Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Opthalmic Artery


We just learned about the Eye Movement.

Another part of the eye is the Opthalmic Artery.

This is what brings the blood up to all of the different parts of the eye.

There are a lot of other arteries that come out of this artery, like the central retinal artery, lacrimal artery, posterior ciliary arteries, muscular branches, supraorbital artery, ethmoidal arteries, medial palpebral arteries and terminal branches.

That's a lot of different arteries for such a small part of the body, but the eye has so many different things going on that there it needs blood in each different place!


(from: wikipedia - opthalmic artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Mucosa

Monday, December 30, 2019

Antarctic Ice Sheet


We just learned about Mount Erebus.

Another part of Antarctica is the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Antarctica is almost totally covered with ice.
About 98 percent is ice, which is close to the whole thing!
The huge chunk of ice covering it all is called the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

It is over 5 million square miles total, and it weighs over 26 million gigatons, which is over 58 quintillion pounds! A quintillion is a number with 18 zeroes, so that's 58,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds of ice!

The oceans are all made of salt water, but the ice is made of fresh water.
Over half of the fresh water in the world is stored in this huge ice sheet.

In East Antarctica, the ice is sitting on top of some other land like rocks.
But on the west side, the ice goes way down below the water, over 8,000 feet!


(from: wikipedia - antarctic ice sheet)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sonora

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Christian nations in 600 AD


We just learned about the Saint David.

There were a lot of Christian nations in 600 AD.

Around 325 AD there had been a lot of people going around telling people about God and Jesus, but there were only some spots around the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

By 600 AD, Christianity was in Europe at Great Britain, France, Spain, Greece and more.
It was in the Middle East through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and more.
And it was in Africa at parts of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.


(from: wikipedia - christianity in the 7th century)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Didache - The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Doctor John Witherspoon - Couper


We just learned about the Statue of Charles Sumner by Thomas Ball.

Another famous American sculpture is the statue of Doctor John Witherspoon by William Couper, at Washington DC in 1909 AD.

John Witherspoon was a minister in the Presbyterian church, and one of the people that signed the famous Declaration of Independence.

The sculptor William Couper grew up in Virginia, and then went to Munich Germany and Florence Italy to learn from some of the famous sculptors in Europe for 22 years.

He married Eliza Chickering Ball, who was the daughter of another famous American sculptor named Thomas Ball.


(from: wikipedia - doctor john witherspoon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wooden Buddha - Enkū

Friday, December 27, 2019

Russian - Red, Orange, Yellow

We just learned about the alphabet in Russian.

Now let's learn some colors!

red - красный (krasnyy) - sounds like k-dah-ss-nee 文A

orange - оранжевый (oranzhevyy) - sounds like oh-dah-n-zh-ay-vee 文A

yellow - желтый (zheltyy) - sounds like zh-eh-l-tee 文A


russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: rød, oransje, gul

Greek: κόκκινο, πορτοκαλί, κίτρινο

ASL: red, orange, yellow

Italian: rosso, arancione, giallo

German: rot, orange, gelb

Spanish: rojo, naranja, amarillo

French: rouge, orange, jaune

Thursday, December 26, 2019

Gasket


We just learned about the Valve Stem that sticks up from the valve.

Another part of a valve is the Gasket.

This is a small circle that goes inside any place where two pieces of a valve have to be connected.
So at the top where the bonnet goes is sometimes a gasket, and then where the ports connect to other pipes is sometimes a gasket.

It's a way to help make sure that the liquid or gas doesn't leak out through where the two parts are connected.

Sometimes they're made out of rubber, but other times they're made out of paper or even metal.


(from: wikipedia - gasket)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: De Laval Nozzle

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Amebocyte


We just learned about the Velarium.

Another part of a jellyfish's body is an Amebocyte.

These are teeny tiny little animals that live in a jellyfish's body and will help eat up junk that the jellyfish doesn't want to eat.
Some of them look like tiny little crabs or clams.


(from: wikipedia - amebocyte)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Statocyst

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Eye Movement


We just learned about the Fovea in the back of the eye.

Another part of the eye is the group of Eye Movement that move the eye around.

There are six main muscles that move the eye.
Four of them are the "rectus" muscles, and they are attached to the top (superior) bottom (inferior) inside (medial) and outside (lateral) parts of the eye.

Whichever muscle is being used, the eye looks in that direction.
So if the superior muscle is being used, the eye looks up.
If the lateral muscles is being used, the eye looks outward.

The other two muscles are "oblique" muscles, top (superior) and bottom (inferior).
These muscles help control any twisting of the eye, or moving in diagonal directions.


(from: wikipedia - eye movement)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gingiva

Monday, December 23, 2019

Mount Erebus


We just learned about the Transantarctic Mountains.

Another part of Antarctica is Mount Erebus.

Antarctica is the coldest place on the earth, but it actually has volcanoes!
Mount Erebus is the second tallest volcano in Antarctica, and it is active.
That means that it spits out things like smoke or bits of rock from time to time.

This volcano has been active for over a million years, but it is still not hot enough to melt the south pole!


(from: wikipedia - mount erebus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Summer Palace

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Saint David


We just learned about the Gregorian Chant.

Another part of early Christianity was when Saint David visited the country of Wales.

He told people about God and Jesus and helped people in Wales become Christians.
Saint David did not like monks or priests to be rich.
He said that they should not own anything, not even a book! And he even told them that they should pull their own carts instead of using horses.



(from: wikipedia - saint david)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sabbath Day in Christianity

Saturday, December 21, 2019

Statue of Charles Sumner - Thomas Ball


We just learned about the The Rescue - Horatio Greenough.

Another famous American statue is the Statue of Charles Sumner made by Thomas Ball in 1878 in Boston Massachusetts.

Charles Sumner was a politician who fought against slavery in America.

The sculptor Thomas Ball started off in music, singing and playing the violin.
Later he started painting, and then he moved to Florence Italy to study art.
He stayed there for a while and would make sculptures and have them sent back to America.


(from: wikipedia - statue of charles sumner (boston))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Noh Masks

Friday, December 20, 2019

Russian Alphabet

We just learned how to Count to ten in Russian.

The Russian alphabet looks kind of like the English one, but there are some new letters and many that sound different.

Аа - sounds like the "a" in father
Бб - sounds like the "b" in bad
Вв - sounds like "v" in vine
Гг - sounds like the "g" in go
Дд - sounds like the "d" in do
Ее - sounds like the "ye" in yes
Ёё - sounds like the "yo" in your
Жж - sounds like the "s" in pleasure
Зз - sounds like the "z" in zoo
Ии - sounds like the "i" in police
Йй - sounds like the "y" in toy
Кк - sounds like the "k" in kept
Лл - sounds like the "l" in lamp
Мм - sounds like the "m" in map
Нн - sounds like the "n" in not
Оо - sounds like the "o" in more
Пп - sounds like the "p" in pet
Рр - sounds like the "r" when it is rolled, the same as the Spanish r
Сс - sounds like the "s" set
Тт - sounds like the "t" in top
Уу - sounds like the "oo" in tool
Фф - sounds like the "f" in face
Хх - sounds like the "ch" in loch, but with more air coming through, almost like a cat hissing
Цц - sounds like the "ts" in sits
Чч - sounds like the "ch" in chat
Шш - sounds like the "sh" in sharp
Щщ - sounds like the "sh" in sharp, and sometimes like "shch" in pushchair
Ыы - sounds like the "i" in hit
Ээ - sounds like the "e" in met
Юю - sounds like the "u" in use
Яя - sounds like the "ya" in yard

The last two letters are strange, because they don't have a sound but they change the way other letters sound when they are in a word.

Ъъ is called the "hard sign", and Ьь is called the "soft sign"

Sometimes when two letters are next to each other they make a different sound.
Just like in English, s and h sound different when they are put together like sh.

In Russian the word "объять" means "hug", and it is pronounced "ah-be-yeh-t"
The letter Ъ makes sure the "yeh" sound comes through.
Without that letter it would be "обять" sound like "ah-bee-t" because of the way that the letters "бя" go together.

The letter Ьь is a little different and is used sometimes to make something plural няня or нянъ.
It is supposed to make the letter "softer" in the word, but a lot of times it is really just something you have to remember to spell in a Russian word but you don't usually say it out loud.

russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

The Norwegian alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Æ, Ø, Å The Greek alphabet: Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω

ASL alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

The Italian alphabet looks the same as the English alphabet.

The German alphabet has the letters ä, ö, ü, ß

The Spanish alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ O, P, Q, R, RR, S, T, U V, W, X, Y, Z

The French alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G H, I, J, K, L, M, N O, P, Q, R, S, T, U V, W, X, Y, Z

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Valve Stem


We just learned about the Valve Seat.

Another part of a valve is the Valve Stem.

This is the part that sticks up out of the valve, and is used to help open and close the valve disc which lets gas or water go or stop.

There is a valve stem on a bicycle tire that sticks out.
If you hook a pump up to the valve stem, it will push in a pin which will allow air to go in or come out.


(from: wikipedia - valve stem)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nell Rocket - Robert Goddard

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Velarium


We just learned about the Jellyfish Statocyst.

Another part of some jellyfish is the Velarium.

For the box jellyfish, underneath the edge of the bell on the inside it folds in, kind of like a little shelf.
This makes it so that when they squish their bell to swim, it makes it like a torpedo and pushes water out faster than normal.

Because of this these are the fastest jellyfish in the world, and we already know they are one of the most dangerous because of their sting!
They can swim up to 20 feet per minute.
That's still not even one mile per hour, but for a stinging jellyfish that's pretty quick.


(from: wikipedia - box jellyfish)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cephalopod Skin

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Fovea


We just learned about the Photoreceptor Cells.

Another part of the eye is the Fovea, sometimes called the fovea centralis, central fovea or fovea of the retina.
The word fovea just means a pit or a depression, and there are other parts of the body that have small pits so sometimes people have to say fovea centralis of the retina to make sure everyone knows which fovea they are talking about.

In the back of the eye by the macula on the retina is a small pit that is full of the cones we talked about.

This part of the eye is where the best sight comes from, when you are focused on looking at something while reading a book or driving a car.


(from: wikipedia - fovea centralis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Periodontal Ligament

Monday, December 16, 2019

Transantarctic Mountains


We just learned about the Antarctic Peninsula.

Another part of Antarctica is the Transantarctic Mountains, sometimes just called TAM.

This mountain range goes from one end of Antarctica to the other, and splits it between the East and West sides.
It is about 3,500 kilometers long,
The high summits and low valleys of the TAM are some of the only places on the continent that are not totally covered up by ice.


(from: wikipedia - transantarctic mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mysore Palace

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Gregorian Chant


We just learned about the Christianity in Britain.

Another part of early Christianity is Gregorian Chant.

This is a type of singing that monks or people in church would do, where choirs would sing very slowly with not a lot of different notes.

It was very popular in the churches for choirs to learn songs in Gregorian chant and then sing them during service.
They were usually sung in the Latin language.

Many people have believed for a long time that Pope Gregory I was the one who came up with this and told everyone to learn it, but other historians now think maybe it was someone else.

The legends say that a dove came down and spoke into Gregory's ear and told him what to do.


(from: wikipedia - gregorian chant)


Gregorian chant - Deum verum - Callixtus


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Great Fire of Rome

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The Rescue - Horatio Greenough


We just learned about the Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford.

Another famous American sculpture is The Rescue by Horatio Greenough in 1850, built to be by the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

In the early years of America, there were many wars between the American settlers and the Native Americans.

This statue shows a scared American pioneer woman holding her child, and a Native American warrior holding a tomahawk.
A large pioneer man is holding on to the Native American to keep him from attacking the woman, but also trying not to hurt the Native American.

In those days people were afraid of Native Americans and thought they were just savages that only wanted to kill Americans and did not know anything about the world like books or science or church.

So this statue was a way to show that the powerful Americans would come in and stop the Natives from killing people, and also help teach them how to be smart and good like Americans.

After the wars with the Native Americans were over, people looked at this statue again and did not like it anymore, because people felt differently about the past.

Many Native Americans were killed in the wars, and all of the land was taken over by Americans.
So when people looked at this statue they saw it as an American being cruel to the Native Americans.

In 1958 the statue was removed from the Capitol and put into storage, and later on in 1976 when it was being moved it was dropped and broken into many pieces.


(from: wikipedia - the rescue (statue))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Great Buddha of Kmakura

Friday, December 13, 2019

Russian - Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

We learned in Russian that 1-5 is раз (raz), два (dva), три (tri), четыре (chetyre), пять (pyat').
Now let's count up to ten!

6 шесть (shest') - sounds like she-s-t 文A

7 семь (sem') - sounds seh-m 文A

8 восемь (vosem') - sounds like voh-seh-m 文A

9 девять (devyat') - sounds like deh-v-yah-t 文A

10 десять (desyat') - sounds like deh-s-yah-t 文A


russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Do you remember how to say it in other languages?

Norwegian: seks, syv, åtte, ni, ti

Greek: έξι, εφτά, οχτώ, εννέα, δέκα

ASL: Six, seven, eight, nine, ten

Italian: sei, setto, otto, nove, dieci

German: seis, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Spanish: seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

French: six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Valve Seat


We just learned about the Valve Disc.

Another part of a valve is the Valve Seat.

We know that the holes where the water or gas come in are the ports, and that the part of the valve that closes those holes is the disc.
The part of the valve that touches the disc and makes it a tight seal so nothing can get through is called the seat.


(from: wikipedia - valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: L'Astronautique - Robert Esnault-Pelterie

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Jellyfish Statocyst


We just learned about the Ocelli.

Another part of a jellyfish's body is Jellyfish Statocyst.

We've learned about the Octopus Statocyst before, and it's pretty much the same thing.

The jellyfish has a small sac in it's body, with small hairs on the inside, and a hard ball inside.
When the jellyfish moves around, the ball rolls around and touches the hairs.
These hairs tell the jellyfish which way is up or down and which way they are swimming.


(from: wikipedia - statocyst)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cephalopod - Cirrus

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Photoreceptor Cells


We just learned about the Cone Cells.

Another part of the eye is the Photoreceptor Cells.

These are the rods and cones that we already learned about.
The different photoreceptor cells all take light and turn it into chemicals and electrical signals that tell the brain what you are seeing.


(from: wikipedia - photoreceptor cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alveolar Process

Monday, December 9, 2019

Antarctic Peninsula


We just learned about the West Antarctica.

Another part of Antarctica is the Antarctic Peninsula.

This is the most northern part of Antarctica that sticks out toward South America.

Many countries have made scientific bases to study the continent on this peninsula, because it has the mildest climate in all of Antarctica.


(from: wikipedia - antarctic peninsula)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pena Palace

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Christianity in Britain


We just learned about the Pope Gregory I.

Another part of early Christianity is Christianity in Britain.

Long ago living in England and Scotland were people called the Anglo Saxons.
They didn't believe in Jesus and God, so Pope Gregory I sent a man named Augustine on a mission to tell them about God.

Augustine talked to King Æthelberht of Kent and helped him be a Christian, and then people all over Britain became Christians too.


(from: wikipedia - gregorian mission)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ante Nicene Period

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Statue of Freedom - Thomas Crawford


We just learned about the Benjamin Franklin by Hiram Powers.

Another famous American sculpture is the Statue of Freedom by Thomas Crawford in 1857 AD.

This is a 20 foot tall bronze statue of a woman holding a sword, a wreath for victory and the shield of the United States.
She has a helmet with stars on it and an eagle's head with feathers.

The statue is on top of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.


(from: wikipedia - statue of freedom)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sahasrabhuja-arya-avalokiteśvara - Tankei

Friday, December 6, 2019

Russian - One, two, three, four, five


We just learned that dog and cat in Russian is собака (sobaka) and кошка (koshka)

Let's count to five in Russian!

1 раз (raz) - sounds like rah-ss 文A
2 два (dva) - sounds like d-vah 文A
3 три (tri) - sounds like t-dee 文A
4 четыре (chetyre) - sounds like cheh-tee-dee 文A
5 пять (pyat') - sounds like pee-yeah-t 文A


russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: en, to, tre, fire, fem

Greek: ένα (éna), δύο (dýo), τρία (tría), τέσσερα (téssera), πέντε (pénte)

ASL: One, two, three, four, five

Italian: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque

German: Ein, zwei, drei, veir, fünf

Spanish: Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco

French: Un, deaux, trois, quatre, cinq

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Valve Disc


We just learned about the Valve Handle.

Another part of the valve is the Valve Disc.

Inside the valve body is the part that moves to open or close to control the water or gas coming through.

There are a lot of different types of discs, that move in different ways to open up and close.


(from: wikipedia - valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tsiolkovsky Rocket Equation

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Ocelli


We just learned about the Rhopalium.

Another part of a jellyfish is the Ocelli.

In the parrs of the jellyfish's bell where it dents in called the rhopalium, sometimes a jellyfish will have eyes called the ocelli.

They are very simple and do not have a lot of parts like human eyes, but they can sense some darkness and light, and use that to swim toward or away from something.


(from: wikipedia - carybdeida)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cephalopod Eyes

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Cone Cells


We just learned about the Rod Cells.

Another part of the human eye is the Cone Cells.

Cones are different than rods, because they help us see in color.
There are only about 6 million cone cells in the eye, versus about 90 million for rods.
Rods are mostly used just for dark and light, but cones have a different shape so they bring in different types of light.

There are three types of cones in the human eye: S-cones, M-cones and L-cones.
Each type brings in a different type of light.

Remember before we learned about the colors in ROY-G-BIV, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
The colors are put in that order for their "wavelength" which basically just means how the light travels through the air.

The long wavelengths start at the R, G is in the middle, and V is the shortest.
They overlap, and L, M and S cones share some color vision.

L-cones help us see Red, Orange, Yellow and Green.
M-cones help us see Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue.
S-cones help us see Green, Blue and Violet.


(from: wikipedia - cone cell)



(from: wikipedia - color vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dental Alveoli

Monday, December 2, 2019

West Antarctica


We just learned about the East Antarctica.

The other part of Antarctica is called West Antarctica.

It is much smaller than East Antarctica, and is sometimes called "Lesser Antarctica".

West Antarctica has the warmest part of the continent, and actually even have parts that have no ice on them during the summer, which is in January for Antarctica.

This part of Antarctica has a long peninsula that goes north toward South America, and is the closest to any other continent to Antarctica.


(from: wikipedia - west antarctica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Potala Palace

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Pope Gregory I


We just learned about Anno Domini.

Another part of early Christian history was Pope Gregory I.

When Gregory was younger, he was born to a rich family, and went to school.
Later on he joined the church and lived the life of a monk, giving to the poor and spending days quietly praying.
When his parents died, he took their land and turned it into a monastery for other monks to live.

One day he became Pope.
At that time there were many poor and sick people in Rome.
He worked to use his farms to make food to be sent to poor people all over the country.

He also tried to make it so the church was more organized, and he also sent people out as missionaries to other countries like England to tell them about Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - pope gregory i)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christian Name