupiter.
It's 9 times bigger around than Earth.
saturn
(from: wikipedia - saturn)

We already learned about Saturn's 12 Rings.

Saturn is a gas giant just like Jupiter,
and just like Jupiter it has a really big moon that's bigger than Mercury

The moon Titan is a little less than half the size of Earth.
cassini

Friday, March 1, 2013

French - He is angry


We just learned how to say I am happy and you are sad in French.

Now let's learn how to say He is angry. (Or she)

We can break it up into the three words:
He - Il - sounds like eel /?/
She - Elle - sounds like el /?/
is - est - sounds like et /?/
angry - en colère - Sounds like aw-cool-ay-uh /?/


All together Il est en colère sounds like eel-et-aw-cool-ay-uh.

and Elle est en colère sounds like el-et-aw-cool-ay-uh.