Okapi

We just learned about the Dolphi.

The okapi is an animal closely related to the giraffe, but looking at it you'd think it was almost a zebra because it has white and black stripes on it's legs.


(from: wikipedia - okapi)

The okapi's tongue is bluish gray, and is so long that it can lick it's own eyes and ears clean!

(from: wikipedia - okapi)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kangaroos

Epiglottis

When you breathe, your mouth takes in air.

When you eat or drink, your mouth takes in solids and liquids.

The epiglottis helps keep your air going into your lungs, and keeps the food and drink out of your lungs.

The epiglottis is a small piece of skin below your pharynx that usually stays pointed up and out of the way so you can breathe.

When you swallow, a bone in your throat called the hyoid bone pulls it down flat and blocks your trachea, so the food doesn't go into your lungs.

(from: wikipedia - epiglottis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mandible

Democratic Republic of the Congo

We just learned about the country of Egypt.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (sometimes just called DR Congo) has the fourth most people of any country in Africa, and is the second largest by size.

(from: wikipedia - democratic republic of the congo)

To eat in DR Congo you might have Fufu, which is smashed up boiled yams, usually served with a dipping sauce like peanut soup.

(from: wikipedia - congolese cuisine)

Tshimanga "Tim" Biakabutuka from DR Congo played football at the University of Michigan.

(from: wikipedia - michigan wolverines)

Mount Nyiragongo in DR Congo is an active stratovolcano with a lava lake.

(from: wikipedia - mount nyiragongo)

The DR Congo has a very large rain forest that is a great natural resource. It is over 13,000 square miles!

(from: wikipedia - salonga national park)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Peru and Ecuador

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

We just learned about Jesus' Miracle when he Calmed the storm.
When Jesus was walking through towns, he would sometimes go speak to large crowds of people.

The word sermon means something like a speech or someone talking about the Bible.
One of the times Jesus went up on a hill to talk to people was so famous that they wrote it all down and we call it the Sermon on the Mount because it was a very big hill like a mountain.

We'll talk more about what the sermon on the mount said next time!


(from: wikipedia - sermon on the mount)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Judges

Waning Crescent

We've learned now about the moon's lunar phases: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous and last quarter.

After last quarter, the moon continues to get darker on the right side.
Once it is almost totally dark and there is only a crescent of light on the left side, that is called waning crescent.

Remember that when the light crescent is on the right side, that is waxing crescent.

(from: wikipedia - category:lunar phases)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Meteorite

Spanish - Your food is hot

We've learned that in Spanish:
I am happy is Estoy feliz,
You are sad is Estás triste,
He is angry is Él está enojado,
They are excited is Ellos estan emocionados,
We are surprised is Estamos sorprendido,
This house is big is Esta casa es grande,
The chair is small is La silla es pequeña and
My drink is cold is Mi bebida es fría.

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

To say My food is hot you would say Tu comida está caliente

We can break it up into four words:
Your - Tu - sounds like too /?/
food - comida - sounds like coh-mee-dah /?/
is - está - sounds like ay-stah /?/
hot - caliente - sounds like cah-lee-en-tay /?/

All together Tu comida está caliente sounds like Too coh-mee-dah ay-stah cah-lee-en-tay.



(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - Your food is hot - Votre nourriture est chaud

Minerals

We just learned about the rock Petoskey.

We've learned about how rocks are mostly made up of other types of rocks that have either been squished together, melted together or piled on top of each other.

The building blocks of rocks are called minerals.
Some types of minerals are like crystals, and some are more like metals.

When these minerals get crushed, melted or squished together, they can make up rocks.

Like the rock marble that we learned about before is made up of the minerals calcite and dolomite.
(from: wikipedia - marble)


(from: wikipedia - calcite)


(from: wikipedia - dolomite)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kinematics

Dolphin

Dolphins are very smart animals, but they are not fish!

They are mammals, and they breathe air just like us, but they breathe through the hole in the top of their head called a blowhole.

Some dolphins have learned that when they are looking for food on the ocean floor using their nose, they can put a sponge on the end of their nose and it will protect it from getting scratched up!


(from: wikipedia - dolphin)

Dophins have been known to sometimes save humans from shark attacks, and even to help out other animals like whales.

A bunch of dolphins is called either a school or a pod.

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spider Monkey

Pharynx

At the very back of your throat and above your larynx is something called the pharynx.

It is the area that connects your mouth and nose to your throat.

(from: wikipedia - pharynx)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Temporal Bone

Egypt

Let's keep learning about the countries in the continent of Africa.
Last time we learned about Ethiopia.

Now let's learn about Egypt.
Egypt is on the Northeast part of the continent, and it is the only country in Africa that is connected to the continent of Asia, where it borders Israel.


(from: wikipedia - egypt)

To eat in Egypt you might have a dish called Kushari, which is rice, macaroni, lentils, tomato sauce, spaghetti, chickpeas and fried onions.

(from: wikipedia - kushari)

A very famous actor from Egypt was Omar Sharif. He won several awards for his movies.

(from: wikipedia - omar sharif)

The sphinx and pyramids are ancient stone buildings that people made over 4,000 years ago for the Pharaohs who were like kings long ago.

(from: wikipedia - great sphinx of giza)

Ancient Egyptians used pictures to write their words, and we call these heiroglyphics which means something like sacred carvings. They would very often carve these pictures into walls of buildings for their writing.

(from: wikipedia - egyptian hieroglyphs)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chile and Bolivia

Jesus' Miracles - Calming the storm

We've learned about Jesus' Miracles healing lepers, healing the blind, healing the paralyzed, healing women, healing on the sabbath, healing in a synagogue, healing a deaf and mute person, healing the centurion's servant, healing just by touching his cloak, raising the dead, turning water to wine, catching fish, feeding the multitude and walking on water.

Another miracle Jesus performed was when the apostles were in a boat in the water, Jesus was asleep in the boat.

While he was sleeping, a wild storm came along and was so big that there were waves crashing over the boat and the Apostles were afraid they might drown.

They woke Jesus up to see if he could help, and he got up and calmed the storm.
After the storm was calm, he told them that they should not have been afraid since he was in the boat, even though he was sleeping.

(from: wikipedia - calming the storm)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Joshua

Last quarter moon

We've learned now about the moon's lunar phases: new moon, waxing crescent moon, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous, full moon and waning gibbous.

After waning gibbous, the moon continues to get darker on the right side.
Once it is about half dark, that is called the last quarter moon.

Remember that when the left side is dark, that is the first quarter moon.

(from: wikipedia - category:lunar phases)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Meteoroid

Spanish - My drink is cold

We've learned that in Spanish:
I am happy is Estoy feliz,
You are sad is Estás triste,
He is angry is Él está enojado,
They are excited is Ellos estan emocionados,
We are surprised is Estamos sorprendido,
This house is big is Esta casa es grande and
The chair is small is La silla es pequeña
Let's learn more about the things we see every day.

To say My drink is cold you would say Mi bebida es fría

We can break it up into four words:
My Mi - sounds like Me /?/
drink - bebida - sounds like bay-bee-dah /?/
is - es - sounds like ay-ss /?/
cold - fría - sounds like f-dee-yah /?/

All together Mi bebida es fría sounds like Me bay-bee-dah ay-ss f-dee-yah.



(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - My drink is cold - Ma boisson est froide

Petoskey Stone

We just learned about the rock Mudstone.

Sometimes when sedimentary rocks are being formed, the small tiny pieces of rock fall on top of dead animals, and they can turn into rocks called fossils.

The bones of the dead animals get slowly squished by all the small tiny rock pieces, and they get hardened to the point that they turn into rocks.

One type of fossil is a petoskey stone.

It is made from very old coral that was in the lakes in Northeastern part of Michigan's lower peninsula.

(from: wikipedia - petoskey stone)


(from: wikipedia - petoskey stone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Velocity

Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are great hoppers!
Compared to a human, if a grasshopper were our size they could jump over a whole basketball court!

Grasshoppers don't have ears like ours, they have their ears on the sides of their bellies, and they are just flat, not like our ears that stick out.

(from: wikipedia - grasshopper)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dung Beetle

Adam's Apple

Inside the trachea where the Larynx and Vochal Cords are, there is something called Thyroid Cartilage, which is padding for the larynx.

This padding sticks out in your throat area as a lump you can see and feel.
The lump is nicknamed the Adam's apple, also called the laryngeal prominence.

The Adam's apple is bigger in boys than in girls.


(from: wikipedia - adam's apple)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sphenoid Bone

Ethiopia

Let's keep learning about the countries in the continent of Africa. Last time we learned about Nigeria.
The second largest country in Africa is Ethiopia. It is on the Northeast part of Africa, near the Indian Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - ethiopia)

To eat in Ethiopia you might have Injera, which is a type of bread usually served with some dipping sauces.

(from: wikipedia - injera)

There are many old instruments made throughout different parts of Ethiopia, like the masinko or kirar, which are string instruments like a guitar.

(from: wikipedia - music of ethiopia)

In a town called Lalibela, there are some large churches that were carved out of the rock.

(from: wikipedia - lalibela)

One of the things Ethopia is known for is making coffee.

(from: wikipedia - coffee production in ethiopia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Uruguay and Paraguay

Jesus' Miracles - Walking on water

We've learned about Jesus' Miracles healing lepers, healing the blind, healing the paralyzed, healing women, healing on the sabbath, healing in a synagogue, healing a deaf and mute person, healing the centurion's servant, healing just by touching his cloak, raising the dead, turning water to wine, catching fish and feeding the multitude.

Another miracle Jesus performed was when the apostles were in a boat in the water, and Jesus was on land.

He walked out on top of the water and walked to the boat!

(from: wikipedia - jesus walks on water)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Deutoronomy

Waning Gibbous

We've learned now about the moon's lunar phases: new moon, waxing crescent moon, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous and full moon.

After the moon is full and bright, it starts to get dark again.
The next phase after full moon is called Waning Gibbous.

Waning sort of means going away, so the moon is almost full and getting less full every day.
The waxing gibbous moon was a little dark on the left side.
The waning gibbous moon is a little dark on the right side.


(from: wikipedia - category:lunar phases)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Comets

Spanish - The chair is small

We've learned that in Spanish:
I am happy is Estoy feliz,
You are sad is Estás triste,
He is angry is Él está enojado,
They are excited is Ellos estan emocionados,
We are surprised is Estamos sorprendido
and This house is big is Esta casa es grande.

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

To say The chair is small you would say La silla es pequeña

We can break it up into four words:
The - La - sounds like lahh /?/
chair - silla - sounds like see-yah /?/
is - es - sounds like ay-ss /?/
small - pequeña - sounds like pay-kay-n-yah /?/

All together La silla es pequeña sounds like lah see-yah ay-ss pay-kay-n-yah.


(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - The chair is small - La chaise est petit

Mudstone

We just learned about the igneous rock pumice.

Another type of sedimentary rock is called Mudstone.

Just like the name sounds, mud stone is made from mud and clay that has collected over time, dried up and hardened to rock. It usually even still looks like mud that is dried, but it is a hard rock.

(from: wikipedia - mudstone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Time

Grouse

We just learned about the Peregrine Falcon.

The Grouse is a bird from the same family as a chicken, but it doesn't look like a chicken!

It has a big white collar, and a fancy black tail.

Grouse live in very cold areas of the world, and because of this their feet actually grow feathers to stay warm.

(from: wikipedia - grouse)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Panda

Vocal Cords

We just learned about our larynx that is sometimes called our voice box.

Inside the layrnx are your vocal cords also called your vocal folds or voice reeds.

Your vocal chords are two pieces of skin that stay open when you breathe, but when you want to talk they move close together and vibrate, kind of like when you put your lips together and blow air out to make a buzzing sound.

(from: wikipedia - vocal folds)



(from: wikipedia - vocal folds)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ethmoid Bone

Nigeria

We've learned about countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Let's move on to the continent of Africa!

The country with the most people in Africa is called Nigeria.


(from: wikipedia - nigeria)

To eat in Nigeria you might have suya, which is a spicy barbecued meat on a stick.

(from: wikipedia - suya)

Hakeem Olajuwon was a basketball player from Nigeria, that came to the US to play basketball. He was 7 feet tall, and had the most blocked shots of any basketball player ever with 3,830!

(from: wikipedia - hakeem olajuwon)

There are many wild animals in Nigeria, like the elephants in the Yankari National Park.

(from: wikipedia - yankari national park)

A special musical instrument in Nigeria is called the Ekwe, it is like a hollowed out log that is used as a drum.

(from: wikipedia - ekwe)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Argentina

Jesus' Miracles - Feeding the multitude

We've learned about Jesus' Miracles healing lepers, healing the blind, healing the paralyzed, healing women, healing on the sabbath, healing in a synagogue, healing a deaf and mute person, healing the centurion's servant, healing just by touching his cloak, raising the dead, turning water to wine and catching fish.

Another miracle Jesus performed was when a crowd of people had followed him to be healed and hear him speak.
It got very late and the crowd was very hungry, so his apostles looked to see how much food they had.

They only had a few loaves of bread and a few fish, and there were thousands of people to feed!

Jesus told the apostles just to pass out the bread and fish to the people, and they were amazed when there was somehow enough food for everyone, and even some left over.

(from: wikipedia - feeding the multitude)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Numbers

Waxing Gibbous Moon

We've learned now about the moon's lunar phases: full moon, new moon, waxing crescent moon and first quarter moon.

The next phase after first quarter is called waxing gibbous.

When the moon is almost full, but only a small crescent on the left side is dark, that is called waxing gibbous.



(from: wikipedia - category:lunar phases)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Asteroids

Spanish - This house is big

We've learned that in Spanish:
I am happy is Estoy feliz,
You are sad is Estás triste,
He is angry is Él está enojado,
They are excited is Ellos estan emocionados and
We are surprised is Estamos sorprendido.

Now let's learn how to say This house is big.

We can break it up into four words:
This - Esta - sounds like ay-stah /?/
house - casa - sounds like cah-sah /?/
is - es - sounds like ay-ss /?/
big - grande - sounds like gdahn-day /?/

All together Esta casa es grande sounds like ay-stah cah-sah ay-ss gdahn-day.


(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - This house is big - Cette maison est grande

Pumice

We just learned about the metamorphic rock Slate.

Another type of igneous rock is called Pumice.
Pumice is made up mostly of volcanic glass, and it has tiny holes all through it like bubbles.
Because there are so many holes in it, pumice is very light and sometimes can even float on top of water!

Pumice is very rough to touch, so sometimes it is used to scrub the bottoms of people's feet to help scrub away old skin and make their feet soft again like a baby's feet.

(from: wikipedia - pumice)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Distance

Peregrine Falcon

We just learned about the Emu.

The Peregrine Falcon is a medium sized bird that is a hunter.
Birds that hunt are called birds of prey.

When the pregrine falcon is going to attack, it flies up very high, then dives down through the sky to attack it's prey from above.

When the falcon is diving, it can get as fast as 200 miles per hour.
That's faster than any animal in the whole world!

(from: wikipedia - peregrine falcon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Turtle Scutes