Sunday, January 31, 2021

Heliocentrism


We just learned about the Believer's Baptism.

Another part of early Christianity is Heliocentrism.

Long ago people in the world saw the sun come up one side of the sky and then go down in the other.
People thought that the world was flat, and the sun was up in the sky going around the earth.
Later on people changed and agreed that the world was not flat but that it was a globe, but they still believed that the sun went around the earth.

Through the years a few scientists tried to tell people that the earth actually went around the sun, but people did not believe them.
The idea that the earth is at the middle of the universe is called geocentrism.
The idea that the earth actually orbits around the sun is called heliocentrism.

In 1610 AD the astronomer Galileo wrote a paper called "Sidereus Nuncius" which means Starry Messenger, telling people about how he beleived the earth orbited around the sun.

The church was very upset because they believed that if the earth was not the center of the universe, then that would mean it was not special or that it went against something that was in the Bible.

Galileo was put on trial and was found guilty, and told he was not allowed to teach people that because they thought it was not true.
The astronomer Copernicus had said the same thing many years earlier, but people did not believe him either.

Galileo's and Copernicus' books were banned for their whole lives, and the church did not allow them to be printed until about 200 years later.


(from: wikipedia - heliocentrism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vikings and Christians

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Throwback - Tony Smith


We just learned about the S, Metal by John Chamberlain.

Another famous American sculpture is Throwback by Tony Smith in 1979 in Washington DC.

Smith was born in 1912 in New Jersey, and was very sick as a child.
He grew up during the depresson, and went to an art school in New York while he was growing up.
Later on in life he worked as an architect and an art teacher in college.

He was known for making what was called Minimalist art, which was artwork that was very simple looking, but was still very interesting.

For his sculpture called Throwback, it was a 7 foot by 11 foot sculpture made of aluminum that was welded together.
The pieces were all at different angles so they made a sort of squarish ring with a lot of edges.

Smith really liked geometry, which is how shapes look and work together, so this sculpture that had a lot of different rectangle type shapes connected to each other in interesting ways.


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forever Free - Edmonia Lewis

Friday, January 29, 2021

Swahili - I am happy


Last time we learned that the Swahili words for horse, sheep and duck are farasi, kondoo, and bata.

Let's learn how to say I am happy in Swahili!

We can break it up into a few words.

I am - Nina - sounds like nee-nah - 文A


happy - furaha - sounds like foo-rah-hah - 文A


Together Nina furaha sounds like nee-nah foo-rah-hah


swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Я (ya), счастлив (schastliv)

Norwegian: jeg er glad

Greek: Είμαι (Eímai) χαρούμενος (charoúmenos)

ASL: I am happy

Italian: Sono felice

German: Ich bin glücklich

Spanish: Estoy feliz

French: Je suis heureux

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Cylinder Head


We just learned about the Cylinder in the engine block.

Another part of a car's engine block is the Cylinder Head.

The engine block cylinders are the piece that holds that pistons that move up and down.
On top of that cylinder part is the cylinder head.
This is the big metal piece that goes on top and closes in the pistons.

It also has other parts that let in fuel and take out the wasted exhaust from the piston.


(from: wikipedia - cylinder head)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Types

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Orangutan


We just learned about the Gorilla.

Another type of primate is the Orangutan.

The orangutans have orangey red colored fur, but their name doesn't come from their fur color.
In Malay the word "orang" means person, and "hutan" means forest.
Because these apes looked like furry people walking around the forest, long ago people actually thought they were just really hairy people!

Orangutans live most of their lives climbing around in trees and eating fruit.
They have really long arms which helps them climb, and they even make nests in trees to sleep in at night.
These animals are very smart, and have learned to use tools to get food.
Some orangutans like to eat bugs, honey or bark, and they will take a stick that they sharpened with their teeth to open up tree bark or to crack open fruit to eat the inside.
If an orangutan really likes the tool that it used, it will save it and collect other tools in their own little toolbox.

When orangutan males grow up, their face changes a lot, and grows to be flat and wide.
Orangutans don't live in family groups like chimpanzees or gorillas, they mostly live alone except for young ones that live with their mother for a few years.

There are three main different types of orangutans that live in different parts of the world and look a little different: Bornean, Sumatran, Tapanuli.

All wild orangutans live on the island countries of Borneo and Indonesia.

Bornean Orangutan:


Flared faces of male Bornean, Sumatran, Tapanuli:


Flared male face and non flared female face:


Baby orangutan:

(from: wikipedia - orangutan)



Orangutan Jungle School: And So It Begins - Smithsonian Channel


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tigers

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Blood Cancer


We just learned about the Epitope that the body looks at to find diseases.

Even though we've learned about all of the amazing things the human body does to fight off pathogens or diseases, sometimes the human body still gets sick.

Sometimes things go wrong with the blood cells we've learned about, with something called Blood Cancer.

Cancer is a disease that can affect any type of the body, from the bone to skin to brain.

Blood cancer has three different kinds: Leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma.

One of the ways that people test for these diseases is counting the number of each of the types of blood cells, from leukoctyes to lymphocytes to B cells.

The human body is supposed to have a certain number of each type of cells, and if the count is wrong then it can tell doctors something is wrong.


(from: wikipedia - tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Field of View

Monday, January 25, 2021

Kazakhstan


We just learned about the country of Hungary

Let's learn a little about the country of Kazakhstan!

This country borders Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
It is over a million square miles, and is the biggest country in the world that does not border any of the oceans.
Even though it is a very big country, there are only 18 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - kazakhstan)

The flag of Kazakhstan is light blue for the Turkic people, sky and water.
There is a yellow sun for wealth, and a yellow eagle is for freedom.
The left side has a pattern that is used a lot in Kazakhstan culture.


(from: wikipedia - flag of kazakhstan)

To eat in Kazakhstan you might have beshbarmak, which is boiled meat with noodles and onion sauce.
The name means "five fingers" because in the old days when nomads traveled around they would eat this with their hands.


(from: wikipedia - beshbarmak)

To visit in Kazakhstan you might go to the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Center.
This place is covered by a mesh tent made of wires that goes up about 500 feet.
Under the tent is a big place where a lot of people can have fun playing sports, shopping, going to a beach resort or boating down a river!

(from: wikipedia - khan shatyr entertainment center)

In the southern part of the country is a spaceport used for launches into outer space.
It's the oldest spaceport in the world, and was the place that the Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1 rockets launched from.

(from: wikipedia - baikonur cosmodrome)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Weddel Sea

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Believer's Baptism


We just learned about the French Wars of Religion.

Another part of early Christianity is Believer's Baptism.

After some other people started to change the way they worshipped God to be different than the Catholic church, another group of people believed that people should be baptised as adults, not as babies.

Some people in the church believed that baptism was for babies to be brought into God's family when they were little, and then the church would raise them as Christians until they were old enough to take on responsibility of church for themselves.

Other people believed that since babies could not make the choice that they should have to wait until they were older to make the decision to be baptised themselves.

Because people disagreed about this, some of the early people called anabaptists who thought this way were killed by church leaders who thought they were being bad.

Today there are other religions who baptise as adults, like Baptists, or Amish and other religions that baptsie as babies like Catholics or Lutherans.


(from: wikipedia - believer's baptism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: King Charlemagne

Saturday, January 23, 2021

S, metal - John Chamberlain


We just learned about the sculpture La Grande Vitesse - Alexander Calders.

Another famous American sculpture is S, metal made by John Chamberlain in 1959 in Washington DC.

Chamberlain was born in Indiana and went to art school in Chicago.

He was most famous for making sculptures that were out of metal, mostly using rusted old car parts.

Some people thought he was one of the best makers of abstract art out there, and his art was put into museums next to other famous artists like Picasso.

One problem that he had was that because his art was made of old rusted car parts, not everyone knew it was art.
At a museum one time someone thought his artwork was just junk, so they took it and threw it away.


(from: wikipedia - john chamberlain (sculptor))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Woman of Samaria (Rebecca at the Well) - William Henry Rinehart

Friday, January 22, 2021

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Cylinder


We just learned about the Engine Block of a car.

One part of the engine block is the Cylinder.

The engine has a piston that goes up and down to make the car move, and the cylinder is the place that holds the piston.

Sometimes a car will 4, 6 or 8 cylinders depending on how many pistons there are.


(from: wikipedia - cylinder (engine))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Poppet Valve

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Gorilla


We just learned about the Chimpanzee.

Another type of primate is the Gorilla.

A gorilla can grow to be 500 lbs and about 6 feet tall.
They have very long arms, and their arm span can be voer 8 feet long.
Most gorillas live to be over 35 years, and the oldest gorilla ever was 60 years old.

Gorillas can walk on their feet, but usually they do what is called knuckle walking, meaning they walk on all fours but using the knuckles of their handles.
They sleep in nests on the ground made of branches, and they eat leaves, fruits or sometimes bugs.

Grownup male gorillas get silvery grey fur on their back, which is where they get the knickname of silverbacks.
A family of gorillas is called a troop, and is usually made up of one adult male, a few adult females, and a bunch of young gorillas.
Young male gorillas are called blackbacks because they don't have the grey fur yet.
Once they get older they leave the troop and go try to find female gorillas to start their own troop.
Male gorillas help keep the troop safe from other gorillas and other animals that might attack the troop.

All gorillas live in Africa, and there are two different main types of gorillas, eastern gorillas and western gorillas.
There are four types gorillas: Western lowland gorillas, cross river gorillas, mountain gorillas and eastern lowland gorillas.

Most of these gorillas look a lot alike, but some have longer fur, red fur, smaller bodies or longer faces.
Gorillas are very smart and sometimes use tools like rocks or sticks.
They talk to each other using hoots, grunts, barks, screams and roars.
Some gorillas in captivity have even been known to learn sign language.





(from: wikipedia - gorilla)



Adorable Baby Gorilla - Rib Ticklers


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lion

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Epitope


We just learned about the Paratope.

Another part of the immune system is an Epitope.

Just like we learned that the paratope is part of the antibody that is like the lock, the epitope is the part of the antigen that is like the key.

The antibody lock goes around looking for an antigen key to match.
So the paratopes look for epitopes to match.


(from: wikipedia - epitope)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Central Retinal Vein

Monday, January 18, 2021

Hungary


We just learned about the country of Georgia

Let's learn a little about the country of Hungary!

This is a country in the middle of Europe that borders Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.
It is about 36,000 square miles, and about 10 million people live there.
The language of Hungary is Hungarian, and the name of the country comes from the Hun people who were the first to take over the land.


(from: wikipedia - hungary)

The flag of Hungary is sideways stripes of red, white, green.
Red is for strength, white is for faithfulness, and green is for hope.


(from: wikipedia - flag of hungary)

To eat in Hungary you might have hortobágyi palacsinta, which is a type of crepe filled with meat

(from: wikipedia - hortobágyi palacsinta)

Visiting Hungary you might go see the castle Eszterháza, built in 1765.

(from: wikipedia - eszterháza)

There are a lot of types of special Hungarian dances, like Csárdás.

(from: wikipedia - csárdás)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf

Sunday, January 17, 2021

French Wars of Religion


We just learned about the Protestant Reformation.

Another part of early Christianity was the French Wars of Religion.

In the 1500s, the Catholic church and another group of Christians called Huguenots fought each other for over 30 years.
It was a very bad war, and about 3 million people died.

The Huguenots and the Catholics just did not agree on what the Bible said was the right way to believe, and because there were princes, kings and queens fighting about this it turned into a war.

Because the war was so bad, a lot of people from around the world started looking at Catholics as not very nice, and other people joined the protestant reformation.


(from: wikipedia - french wars of religion)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Icons

Saturday, January 16, 2021

La Grande Vitesse - Alexander Calders


We just learned about the Birth of the Muses by Jacob Lipchitz.

Another famous American sculpture is La Grande Vitesse by Alexander Calders Calders made in 1969 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Calder was born in 1898 in Pennsylvania. He was the third famous artist named Alexander Calder, after his father and grandfather who were both famous artists named Alexander.

Calder was famous for making mobiles, sculptures hanging from strings that would spin slowly with the air, and also "stabiles" that looked like they were moving but were big solid sculptures.

His sculpture La Grande Vitesse which means The Great Swiftness, or The Grand Rapids.
The sculpture is famous in the town of Grand Rapids, is nicknamed The Calder, and they even use it in the logo for the city.


(from: wikipedia - la grande vitesse)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument

Friday, January 15, 2021

Swahili - Cow, chicken, pig

We just learned that black white brown and gray in Swahili is nyeusi, white, brown, gray.

We already know that in Swahili, dog is mbwa and cat is paka.

Now let's learn about some farm animals!

cow - ng'ombe - sounds like ng-oh-m-bay - 文A

chicken - kuku - sounds like koo-koo - 文A

pig - nguruwe - sounds like ng-oo-roo-way - 文A




swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: корова (korova)курица (kuritsa), свинья (svin'ya)

Norwegian: ku, kylling, gris

Greek: αγελάδα, κοτόπουλο, χοίρο

ASL: cow, chicken, pig

Italian: mucca, pollo, maiale

German: Kuh, Huhn, Schwein

Spanish: vaca, pollo, cerdo

French: vache, poulet, porc

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Engine Block


We just learned about the Coupling on a locomotive.

Let's learn a little more about how most cars work.

The biggest most important part of the car is the Engine Block, sometimes called the cylinder block under the hood.

This is a big solid piece of metal in the car.
The engine block does not move, but it has parts hooked into it that move to help make the car go.

Because the moving engine is so powerful, this block has to be made in a cast or mold.
That means they take hot liquid metal, pour it into something to hold it's shape and then let it cool.
After it is cooled the block is very strong and can hold onto other pieces that are moving very fast and pushing very hard.


(from: wikipedia - engine block)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ball Valve

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Chimpanzee


Let's keep learning about Primates.

One type of primate is the Chimpanzee, also called the common chimpanzee or robust chimpanzee.

This type of primate is the most like a human of any other primate.
Their skeletons, brains, and bodies are the most alike humans, and the way they act toward each other is a lot like humans can.

Chimpanzees are usually about 150 pounds and about 4 feet tall.
There is another type of chimpanzee called the "bonobo" that is a lot like the common chimpanzee, but a little smaller.

Chimpanzees have dark hair all over their bodies, except for their face, the inside of their hands and the bottoms of their feet.
With hands like humans, chimps can climb trees, and even use sticks and rocks like tools.
Their feet are more like a human hand, which helps them climbing trees.

These primates hang around in all different types of groups.
Sometimes there are groups of males that go hunting together, sometimes groups of females working together to help raise babies, and sometimes groups of males, females, babies and old chimps all staying together.

They live in forests, climb trees, are covered in fur and make loud screeching sounds, but these primates are the closest things to a cousin that humans have in the animal kingdom.


(from: wikipedia - chimpanzee)



Baby Chimpanzees Playing With Bubbles - BBC Earth


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cats

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Paratope


We just learned about the Antibody that helps find and get rid of pathogen diseases.

Another part of the immune system is the Paratope.

We learned about how the antibody is like a detective with a lock looking for the antigen with the right key.

The paratope is the part of the antibody that is like the lock.
They are made up of chemicals in the body that the antibody uses to find diseases.


(from: wikipedia - paratope)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Central Retinal Artery

Monday, January 11, 2021

Georgia


We just learned about the country of Estonia

Let's learn a little about the country of Georgia!

Don't confuse this with the US state of Georgia, it's on the other side of the world!

This is a small country that borders Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Armenia and Turkey to the south. It also borders the Black Sea.

About 3 million people live there, and it is about 27,000 square miles.


(from: wikipedia - georgia (country))

Georgia's flag is from the old medieval Kingdom of Georgia that ruled the land in the middle ages.
It is a red cross on a white background, with smaller red crosses in the other four corners.


(from: wikipedia - flag of georgia)

To eat in Georgia you might have nigvziani badrijani. This is fried eggplant with walnuts and garlic.


(from: wikipedia - badrijani)

Visiting Georgia you might go see

(from: wikipedia - rabati castle)

Georgia is home to an ancient monastery in the town of Vardzia
It is built in a cave with over 400 rooms, with paintings and churches and bell towers.

(from: wikipedia - vardzia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ross Ice Shelf

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Protestant Reformation


We just learned about Sola Fide.

Another part of early Christianity is the Protestant Reformation.

Around the same time that Martin Luther was disagreeing with how the Catholic church told people to worship God, there were other people that also disagreed in other ways.

With so many people disagreeing with the Catholic church, there were people that started to get together in groups and worship the way they thought was right.

So before where people would have to go to the Catholic church, now they could go meet together and worship the way Luther thought was right, calling themselves Lutherans.
Others thought John Calvin was right, so they met together and called themselves Calvinists.
Some believed people should only be baptised as adults, so they called themselves Anabaptists.
There were even rulers like the King of England who thought he should be the head of the church so he started the Anglican church.

All of these groups together were called "protestants", meaning that they protested or disagreed with the rules of the Catholic church.

The protestant reformation was when a lot of Christians protested the rules of the Catholic church, and "reformed" or decided to worship in a different way.

A lot of times the leaders of the Catholic church did not like this, and tried to have people put in jail or even killed for trying to go against what they said.
Eventually many people left the Catholic church and started their own groups or religions.


(from: wikipedia - reformation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Muslim Conflict

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Birth of the Muses - Jacques Lipchitz


We just learned about the scuplture Clown Tight Rope Walker by Louise Nevelson.

Another famous American sculpture is the Birth of the Muses by Jacques Lipchitz, made in 1950 in Massachussetts.

This sculpture comes from the story of Pegasus landing on Mt. Helicon causing four springs of water to come up from the ground, which were the source for the muses.

It is an abstract art sculpture, so it is not just a nice sculpture of a horse with some water, it looks a little twisted and turned so the artist wanted people to use their imagination to see the real picture.


(from: wikipedia - birth of the muses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Willing Captive - Captive Ives

Friday, January 8, 2021

Swahili - Black, white, brown, gray

We just learned that in Swahili, red, orange and yellow are nyekundu, machungwa, manjano,
and green, blue, purple, pink are kijani, bluu, zambarau, nyekundu.

nyeusi, nyeupe, kahawia, kijivu Let's learn some more colors!

black - nyeusi - sounds like n-yay-oo-see - 文A

white - nyeupe - sounds like n-yay-oo-pay - 文A

brown - kahawia - sounds like kah-hah-wee-ah - 文A

gray - kijivu - sounds like kee-jee-voo - 文A


swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: черный (chernyy), белый (belyy), коричневый (korichnevyy), серый (seryy)

Norwegian: svart, hvit, brun, grå

Greek: μαύρο, λευκό, καφέ, γκρι

ASL: black, white, brown, gray

Italian: nero, bianco, marrone, grigio

German: schwarz, weiß, braun, grau

Spanish: negro, blanco, marrón, gris

French: noir, blanc, brun, gris

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Coupling


We just learned about the Leading Wheel.

Another part of a steam locomotive is a Coupling, also called a coupler.

This is what connects the train cars to each other.
Some of the train couplings are loose with chains and bang into each other a lot.
Other types are very tightly linked together and don't move much.



(from: wikipedia - railway coupling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Trim

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Primates


We've learned a whole lot about Cats! From the wild tigers and lions to the tabby, calico and Ojos Azules house cats.

Let's learn about Primates!

There are a lot of animals that are primates, like gorillas, monkeys. Humans are also primates, which means gorillas and monkeys are like our cousins!
Obviously humans look and act different and are a lot smarter, but there are also a lot of things that humans have the same with other primates.

All primates have big brains, good eyes, can see in color, and can move around their arms and shoulders better than other animals.

Some are very big, like gorillas weighing over 400 pounds, and some are very small like small lemurs weighing less than a pound.

Primates are different than a lot of other animals, because they can walk on two legs, and can easily climb trees.
They like to live together with their families, so they do not like to live alone like a tiger.

Only humans can make enough sounds to make words like they do, but some chimpanzees and gorillas have learned to use some words in sign language!
Humans are the smartest living things on the planet, so it's no surprise that some other primates that have brains and bodies a lot like ours are pretty smart too.


(from: wikipedia - primate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Ephyra

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Antibody


We just learned about the Antigens that are like signs on pathogen diseases showing what kind of disease they are.

Another part of the immune system is the Antibody.

The antibody is the part of the body that looks for those signs on the antigens to get rid of them.

There are all different types of antibodies, and each one is built like a detective looking for a different type of bad disease.

The antibodies are built in a Y shape, and work with antigens like a lock and key.

If the antibody lock matches the antigen key, then the antibody gets to work getting rid of that antigen to kill the disease.


(from: wikipedia - antibody)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Optic Disc

Monday, January 4, 2021

Estonia


We just learned about the country of Czech Republic

Let's learn a little about the country of Estonia!

Estonia is a small country in Europe, bordering Latvia and Russia, and the Baltic Sea.
It is about 17,000 square miles, and has about a million people living there.
There are many islands in the sea that are part of Estonia, over 2,000 islands!


(from: wikipedia - estonia)

The flag of Estonia is blue, black, and white stripes.
The blue is for the sky, the black is for the soil and for the hard times of the people, and the white is for purity and hard work.

(from: wikipedia - flag of estonia)

To eat in Estonia, you might have mulgipuder, which is sort of like a meat and potatoes pudding

(from: wikipedia - estonian cuisine)

Visiting Estonia, you might go see the Kuressaare Castle, which was built in 1380 AD.

(from: wikipedia - kuressaare castle)

There is a palace in Estonia called Kadriorg Palace, built in 1725 for Catherine I of Russia.


(from: wikipedia - kadriorg palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Larsen Ice Shelf