Red-Shanked Douc

We just learned about the Maroon Leaf Monkey.

Another type of Old World Monkey is the Red-Shanked Douc.

This monkey lives only in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia.

They spend most of their lives in the trees, and only sometimes come down to the ground for water.
Since they live in the trees they are great jumpers, and can jump up to 20 feet!
Red-Shanked Doucs grow to about 2 feet long, with a tail about 2 and 1/2 feet long, and they can weigh up to 24 pounds.

These monkeys are one of the most colorful of all monkeys, and have been called the queen of primates because of their colors.
Their fur has many different colors, like red, orange, yellow, brown, black, and grey.
They have red legs, grey and white arms, black hands and feet, and a yellow face with blue eyelids and white whiskers.

For food these monkeys mostly only eat leaves, and when they digest those leaves in their stomachs it makes a lot of gas, so these monkeys are known to burp a lot!



(from: wikipedia - red-shanked douc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caracal

Antihelix

We just learned about the Helix.

So we now about the outer ear, which has a part called the auricle or pinna, which has a part called the helix.

Another part of the auricle is the Antihelix.

The antihelix is the bump that sticks out on your ear that is sort of "Y" shaped.


(from: wikipedia - antihelix)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Far Sightedness

Kuwait

We just learned about the country of North Korea

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

Kuwait is a small country in the middle east that borders Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Persian Gulf.
People in Kuwait speak the Arabic language.

It is about 6,800 square miles, and over 4 million people live there.
Even though many people live in Kuwait, only about 1 million of the people living there are actually citizens of Kuwait.
The other 3 million are people who are from other countries, that have come to Kuwait to work.


(from: wikipedia - kuwait)

The flag of Kuwait is a black trapezoid on the left, next to sideways stripes of green, white and red.
Black is for the winning battles, green is for the land, white is for purity, and red is for the blood of warriors who died fighting for Kuwait.

There are lots of shapes on other flags like diamonds, circles and stars, but Kuwait is the only flag with a trapezoid on it.


(from: wikipedia - flag of kuwait)

To eat in Kuwait you might have Balaleet, which is a breakfast made with sugar, cardamom, rose water, saffron noodles and eggs.

(from: wikipedia - balaleet)

Visiting Kuwait you might go to Sea City, which is a city in Kuwait that was built by digging canals into the ground to make a fake shoreline where 250,000 people built houses on the water, without being right on the persian gulf.

(from: wikipedia - sabah al ahmad sea city)

In Kuwait they have the largest dhow ever built, called the Al-Hashemi-II.
A dhow is a type of sailing ship, and this one is 274 feet long.


(from: wikipedia - al-hashemi-ii)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Subglacial Lakes

Blessed Assurance

We just learned about the All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.

Another famous hymn is Blessed Assurance, written by Fanny Crosby and Phoebe Knapp in 1873.

Phoebe and Fanny were working together in the church one day, and Phoebe played a tune on the piano.
She asked Fanny what it should be called, and right away she said Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine, which became the first words of the hymn.

Phoebe wrote music for over 500 hymns through her life.
Fanny was blind ever since she was a baby, and she wrote over 8,000 hymns and was sometimes called the Queen of Gospel Song Writers.

She was well known throughout America, and also wrote songs about the Civil War supporting the Union, as she liked Abraham Lincoln and wantd to get rid of slavery.

In 1843 when she was trying to get better education for blind people, she went and talked to the Senate to ask for help.
This was long before women were allowed to be part of the Senate, and in 1843 she was the first woman to speak to the US Senate.


(from: wikipedia - fanny crosby)

(from: wikipedia - phoebe knapp)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Basilica of Saint-Denis

Truncated Pyramid Room - Bruce Nauman

We just learned about the sculpture Tower by Sol Lewitt.

Another Truncated Pyramid Room by Bruce Nauman, made in Germany in 1982.


(from: wikipedia - bruce nauman)

This is a 24 foot high sculpture that is shaped like part of a pyramid with the top cut ouff and the insides open.
The pyramid is all black, and has some yellow lights shining on it at night.

Bruce Nauman was born in 1941 in Indiana, and studied art at the University of California.

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: George Washington as President - Alexander Stirling Calder

Swahili - November, December

We already learned that January, February is Januari, Februari, March, April is Machi, Aprili,
May, June is Mei, Juni,
July, August is Julai, Agosti,
and September, October is Septemba, Oktoba.

Let's keep going!

November - Novemba - sounds like noh-veh-m-bah 文A

December - Desemba - sounds like day-say-m-bah 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)


Russian: ноябрь (noyabr'), декабрь (dekabr')

Norwegian: November, December

Greek: Νοέμβριος (Noémvrios), Δεκέμβριος (Dekémvrios)

ASL: November, December

Italian: Novembre, Dicembre

German: November, Dezember

Spanish: Noviembre, Diciembre

French: Novembre, Décembre

Car Battery

We just learned about the Manual Transmission.

Another part of a car is the Car Battery.

This is a rechargable battery in the car that helps start the car and run other electrical things in the car like lights and radios.

When the car is running, the alternator charges up the battery.

Sometimes a car battery can run out of power.
This can happen if the alternator isn't working, or if someone leaves a light on in the car and the battery all gets used up.

If this happens, the battery has two metal posts on it called terminals.
You can hook those terminals up to another car's battery, and use that electricity to recharge your battery.


(from: wikipedia - automotive battery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Salamanca

Maroon Leaf Monkey

We just learned about the Dusky Leaf Monkey.

Another type of monkey is the Maroon Leaf Monkey also called the red leaf monkey.

This monkey lives on the island of Borneo, spending most of their time in the trees.
They get their name from the color of the fur on their body.

These monkeys mostly eat fruits, seeds and leaves, but they also sometimes eat dirt!
There are termites that make dirt mounds for homes, and because the termites are living there they leave a bunch of other minerals like calcium, magnesium or aluminum.
The monkeys need these minerals, so they will go down to the dirt and eat it, but not the termites just the dirt!


(from: wikipedia - maroon leaf monkey)



Dusky Leaf Monkeys Thailand - TheMollytitti


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Serval

Helix

We just learned about the Auricle.

Another part of the ear is the Helix.

This is the curved part at the top of the ear on the outside.


(from: wikipedia - helix (ear))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Near Sightedness

North Korea

We just learned about the country of Iran

Let's learn a little about the country of North Korea!

North Korea is part of a peninsula that is connected to China, and it is just north of South Korea.
People in North Korea speak the Korean language.

There are about 25 million people in North Korea, and it is about 46,000 square miles.


(from: wikipedia - north korea)

The flag of North Korea is stripes of blue, white, red, white blue, with a white circle and red star in the middle.


(from: wikipedia - flag of north korea)

To eat in North Korea you might have naengmyeon which is noodles with potatoes and other vegetables, served cold.Naengmyeon

(from: wikipedia - naengmyeon)

Visiting North Korea you might go see Mount Kumgang, which is a mountain peak that is 5,400 feet high, that has waterfalls and hiking.


(from: wikipedia - mount kumgang)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Meltwater

All Hail The Power of Jesus Name

We just learned about the hymn All Creatures of our God and King.

Another famous hymn is All Hail The Power of Jesus Name, written by Edward Perronet in 1779 in England.

Edward Perronet was the son of a priest, and he grew up in England where he worked with some other famous church leaders like John Wesley.
Through the years he wrote a few books of Christian poems and hymns, and Wesley wanted Perronet to be a preacher too.
Edward was always too nervous, but one time Wesley forced him to go up in front of the church and give a sermon.
He went up and told everyone he would give the greatest sermon ever preached, and then he read Jesus' Sermon on the Mount from the book of Matthew.

The hymn "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" is so famous some people call it the national anthem of Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - all hail the power of jesus name)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Notre Dame de Paris

Tower - Sol Lewitt

We just learned about the work of art Repetition Ninteen III by Eva Hesse.

Another famous work of Minimalist art is Tower by Sol Lewitt made in 1984 in Davenport Iowa.

Lewitt was born in Connecticut in 1928, and learned art in New York and Europe.

He was famous for making minimalist art, usually in simple shapes like towers, pyramids or cubes.


(from: wikipedia - sol lewitt)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark - Charles Keck

Swahili - September, October

We already learned that January, February is Januari, Februari, March, April is Machi, Aprili,
May, June is Mei, Juni,
and July, August is Julai, Agosti.

Let's keep going!

September - Septemba - sounds like say-p-tay-m-bah 文A

October - Oktoba - sounds like aw-k-toh-bah 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Сентябрь (Sentyabr'), Октябрь (Oktyabr')

Norwegian: September, Oktober

Greek: Σεπτέμβριος (Septémvrios), Οκτώβριος (Októvrios)

ASL: September, October

Italian: Settembre, Ottobre

German: September, Oktober

Spanish: Septiembre, Octubre

French: Septembre, Octobre

Manual Transmission

We just learned about the Automatic Transmission.

Another part of a car is a Manual Transmission.

Just like an automatic transmission, this is the part of the car that uses big or small gears to help the car go fast or slow.

In an automatic transmission, the car changes between big and small gears automatically as the car speeds up or slows down.
For a manual transmission, the driver has to tell the car when to change the gears.

To the left of the brake pedal in a car is something called the clutch pedal.
To the right of the driver's seat in the middle of the car is a stick pointing up called the gear shift.

When the driver wants to change from a slow gear to a fast gear, they have to push in the clutch, and then move the gear shift around to the right spot, then release the clutch and the new gear will be used.
The gear shift can be moved up, down, left or right to go into different slots that are for different gears like 1, 2, 3, 4 or reverse.



(from: wikipedia - manual transmission)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pen-y-Darren Locomotive

Dusky Leaf Monkey

We just learned about the Northern Plains Gray Langur.

Another kind of old world monkey is the Dusky Leaf Monkey.

This type of monkey lives in Asia, usually living in trees and eating leaves.

They have mostly black and grey fur, with a white mouth and white circles around their black eyes.


(from: wikipedia - dusky leaf monkey)



Dusky Leaf Monkeys Thailand - TheMollytitti


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bay Cat

Auricle

We just learned about the Outer Ear.

Part of the outer ear is called the Auricle or pinna.

This is the part of the ear that you can see outside of your head.

The shape of the ear helps bring sounds in and make them louder, and it can also help filter out sounds that are too high or too low for the human ear to hear.


(from: wikipedia - auricle (anatomy))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Refractive Error

Iran

We just learned about the country of Cambodia

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

Iran is in Asia, bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey and Iraq.
About 83 million people live in Iran, and it is about 630,000 square miles.
People in Iran speak different a few languages, but mostly Persian.


(from: wikipedia - iran)

The flag of Iran is stripes of green, white and red, with the national symbol in the middle.


(from: wikipedia - flag of iran)

To eat in Iran you might have Chelow kabab, which is steamed rice and kabab, with vegetables.


(from: wikipedia - chelow kabab)

Visiting Iran you might go to Persepolis, which is an ancient city going back to 500 BC, with ruins of the old city.


(from: wikipedia - persepolis)

An old musical instrument from Iran is called the zurna, which was a woodwind kind of like the oboe.

(from: wikipedia - zurna)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Melt Pond

All Creatures Of our God and King

We just learned about the A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.

Another All Creatures Of our God and King.

In 1225 the old church leader St. Francis of Assisi wrote a poem based on Psalm 148 called the Canticle of the Sun poem.
He writes thanking God for all the gifts he has given us, like the sun, moon, fire and water.

Around 1900 AD a musician in the church named William Draper translated the poem from Italian into English, and wrote the music for the hymn.


(from: wikipedia - all creatures of our god and king)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Decretum Gratiani

Repetition Ninetee III - Eva Hesse

We just learned about the Double Negative by Michael Heizer.

Another famous work of art is Repetition Ninetee III by Eva Hesse made in 1968 in New York.

Hesse was born in Germany, but her family moved to America in 1938 because of World War II.
In America she went to Yale for art school.

She became famous for a type of art called Postminimalism.
This was a type of art that was very simple like minimalism, but things were usually more hand-made instead of machine made.

Her work of art Repetition Nineteen III was made of fiberglass and polyester resin, and was 19 different cylinder pieces that were all about two feet tall and about one foot wide.
She liked to make them simple, but they were not all exactly the same.
And since it was made of fiberglass it would change over the years, which she liked and said "Life doesn't last; art doesn't last. It doesn't matter."


(from: wikipedia - eva hesse)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Hawk Statue - Lorado Taft

Swahili - July, August

We already learned that January, February is Januari, Februari, March, April is Machi, Aprili,
and May, June is Mei, Juni.

Let's keep going!

July - Julai - sounds like joo-lah-ee 文A

August - Agosti - sounds like ah-goh-stee 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Июль (Iyul'), Август (Avgust)

Norwegian: Juli, August

Greek: Ιούλιος (Ioúlios), Αύγουστος (Ávgoustos)

ASL: July, August

Italian: Luglio, Agosto

German: Juli, August

Spanish: Julio, Agosto

French: Julliet, Août

Automatic Transmission

We just learned about the Starter.

Another part of a car is an Automatic Transmission.

In a car, we learned that when the pistons move up and down they spin the crankshaft, and that this spinning movement is what is used to make the car go.

Cars use gears to control whether that spinning motion makes the car go fast or slow.
We've learned about types of gears before, with small ones that spin very fast and big ones that spin slower.

The transmission system is the part of the car that controls which of the small or big gears to connect to the spinning crankshaft to make the car go fast or slow.


(from: wikipedia - automatic transmission)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cugnot's - Fardier à vapeur

Northern Plains Gray Langur

We just learned about the Zanzibar Red Colobus.

Another type of Old World Monkey is the Northern Plains Gray Langur, also called the sacred langur, or hanuman langur.

This monkey can grow to over 2 feet long, and weigh about 40 pounds.
They have mostly light colored fur on their body, but their back, arms, legs and face are all black.

People in some parts of the world worship these monkeys as they believe they were part of some magical battles long ago.

These monkeys mostly live in India, and can either live pretty much anywhere from forests to dry lands.
Groups of these monkeys live together, sometimes over 100 monkeys living together.
To eat these monkeys mostly have fruits and leaves, and sometimes bugs.

Some people keep these monkeys as pets like guard monkeys to scare away other types of monkeys they don't like.
They also are friendly with a type of deer called the chital deer, where they will work together to help warn each other of predators.


(from: wikipedia - northern plains gray langur)



Northern plains gray langurs relaxing and playing around - JPR Photo and Video


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Asian Golden Cat

Outer Ear

We just learned a little about the Human Ear.

One part of the ear is the Outer Ear.

Just like the name sounds, this is the part of the ear that is outside of the head that you can see.

The outside ear is made from some cartilage and skin, that helps bring sounds into the inner ear.
There are 9 different muscles part of the outer ear, that help the ear work.


(from: wikipedia - outer ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Myokymia

Cambodia

We just learned about the country of Brunei

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

Cambodia is a country in easter Asia, bordering Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, and the Gulf of Thailand.
About 15 million people live in Cambodia, and it is about 70,000 square miles.

People in Cambodia mostly speak the language Khmer.


(from: wikipedia - cambodia)

The flag of Cambodia is blue and red, with a picture of the Angkor Wat temple in the middle.


(from: wikipedia - flag of cambodia)

One of the national dishes of Cambodia is Fish Amok, which is fish mixed up with spices, coconut cream and eggs.
The mix is then put into a banana leaf container, and served with rice.


(from: wikipedia - fish amok)

Visiting Cambodia you might go to see Ankor Watt, a giant place of worship that is over 400 acres.


(from: wikipedia - ankor watt)

Another famous place in Cambodia is Phnom Kulen, a park with waterfalls and temples.


(from: wikipedia - phnom kulen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antarctic Sea Ice

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

We just learned about the Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.

Another famous hymn is A Mighty Fortress Is Our God written by Martin Luther around 1527 AD.

Luther was one of the leaders of the early church who started The Reformation, where people wanted to be able to go to different churches and worship God in their own way.

The German name for this is "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", and when Luther was arrested and put on trial for disagreeing with the leaders of the church, he sang this hymn along with his friends while he was walking into the trial.

It was a very famous hymn during the time of the reformation, as people felt it gave them strength through God.


(from: wikipedia - a mighty fortress is our god)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Teutonic Order

Double Negative - Michael Heizer

We just learned about the 43 Roaring Forty by Carl Andre.

Another famous work of American Land Art is Double Negative by Michael Heizer, made in Nevada in 1969.

Artist Heizer was born in California in 1944, and became famous for making art that looked at positive and negative, and art where there is an empty space with something missing, or if something is there.

In the the desert in Nevada, he took a big rock and carved out two big trenches, each one 30 feet wide, 50 feet deep and 1,500 feet long.
He removed 244,000 tons of rock to make these trenches.

In between the trenches is a canyon, so it is like a long trench, then a big missing place where the canyon is, and then it connects to the other trench.

244,000 tons of it to make a trench.
There are canyons on either side of the trench, so it just looks like there is a big piece missing from this rock.

The artwork is called "Double Negative" with negative meaning missing. Because the trenches are like holes that are missing rocks, and then there is a missing space between the trenches, that is double missing or double negative.



(from: wikipedia - double negative (artwork)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Johns Hopkins - Hans Schuler

Swahili - May, June

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Swahili!

We already learned that January, February is Januari, Februari, and March, April is Machi, Aprili.

Let's keep going!

May - Mei - sounds like may-ee 文A

June - Juni - sounds like joo-nee 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Май (May), Июнь (Iyun')

Norwegian: Mai, Juni

Greek: Μάιος (Máios), Ιούνιος (Ioúnios)

ASL: May, June

Italian: Maggio, Giugno

German: Mai Juni

Spanish: Mayo, Junio

French: Mai, Juin

Starter

We just learned about the Alternator.

Another part of a car is the Starter.

We know that the engine takes in gas for fuel and the explosion of the gas moves the pistons go up and down.
The power of the exploding gas is enough to drive the car and also keep the pistons moving until they run out of fuel.

When a car is turned off, the pistons can't just move by themselves the first time, they need some way to start the engine moving for the first time.
It's kind of like a campfire. As long as you keep putting wood on the fire it will keep going, but first you have to start the fire.

Car engines use something called a Starter to get things going the first time.
The starter takes electric power from the energy saved up in the car's battery.
It uses that electricity to power an electric motor, which spins a gear around and uses that power to get the engine moving the first time.

That starter gets turned on when someone either pushes the button or turns the car keys, and the engine starts up.



(from: wikipedia - starter (engine))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: North River Steamboat

Zanzibar Red Colobus

We just learned about the Mantled Guereza.

Another type of Old World Monkey is the Zanzibar Red Colobus, also called Kirk's red colobus.

This is a type of monkey that lives only on the island of Zanzibar.
Their fur can be white, red and black.
Usually their back is red, and they have a black stripe on their sides and arms, their belly is white and their face is black.

They don't get very big, only about 25 pounds.
One funny thing is that these monkeys smell bad, and are called "kima punju" which means "poison monkey" and some people used to think that their bad smell was bad magic that killed the trees.

Most primates have a thumb that sticks out a little different, but these monkeys are part of the "colobus" family, which means "he cut short".
The name is because they only have a tiny little thumb, but they have longer fingers than most monkeys.



(from: wikipedia - zanzibar red colobus)


The Red Colobus Monkey of Zanzibar, One Of The Rarest Primates In The World - Tekweni


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Marbled Cat

Human Ear

We just learned about Metastasis and a whole bunch of other things about Cancer.

Let's move on to learn about the Human Ear!

The ear is the part of the human body that takes in sound waves from the air and turns them into messages that our brain can understand.

It also helps balance, telling us when our head is straight up, or tipped over.

Ears are also one place on the body that people have worn jewelry and piercings for thousands of years.

Some people have big ears, some have little ears, and some have ears like an elf but they all help give one of the important 5 senses of the body.


(from: wikipedia - ear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rheum