Steam Cylinder

We just learned about the Vacuum Pump.

Another part of the history of steam engines is the Steam Cylinder.

One inventor named Denis Papin had the idea to have a tube or a cylinder with hot water in it.
He found out that when you heated up the hot water, the pressure got really high with the steam and air pushing very hard on the walls of the cylinder.

This was the opposite of the vacuum pump, where it was sucking in, this was air pushing out.
He got the idea to have a pole or a piston that could be pushed out when the steam was heated up.
This piston could be used to push something up like a big machine.

So if the steam cooled down, the piston would go down.
If the steam heated up, the piston would go up.


(from: wikipedia - denis papin)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Anthropology

Andean Mountain Cat

We just learned about the Pampas Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Andean Mountain Cat.

This is a small cat that lives in the Andes mountains, and is endangered with less than 2,500 left in the world.

It lives up in the mountains, up above 5,900 feet!
They are about 3 feet long, one foot tall and weigh about 12 pounds.
Their fur is grey with some spots, and they have dark rings on their tails.

These cats look a lot like the Pampas Cat, and a lot of people mistake them.
There are a lot of very small differences that people can use to tell them apart, but they really have to know the differences!



(from: wikipedia - andean mountain cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Atolla Jellyfish

Meibomian Gland

We just learned about the Epicanthic Fold.

Another part of the eye is the Meibomian Gland.

Just inside the top and bottom eyelids are some small glands that help keep your eyes wet.
They let out a little bit of oily liquid called meibum that helps spread around the water tears that come out, help keep the tears from spilling over onto your face, and help keep the water from just evaporating.

If someone is having problems with their meibomian glands they can get really dry eyes.
The word "meibomian" was named after the person who discovered the glands, Heinrich Meibom.

(from: wikipedia - meibomian gland)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Soft Palate

Palmer Station

We just learned about the ANSMET Station.

Another research station in Antarctica is Palmer Station.

This station is right along the Antarctic Peninsula, and is actually on a small island named Amsler Island.
Because it is right on the water, this station spends most of its time studying the sea and the animals living in it near Antarctica.

There is a boat called the Laurence M. Gould that helps people travel from the station to South America.





(from: wikipedia - palmer station)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Crenel

The People's Crusade

We just learned a little about the The Crusades.

At the beginning of the Crusades, some of the church leaders were very upset because some people in other lands called Turks had come along and taken over other lands.
The Turks were not Christians, and many people said that the Turks were not nice to Christians in the lands they took over.
They also took over the holy places like Jerusalem.

Some of the church leaders called for people all over to attack anyone that wasn't a Christian, and even to kill them.
They called it a holy war, and told people that Jesus wanted this to happen and that if they died for this war Jesus would be happy, even though Jesus tried to teach people not to kill or hurt people.

One of the church leaders in Germany named Peter the Hermit gathered thousands of people and got them very angry at anyone that wasn't Christian.
These people were very poor and scared, and they followed him carrying shovels and pitchforks and not much else.
They were not well trained soldiers, but they were all told to go kill anyone that wasn't Christian, so they went through some parts of Germany and killed thousands of people.

Later they went up against some actual Turk soldiers, and almost all of the poor people were killed.

Because it was just normal people and not soldiers, this was called the People's Crusade.
It was a very sad time because these people didn't really know much of what was going on, they just needed someone to follow and they were poor and starving.
So they started the crusade, killed a lot of people, and then were killed themselves.


(from: wikipedia - people's crusade)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Battle of Milvan Bridge

Patience and Fortitude - Edward Clark Potter

We just learned about the On the Prowl - Edward Kemeys.

Another famous American sculpture is Patience and Fortitude made by Edward Clark Potter in 1910.

Potter was born in Connecticut in 1857, and grew up in Massachusetts.
He started off going to college to be a minister, but then later studied to be an artist.

He worked with famous artist Daniel Chester French where he learned about animal studies, and when he was 53 he made the sculpture of two lions out of pink Tennessee marble that are outside the front of the New York public library.

He named the lions Leo Astor and Leo Lenox for the private libraries that are inside the library.
During the Great Depression, the mayor of New York said that the people there were showing great Patience and Fortitude, so they renamed the lions to Patience and Fortitude to honor the people that lived through the Depression.



(from: wikipedia - edward clark potter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Taj Mahal

Russian - His face is rough

We just learned in Russian hands are soft is Ее руки мягкие (Yeye ruki myagkiye).

To say his face is rough you would say Его лицо грубо (Yego litso grubo).
His - Его (Yego) - sounds like yay-go 文A

face - лицо (litso) - sounds like lee-t-soh 文A

rough - грубо (grubo) - sounds like g-roo-boh 文A


So all together Его лицо грубо (Yego litso grubo) sounds like yay-go lee-t-soh g-roo-boh.



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Ansiktet hans er grovt

Greek: Το πρόσωπό του είναι τραχύ (To prósopó tou eínai trachý)

ASL: His face is rough

Italian: il suo volto è ruvida

German: Sein Gesicht ist rau.

Spanish: Su cara es áspera

French: Son visage est rude

Vacuum Pump

We just learned about the Steam Turbine.

Let's learn a little about how steam engines work.
First we need to learn a few other things that people discovered before they could make a steam vacuum.

One thing people discovered was the Vacuum Pump.

A long time ago people didn't understand a long time ago was how a vacuum worked.
Not like the vacuum cleaner that sucks dirt up from the floor, but a vacuum like a ball or a tube that is so empty that it has suction holding itself closed.

You can think about this like a plastic pop bottle that you suck air out of.
As soon as you let go, it will suck the air in and fill itself up again.

Back in 1654 people didn't understand this, so a man named Otto von Guericke came up with an experiment to show them.
He took two half circles made of metal, called the magdeburg hemispheres, and put them together like a closed ball.
Then he used a pump to suck out all of the air from inside, creating what is called a vacuum.

A vacuum is a space that has no air, or very little air.
Because he used a pump to do this, it was called a vacuum pump.

After that he challenged people to try and pull the half circles apart, but not even teams of horses could do it.
This understanding of how a vacuum works was one of the things that helped people invent steam engines.


(from: wikipedia - magdeburg hemispheres)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Firearm Examination

Pampas Cat

We just learned about the Ocelot.

Another type of wild cat is the Pampas Cat also called the pantanal cat, colocolo, and Leopardus Colocolo.

This cat is only a little bigger than a house cat, and has a big bushy tail.

It is only a little over 2 feet long.
The Pampas Cats has a lot of different looks, and can be red, grey or brown, with stripes or spots on it.
They only live in parts of South America,

(from: wikipedia - pampas cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Irukandji Jellyfish

Epicanthic Fold

We just learned about the Eyelids.

Another part of the eye is the Epicanthic Fold.

The skin above the eyelid for some people is folded over and lays over the top of the eyelid.

This happens more for some people depending on where they come from.
Asian people from countries like China or Japan usually have a bigger epicanthic fold than people form North America or Europe.


(from: wikipedia - epicanthic fold)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hard Palate

ANSMET Station

We just learned about the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station.

Another Antarctic station is ANSMET Station, which stands for Antarctic Search for Meteorites.

This is a station in the Transantarctic Mountains where 4 to 10 people live and collect meteorites.
They go out on snowmobiles and search in the snow for meteorites that are buried in the mountains.

ANSMET was built in the year 1976, and since then they have collected over 20,000 meteorites!
A few meteorites were from the moon, and a few were even from Mars!



(from: wikipedia - ansmet)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Parapet

The Crusades

We just learned about the East-West Schism.

Another part of early Christianity The Crusades.

During the time of the church's growth into Europe, the Christians sometimes would have battles against other groups of people that were not Christians.

Sometimes these people were in places like Jerusalem, and other times they were in countries like Germany.

The crusades went on for hundreds of years, and were like wars that people fought in the name of Christianity.
They fought them either to try and take back a land, or to try and force someone to be Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - crusades)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Edict of Milan

On the Prowl - Edward Kemeys

We just learned about the Great Spirit - Cyrus Edwin Dallin.

Another famous American sculpture is On the Prowl made by Edward Kemeys in 1893.

Kemeys was born in Georgia, and then later moved to New York.
He served in the civil war when he was 19 years old.

When he was in New York and Paris he learned to be a very good sculptor of animals.

He made two large bronze lions called "On the Prowl", and these sculptures are now in the front of the Art Institute of Chicago.


(from: wikipedia - lions (kemeys))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jama Masjid

Russian - Her hands are soft

We just learned in Russian our table is short is наш стол короткий (nash stol korotkiy).

To say her hands are soft you would say Ее руки мягкие (Yeye ruki myagkiye).

Her - Ее (Yeye) - sounds like yeh-yeh 文A
hands - руки (ruki) - sounds like roh-kee 文A
soft - мягкие (myagkiye) - sounds like m-yah-g-kee-yeh 文A



So all together To say her hands are soft you would say yeh-yeh roh-kee m-yah-g-kee-yeh.


(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Hennes hender er myke

Greek: Τα χέρια της είναι μαλακά (Ta chéria tis eínai malaká)

ASL: ASL: Her hands are soft

Italian: Le sue mani sono morbide

German: Ihre Hände sind weich

Spanish: Sus manos estan suaves

French: Ses mains sont douces

Steam Turbine

We just learned about the Turbine.

Another part of machine science is a Steam Turbine.

Remember a turbine is like a water wheel where it has blades that are pushed along.
When liquid is heated up and creates steam, the movement of the steam goes over the blades and makes them move.
These moving blades spin around a rod in the middle that helps create electricity or move a part of a machine.


(from: wikipedia - steam turbine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ballistic Fingerprints

Ocelot

We just learned about the Lynx.

Another type of wild cat is the Ocelot.

This is a smaller type of cat, only about 30 pounds and 2 feet tall.
It has spots and stripes on it's body, and rounded ears.

These cats are usually awake at night, and stay by themselves.
They are very good at climbing, jumping and swimming.

Ocelots live mostly in South America and Mexico, in forests and near lots of water.
Because they are so small, these cats have sometimes been kept as pets.





(from: wikipedia - ocelot)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Immortal Jellyfish

Eyelids

We just learned about the Nasolacrimal Duct.

Another part of the eye is the Eyelid, also called the palpebra, or palpabrea for both eyelids.

The upper eyelid is called the palpebra superior, and the lower is the inferior.

The job of the eyelids is to help protect the eye from wind, dirt or liquids, to help spread tears around the eye, and to close so that we can sleep at night.

Some people put makeup on their eyelids to color them, and some people even have plastic surgery on their eyelids to make them look higher or lower.


(from: wikipedia - eyelid)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sublingual Caruncle

Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station

We just learned about the McMurdo Station.

Another research station in Antarctica is Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station.

This station is owned by Belgium, and was made in 2009 in Queen Maud Land, one of the areas of Antarctica.

It is the only station on the continent that has zero emissions, which means it doesn't cause pollution when it makes energy for the station.

It uses solar panels and wind turbines to capture the sun and wind to use for energy.

The station usually has about 16 scientists at a time, and has a garage to use for snow vehicles that they can drive around.


(from: wikipedia - princess elisabeth antarctica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wall Walk

East-West Schism

We just learned about the Peace and Truce of God.

Another part of early Christianity is the East-West Schism.

Long ago when the first leaders of Christianity started building churches after Jesus died, the most powerful of all the churches was in Rome.

Saint Peter was seen as the first leader of the church in Rome, and so even though many other cities in Europe had leaders, Rome was the one in charge.

We learned about the emperor Constantine that ruled around the year 300, and he wanted to change things so he made a new city called Constantinople, in the country that is now called Turkey.

After that, people argued over whether Rome was better or Constantinople.

Through the centuries Christianity spread to the east into countries like Turkey, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.
It also spread west to countries like Spain, France, Germany and England.

After hundreds of years of Christianity spreading through the world, some people started to disagree with each other about who was really in charge, how the churches should be run, about how people should act in church, about what people should believe, and a lot of other things.

The people started to break up into two groups:
- The Roman Catholic Church - They supported Rome as the head of the church, and people from the western countries followed Rome.
- The Eastern Orthodox Church - They supported Constantinople as the head of the church, and people from the eastern countries followed them.

The word "schism" means splitting up.

When these two churches started splitting up, they called it the "East-West Schism" and it started the two groups of churches splitting up into east and west, for hundreds of years.


(from: wikipedia - east-west schism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Edict of Serdica

Appeal to the Great Spirit - Cyrus Edwin Dallin

We just learned about the Bucky O'Neill Monument by Solon Borglum.

Another famous American sculpture is the Appeal to the Great Spirit made by Cyrus Edwin Dallin, in 1908 in Boston.

This statue is made out of bronze, and is about 10 feet tall.
Dallin was born in Utah where there were a lot of Native Americans.
He grew up with them and learned a lot about their lives, and that helped him understand a little about the way they lived.

Later when he moved to Boston he learned about sculpture and went on to make a lot of very famous sculptures about Native Americans.

He made a group of 4 statues called "The Epic of the Indian", each with it's own name.

- A signal of Peace - A Native American man showing that he wants peace.
- The Medicine Man - A Native American medicine man.
- Protest of the Sioux - A Sioux warrior shaking his fist in the air, angry that his lands and buffalo are being stolen.
- Appeal to the Great Spirit - a Native American on horseback facing skyward, asking for help from the Great Spirit.





(from: wikipedia - appeal to the great spirit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chola Nataraja

Russian - Our table is short

We just learned that in Russian:
This house is big: Этот дом большой (Etot dom bol'shoy)
This chair is small: Стул маленький (Stul malen'kiy)
My drink is cold: Мой напиток холодный (Moy napitok kholodnyy)
Your food is hot: Ваша еда горячая (Vasha yeda goryachaya)
and their car is tall is Их машина высокая (Ikh mashina vysokaya)

To say our table is short you would say наш стол короткий (nash stol korotkiy).

Our - наш (nash) - sounds like nah-sh 文A
table - стол (stol) - sounds like stoh-l 文A
short - короткий (korotkiy) - Sounds like kah-roh-t-kee 文A

So all together To say our table is short you would say nah-sh stoh-l kah-roh-t-kee.


(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Vårt bord er kort

Greek: Το τραπέζι μας είναι σύντομο (To trapézi mas eínai sýntomo)

ASL: Our table is short

Italian: Il nostro tavolo è breve

German: Unser Tisch ist kurz

Spanish: Nuestra mesa es bajo

French: Notre table est courte

Turbine

We just learned about the Pneumatic Cylinder.

Another part of the world of machines is a Turbine.

This is a type of spinning wheel that uses liquid or gas flowing and uses it to spin around.

An old type of turbine would be a water wheel or a wind mill.
These machines would take wind or water to spin them around, and then that spinning would do something useful like help to grind up grains into flour.

Now we use turbines for things like using the power of a waterfall to make energy that people use for electricity in their houses.


(from: wikipedia - turbine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Toxicology

Lynx

We just learned about the Bobcat.

Another Lynx.

A lynx is another type of cat that looks a lot like the Bobcat, and sometimes people will even call the Bobcat a lynx.
There are 3 types of lynxes, the Canada Lynx, Iberian Lynx, and Eurasian Lynx.

Lynxes have a short tail, tufts of black hair on the tips of their ears, big padded paws like snowshoes for walking on snow, and big long whiskeres on their faces.

The Canada Lynx lives in North America, mostly where it is cold.
Their fur is either grey-white or kind of yellowish.
They are about 3 feet long, 2 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds.
Their fur gets longer in the winter when it gets cold out, sometimes long enough to drag in the snow as they walk.

The Iberian Lynx lives in the south part of Europe where it is warm.
There are only a few hundred of this type of Lynx left in the world.
They have short hair, that is brown and they have spots.
These cats are a little smaller than the Canada Lynx.

The Eurasian Lynx lives in Northern Europe, Russia and Asia.
These cats only live where it is very cold.
They have brown or red fur, and they are the biggest of the types of lynx.
They can be over 4 feet long, over 3 feet tall, and weigh over 45 pounds.

Canada Lynx:



Iberian Lynx:



Eurasian Lynx:




(from: wikipedia - lynx)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lion's Mane Jellyfish

Nasolacrimal Duct

We just learned about the Lacrimal Sac.

Another part of how the eyes work is the Nasolacrimal Duct.

Remember tears in the eye go into the lacrimal punctum, through the lacrimal duct and then to the lacrimal sac.
After that they drain out into the nasal cavity through the nasolacrimal duct.

If you cry too much and there are too many tears, the nasal cavity will overflow, giving you a runny nose.
This is why sometimes if you cry a lot it makes your nose run.


(from: wikipedia - nasolacrimal duct)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fimbriated Fold

McMurdo Station

We just learned about the Amundsen-Scott - South Pole Station.

Another research base in Antarctica is McMurdo Station.

This is the biggest station in Antarctica, and can have over 1,200 people staying there!

The land is claimed by New Zealand, but the United States runs the base.
This base has an airport where people can land cargo planes, and a port where big ships can dock.
If someone wants to go to the south pole, they first start at the McMurdo station.
People bring supplies to McMurdo base that are then brought to the south pole.

One of the ways people get around at the McMurdo base is a big bus called Ivan the Terra Bus.
It is 46 feet long, 12 feet wide and 14 feet tall, with tires that are over 6 feet tall!
Ivan can carry 56 people, and weighs 67,000 pounds.
With all that weight on the snow it can get up to 26 miles per hour.




(from: wikipedia - mcmurdo station)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Zwinger

Peace and Truce of God

We just learned about the Leif Erikson - Christianity in Greenland.

Another part of early Christianity is the Peace and Truce of God.

Long ago around the time of year 1000 AD, there was a lot of war and people killing each other trying to take over each other's lands.

The church wanted to try and stop this, or at least to help protect people that couldn't fight.
So they started something called the "Peace of God", also called Pax Dei.

This was a rule that the church came up with that said no one could attack poor people, women or children. They were not allowed to steal things from poor people or farmers.
Churches were also protected so that it was against the rules to attack them or rob them.

Later on the church also started something called the Truce of God, or Treuga Dei.
This made it against the rules for anyone to fight on Sundays.
It also made everyone promise never to attack any churches or the lands that churches owned, or the people that worked for the churches.

With the Peace and Truce of God, it helped stop all the people in power from just going around killing and robbing people all the time.


(from: wikipedia - peace and truce of god)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Great Persecution

Bucky O'Neill Monument - Solon Borglum

We just learned about the sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Riders by Alexander Proctor.

Another famous American sculpture is Bucky O'Neill Monument by Solon Borglum in 1907.

Borglum was born in 1868, and grew up in Western states like Utah and Nevada.
He moved all over the country to study and make art, living in Nebraska, Missouri, California, Ohio, Connecticut, South Dakota, New York and even France.
Bucky O'Neill was one of the Rough Riders that fought in the Spanish American war with president Teddy Roosevelt.
He died in battle and was considered a hero by many people, so they made this statue of him in Prescott Arizona.


(from: wikipedia - bucky o'neill monument)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ajanta Caves

Russian - Their car is tall

We just learned that in Russian:
This house is big: Этот дом большой (Etot dom bol'shoy)
This chair is small: Стул маленький (Stul malen'kiy)
My drink is cold: Мой напиток холодный (Moy napitok kholodnyy)
Your food is hot: Ваша еда горячая (Vasha yeda goryachaya)


To say their car is tall you would say Их машина высокая (Ikh mashina vysokaya).

Their - Их (Ikh) - sounds like ih-kh 文A

car - машина (mashina) - sounds like mah-shee-nah 文A

tall - высокая (vysokaya) - Sounds like v-soh-kah-yah 文A


So all together Их машина высокая (Ikh mashina vysokaya) sounds like ih-kh mah-shee-nah v-soh-kah-yah.



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Deres bil er høy

Greek: Το αυτοκίνητό τους είναι ψηλό (To aftokínitó tous eínai psiló)

ASL: Their car is tall

Italian: La loro auto è alto

German: Ihr Auto ist groß

Spanish: Su coche es alto

French: Leur voiture est haut

Pneumatic Cylinder

We just learned about the Pneumatics.

One use for pneumatics is a Pneumatic Cylinder.

This is a type of tube that is filled with pressured air.
More air can be pushed into it to make something move like a pole because the air is pushing it out.

We've learned before about using water or liquids in machines called hydraulics.
Some people choose to use pneumatics instead of hydraulics because if there is a leak then it is just air and no water will drip on anyone.

One good example of this is the Tiki Room at Disney Land.
The people chose pneumatics to do the movement of the birds and plants, and if there is a leak it won't make a mess for when the people are watching the show.


(from: wikipedia - pneumatic cylinder)


(from: wikipedia - walt disney's enchanted tiki room)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fingerprints