Saturday, February 29, 2020

Standing Lincoln - Augustus Saint-Gaudens


We just learned about the statue of Charles Sumner by Anne Whitney.

Another famous American statue is Standing Lincoln made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens in 1887 in Chicago.

Saint-Gaudens was born in Ireland in 1848, but moved to New York when he was a baby.
Growing up he learned about sculpture, and when he was 19 he moved to Paris and Rome to learn more about art.

He came back to American and in his adult life became very famous for making sculptors of Civil War heroes like Abraham Lincoln or Robert Gould Shaw.

His Standing Lincoln statue of Abraham Lincoln in Chicago is one of his most famous.
It is sometimes called "Abraham Lincoln: The Man" and is 12 feet tall made of bronze.

Many people say it is the most important sculpture of Lincoln from this time, and shows him rising from a chair about to give a speech.
Saint-Gaudens was at Lincoln's inauguration when he became president, and also at his funeral.
He really liked Lincoln a lot, and tried his best to make a statue that would stand for a long time honoring Lincoln.

It was such a famous statue in Chicago that famous people like Jane Addams would walk to the statue sometimes to look at it and be inspired by Lincoln's life.


(from: wikipedia - abraham lincoln: the man)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Konark Sun Temple

Friday, February 28, 2020

Russian - We are surprised


We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv),
you are sad is Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy),
he is angry is Он сердится (On serditsya),
and they are excited is Они взволнованы (Oni vzvolnovany).

Let's learn how to say We are surprised.

Мы удивлены (My udivleny)

We can break it up into two words:

We - Мы (My) - Sounds like Moo 文A
are surprised - удивлены (udivleny) - Sounds like oo-dee-v-lay-n-ee 文A

So all together Мы удивлены sounds like Moo oo-dee-v-lay-n-ee.

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

Norwegian: Vi er overrasket

Greek: Είναι έκπληκτοι

ASL: We are surprised

German: Wir sind begeistert

Spanish: Estamos sorprendido

French: Nous sommes surpris

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Hydraulics


We just learned about the Negative Feedback.

Another part of machine science is Hydraulics.

This means using the power of water to move machines.
The science of hydraulics goes back thousands of years, and can be as simple as just a water wheel that is using the power of a river to turn the wheel.

Any system that uses water to move something is using hydraulics.


(from: wikipedia - hydraulics)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ariane

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Snow Leopard


We just learned about the Black Panther.

Another type of big cat is the Snow Leopard, also called Panthera Uncia.

This is a big cat living in the mountains in Asia, mostly in China.
There are not a lot of these cats left, less than 10,000 in the world.
They live up in the mountains at elevations around 10,000 feet above sea level.

A snow leopard's fur is white and grey with black spots on its head and neck, with rosettes on its fur.
It has a bushy tail, a white belly, and eyes that are green or grey.

Because the snow leopard lives in cold places, it has longer fur than other leopards, and short ears that don't get too cold.
When it sleeps it can use its bushy tail as a coat, and it has big nostrils to help bring in a lot of fresh air to keep it warm.
These cats have very big paws to help it walk on snow like snow shoes, with fur on the bottom to help them keep their grip on rocks.

They are about 2 feet tall, 5 feet long, with a 3 foot tail and they weigh about 120 pounds.
Snow leopards can grunt and meow, but they can not roar like other big cats because of a difference in their throat.





(from: wikipedia - snow leopard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Moon Jellyfish

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Rapid Eye Movement


We just learned about eye movement of Smooth Pursuit.

Another part of eye movement is Rapid Eye Movement also called REM.

Sometimes when a person is sleeping, their eyes will move around quickly in a bunch of different directions over and over again for a while.
The quick or rapid eye movement also happens at the same time as a lot of activity in the brain even while you are asleep.
Some scientists think that REM is what happens when you are having very active dreams.


(from: wikipedia - rapid eye movement sleep)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Foliate Papillae

Monday, February 24, 2020

Adrien de Gerlache


We just learned about the Antarctic Territories.

The first human to ever try to make it to the South Pole in Antarctica was Adrien de Gerlache.

In 1897 AD, a sailor from the country of Belgium named Adrien de Gerlache got 18 people together to try and make it to the south pole.
One of the sailors on the ship was Roald Amundsen from Norway, and another was Frederick Cook from America.

Their ship called the Belgica got down to the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, and then the water turned to ice and their ship got stuck.

They were stuck there for a whole year, trying to survive in the cold by hunting penguins and seals.

From May through July, they had to live in total darkness because of the long winter!

A few people died and some others went insane, but people got really sad when their cat Nansen died, and they buried him in Antarctica.

In March of 1899 they finally got loose from the ice and sailed back home.
They didn't make it to the south pole, but they could tell everyone what it was like to live for a year in Antarctica.



(from: wikipedia - adrien de gerlache)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cairo Citadel

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Christianity in Bulgaria


We just learned about the Glagolitic Script.

Another part of early Christianity is Christianity in Bulgaria.

In a lot of parts of Eastern Europe, people still either did not know about Christianity or they did not believe in God.

Christianity was very well known in the Western parts of Europe, like Italy and England.
Bulgaria is a country in the Eastern part of Europe, just east of Greece, and just north of Turkey.
Because it was in a very special place at the edge of eastern and western Europe, people really tried hard to help spread Christianity there, so that maybe it would help it become more popular in the East.

King Boris I got baptized in 864 AD, and since then for over a thousand years there have been a lot of Christians in Bulgaria.


(from: wikipedia - christianization of bulgaria)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: First Apology

Saturday, February 22, 2020

Charles Sumner - Anne Whitney


We just learned about the Abraham Lincoln by Vinnie Ream.

Another famous American sculpture is the statue of Charles Sumner made in 1875 by Anne Whitney.

Anne was born in 1821, and through her life worked hard to be a sculptor.
Through her life she worked hard to fight for women's equal rights, to help save the environment, and to help people see that slavery was bad.

Because she was a woman, people would not let her go to some schools because they thought it was inappropriate for women to make sculptures of men's bodies.

She moved to Rome for a while and learned from some of the master sculptors there, and when she came back she made a statue of Charles Sumner who was famous for being against slavery.

There was a contest in Boston for who could make the best statue, so she sent in her statue of Charles Sumner.

She won the competition, but then when they found out the statue had been made by a woman they turned her away and picked someone else.

Anne Whitney went on to make a lot more sculptures of men and women, using her sculptures to help try and show people that women should be equals, and that slavery is bad.


(from: wikipedia - anne whitney)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rajagopuram

Friday, February 21, 2020

Russian - They are excited


We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv),
you are sad is Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy),
and he is angry is Он сердится (On serditsya).

Let's learn how to say they are excited.

Они взволнованы (Oni vzvolnovany)

They - Они (Oni) - Sounds like oh-nee 文A

are excited - взволнованы - (vzvolnovany) Sounds like v-z-voh-l-noh-vah-nee 文A

So all together Они взволнованы (Oni vzvolnovany) sounds like oh-nee v-z-voh-l-noh-vah-nee.

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

Norwegian: De er begeistret

Greek: Είναι ενθουσιασμένοι

ASL: They are excited

Italian: Sono eccitati

German: Sie sind aufgeregt

Spanish: Ellos estan emocionados

French: Ils sont excité

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Negative Feedback


We just learned about the Encoder.

Another part of a servo is Negative Feedback.

When a servo machine is working, and it needs to tell the motor to STOP, it needs some sort of a sensor that tells it when to stop.

A negative feedback part of a machine is something that senses when something gets to a point where it needs to stop, and the movement of the machine stops the machine itself.

That might sound sort of confusing, but if you think about a real world example it makes sense.

In a toilet there is usually a type of ball that is floating in the water in the tank.
When there is no water, the ball is hanging down, which lets the water flow in to fill up the tank.
As the water starts to rise, it gets to the ball and starts to make it float.
When it gets high enough, the ball is floating and it is connected to a valve that closes to stop water coming in.

So the ball floating is the negative feedback saying CLOSE THE VALVE AND STOP LETTING WATER IN, and the more the ball floats up the more the valve closes until it is totally closed and the water stops coming in.


(from: wikipedia - negative feedback)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: SM-65 Atlas

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Black Panther


We just learned about the Leopard.

Another type of Wild Cat is the Black Panther.

The black panther is not really a different type of cat, it is just a different color of cat.
Both the leopards that live in Africa or Asia, and the jaguars that live in the Americas can be born with black fur.

For a long time people thought this was a whole different type of cat, but scientists figured out later that they were just the same cats with different fur.

Sometimes leopards or jaguars can have fur that is totally black, and other times just part of their fur is very dark but you can still see spots on the other parts.





(from: wikipedia - black panther)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Flower Hat Jellyfish

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Smooth Pursuit


We just learned about the Saccade quick jumpy eye movements.

Another type of eye movement is called Smooth Pursuit.

This is where your eye can follow something that is moving along without losing sight of it.
So if someone throws a ball up in the air, your eyes can focus on the ball and watch it the whole time as it goes up and down.

Or if someone hits a baseball, your eyes can watch it go through the air and you can run to catch it.


(from: wikipedia - smooth pursuit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fungiform Papillae

Monday, February 17, 2020

Antarctic Territories


We just learned about the Marie Byrd Land.

Another part of Antarctica is the Antarctic Territories.

Whenever there is land to be discovered, someone always wants to plant their flag on it and call it their own.

Antarctica has 11 different territories that are claimed by different countries, like France, Argentinia, Australia, Britain, Chile, Norway, New Zealand, Brazil and Uruguay.

Most of the territories start at the south pole and go out like a triangle shape toward the edge of the water.
Australia has the biggest one called the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) that covers over 5 million square kilometers.

The only place that is not claimed is Marie Byrd Land.
Even though the land is claimed by a country, there might only be 200 or so people living in the whole area all year long.


(from: wikipedia - australian antarctic territory)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Castillo de Colomares

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Glagolitic Script


We just learned about the Saint Ansgar.

Another part of early Christianity is the Glagolitic script.

When some people wanted to go to parts of Eastern Europe to tell people about Christianity, they had a problem.
The language called Old Slavic that the people spoke and wrote in was not something taught in schools, and there weren't books for how to read it or write it.

This was a problem because they wanted to give people Bibles and other writings to learn about Christianity, but nobody knew how to write in their language.

So some church workers named Cyril and Methodius worked to come up with an alphabet that they could put into books and then teach to people so they could read and write in this language.

The alphabet they came up with was called the Glagolitic Script.
The word really means something like "speaking letters" and it got it's name many years after the alphabet was made.
Because they worked so hard to make this Glagolitic script, they could go to Eastern Europe and teach people about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - glagolitic script)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Decian Persecution

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Abraham Lincoln - Vinnie Ream


We just learned about the Angel of the Waters by Emma Stebbins.

Another famous sculpture made by a woman from American history is the statue of Abraham Lincoln made by Lavinia "Vinnie" Ream in 1871.

Vinnie was born in Madison Wisconsin in 1847.

When she was 14 her family moved to Washington D.C. where she got a job at the post office, and as a singer at church.
When she was 16 she got a job as an apprentice for a sculptor, and then when she was 18 President Abraham Lincoln asked her to make a sculpture of him to be used in Washington D.C.

Shew as the youngest artist and first woman to get hired by the US government to make a statue.

She sat with Lincoln every day for a month to try and look at him and make the sculpture as real looking as possible.

Vinnie once said "I think that history is particularly correct in writing Lincoln down as the man of sorrow. The one great, lasting, all-dominating impression that I have always carried of Lincoln has been that of unfathomable sorrow, and it was this that I tried to put into my statue."


(from: wikipedia - vinnie ream)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elephanta Caves

Friday, February 14, 2020

Russian - He is angry


We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv), and you are sad is Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy).

Now let's learn how to say He is angry.

Он сердится (On serditsya)

He - Он (On) - sounds like oh-n 文A
angry - сердится (serditsya) - Sounds like see-ay-dr-dee-t-ss-yah 文A

So all together Он сердится (On serditsya) sounds like oh-n see-ay-dr-dee-t-ss-yah.

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

Norwegian: Han er sint

Greek: Είναι θυμωμένος

ASL: He is angry

Italian: Lui è arrabbiato

German: Er ist wütend

Spanish: Él está enojado

French: Il est en colère

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Encoder


We just learned about the Servo, that has sensors to tell it when to start or stop.

One part of a servo is the Encoder.

An encoder is like a map that the servo uses, so when the machine moves it knows where it is and when to stop.
Encoders have markings on them that a sensor can see to tell the machine that it is moving.

A rotary encoder is a type of encoder for a machine that spins.
It has lines on it to help the machine figure out how far it spins around.
If a machine spins to the right, the sensor might see 10 black lines go by.
The machine would then know that if it wanted to go back to where it started, it could spin the other way until it counted 10 black lines go by.


(from: wikipedia - rotary encoder)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: R-7 Rockets

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Leopard


We just learned about the Jaguar.

Another type of wild cat is the Leopard.

Leopards are also part of the Felidae family just like lions, tigers and jaguars, and they are part of the smaller family of panthera just like the jaguar.
They live in the southern parts of the African and Asian continents.

Leopards can grow to be over 6 feet long, and weigh 200 pounds. They have a super long tail that can be 3 feet long.

There are a bunch of different types of leopards, usually living in different places like the African leopard, Indian leopard, Javan leopard, Arabian leopard, Persian or Anatolian leopard, Amur leopard, Indochinese leopard, and Sri Lankan leopard.

The leopard looks a lot like it's cousin the jaguar, but it is usually smaller and the rosette spots on its fur are usually smaller.
They can live in different areas, like grasslands, woodlands and rain forests.

Leopard cubs can live with their mothers for about 2 years before they go off on their own, and boy leopards usually live all by themselves.

On a leopard's ears and tails are white tufts of hair, and people think that the leopards can use those to talk to each other.
So if a leopard flicks it's ears or tail it might be trying to tell another leopard something like "get away" or "follow me".





(from: wikipedia - leopard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Crystal Jelly

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Saccade


We just learned about Peripheral Vision.

Another part of the eye is the Saccade.

When your eyes move, sometimes they move fast and sometimes they move slow.
If you quickly switch from looking at one spot to looking at another spot, that is called a saccade.

So if you are holding your open hand out, you can stare at your thumb and then quickly switch to staring at your pinky.
You don't need to slowly move your eyes along across the middle of your hand until you stop at your pinky, you just zip right over and look at it, and you can switch back and forth easily.

The word saccade is French for jerk, like a jerking movement as your eyes move around.


(from: wikipedia - saccade)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Filiform Papillae

Monday, February 10, 2020

Marie Byrd Land


We just learned about the Ross Sea.

Another part of Antarctica is Marie Byrd Land.

This is part of West Antarctica, and it is about 620,000 square miles.

A lot of parts of Antarctica have research stations or areas where countries of the world have said they own, but this part of Antarctica is not owned by anyone.

Because of this it is the biggest piece of land in the whole world that is not owned by anyone.

There have been some camps set up out in the middle of this land area to try and study it, and usually to try and drill very far down into the ice to see what it is like far below the surface.



(from: wikipedia - marie byrd land)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chillon Castle

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Saint Ansgar


We just learned about the Vikings and Christians.

Another person from early Christianity was Saint Ansgar.

We learned about King Charlemagne and how he helped Christianity grow through Europe.

A man named Ansgar who grew up being taught by monks about God and Jesus.
Charlemagne wanted someone to go north to the countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, so he told Ansgar to go and try to tell people up there about Christianity.

He met with a lot of kings and helped start some churches, but he also had problems because a lot of the kings in that area were fighting with each other.
So he could make friends with one king, and then a few years later that king wasn't in charge anymore and he had to leave and come back later.

He still helped spread the word to the northern countries there and set up some churches and told a lot of people about Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - ansgar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antilegomena

Saturday, February 8, 2020

Angel of the Waters - Emma Stebbins


We just learned about the Forever Free - Edmonia Lewis.

Another famous American sculpture is Angel of the Waters by Emma Stebbins in 1873.

Emma was born in New York in 1815, where her parents helped get her into schools that would teach her to be an artist
When she was 41 years old, she moved to Italy to learn from famous sculptors.

She was the first woman who was paid to do art for New York City, when she made the Angel of the Waters statue, sometimes also called Bethesda Fountain.
This statue is in New York's famous Central Park, and has a big fountain around it, and a big area for people to walk around.

It is an 8 foot tall bronze satue of an angel that is touching the top of the fountain where water is spouting up and around.

There are four small cherubs called Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace.

This fountain is supposed to be about the story where Jesus healed a man who could not walk who was sitting by a fountain of healing.


(from: wikipedia - bethesda fountain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ellora - Jain Caves

Friday, February 7, 2020

Russian - You are sad


We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv).

Now let's learn how to say You are sad.

Ты грустный

You - Ты (Ty) - sounds like too 文A
sad - грустный (grustnyy) - Sounds like g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee 文A

So all together Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy) sounds like Too g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee.


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

Norwegian: du er lei deg.

Greek: Είσαι λυπημενος

ASL: You are sad

Italian: Sei triste

German: Sie sind traurig

Spanish: Estas triste

French: Vous êtes triste

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Servo


We just learned about the Valve Types.

Another part of machines is a Servo, also called a servomechanism.

This is something that uses special sensors to make a machine move or stop moving if it senses something bad.

When you go to a store and the automatic door is closing but senses you walking through it and stops, that is using a servo.
The servo has a motor that is closing the door, and then the sensor tells it that there is someone there, and it tells the motor to stop.

When it is clear, the servo tells it to close the door.

So a servo is really like a smart machine controller that automatically turns on or off when it needs to.


(from: wikipedia - servomechanism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: PGM-11 Redstone

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Jaguar


We just learned about the Tigers.

Another type of wild cat is the Jaguar.

This is the third biggest kind of cat after the lion and tiger.
It can grow to be about 350 pounds, and six feet long, with a 2 foot tail.

They have spots all over their body, with different sizes and shapes.
On their head, feet and belly, their spots are mostly just all black.
Their bodies have things called rosettes, which sort of like rose shaped black marks that are darker brown in the middle, and sometimes have a dot in the middle.
Other than their spots they have brown heads, backs and legs, and their belly area has white fur.

Jaguars live in Central and South America, but don't usually come as far north as the United States.

Just like a tiger, jaguars usually live by themselves.
Baby jaguars will live with only their mother for about 2 years and then they go live by themselves.
They can live to be around 12 years in the wild, and if they are taken care of in a zoo they can live over 20 years.

Jaguars are strong swimmers, and can even hunt things like Caimans that live in the water and are like an alligator.




(from: wikipedia - jaguar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Upside Down Jellyfish

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Peripheral Vision


We just learned about the Field of View.

Another part of the eye is Peripheral Vision.

When you are looking straight ahead at something, you can still see things a little bit that are on the left and right sides of your head.

The word "peripheral" means on the outside or on the edge of something.
So peripheral vision is looking at things that are on the outside edge of what you are seeing.


(from: wikipedia - peripheral vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Taste Buds

Monday, February 3, 2020

Ross Sea


We just learned about the Weddel Sea.

Another part of Antarctica is the Ross Sea.

This sea is on the other side of Antarctica from the Weddel sea, and it is about 246,000 square miles.
Because it is further away from other land, many scientists see this place as the last place on earth that has not been hurt by pollution.

There are many scientists who go to the Ross sea to try and study the animals and ice there, without making any changes to the Ross Sea just so we can study what the earth was like a long time ago.

A lot of animals live in this area too, like penguins, whales and seals.
Because this place has not really been touched by humans, there are a lot of people trying to keep it safe and make sure it does not get polluted or ruined.


(from: wikipedia - ross sea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kilkenny Castle

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Vikings and Christians


We just learned about the King Charlemagne.

Another part of early Christianity is Vikings and Christians and how they lived together.

Sometimes vikings would go do a raid, and attack another group of people.
They would steal food and things, but they would also sometimes steal people.

The people they brought back were either made to be slaves or taken as wives for the vikings.
A lot of the people they took were Christian, so just by doing these raids more and more vikings would get to live around Christians.

Just by being with Christians and living with them, many vikings became Christian, and that helped Christianity grow in countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway.


(from: wikipedia - vikings)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Muratorian Fragment

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Forever Free - Edmonia Lewis


We just learned about the The Woman of Samaria (Rebecca at the Well) - William Henry Rinehart.

Another famous American sculpture is Forever Free by Edmonia Lewis in 1867.

Edmonia was born in New York in 1844, while there was still slavery in America.
Her father was part African and Haitian, and her mother was part African and Native American.

When she grew up in America it was very difficult for her because life was not fair for women, African Americans or Native Americans.
She was not allowed to go to school or get jobs that men or white people were allowed to have.
When she was nine years old, her parents died so she went to Niagara Falls to live for a while with her two aunts that were Native American, and she changed her name to "Wildfire".

When she was 15 she was sent to a school in Ohio where they allowed women and African American people. She was still not treated very nice and at one point some people tried to put her in jail saying that she poisoned some other students. They did not even let her graduate school.

In 1864 when she was 20 years old she moved to Boston and started making sculptures.
The Civil War was going on, so she started making sculptures of Civil War heroes like Robert Gould Shaw.
Later on she saved up enough money to move to Rome where she could work with other famous sculptors.

Her statue called "Forever Free" was made in 1867, just after the Civil War was over.
It shows a man standing up who was in chains but is now free.
A woman is kneeling next to him praying, and she is dressed in nice clothes.
She had the woman in clothes because a lot of sculptures of women at the time had women not wearing much, and she thought that made people only think about what women looked like.

Her sculptures became so famous that President Ulysses S. Grant asked for her to come and make a sculpture of him.


(from: wikipedia - edmonia lewis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ellora - Hindu Caves