Monday, January 31, 2022

Barbados


We just learned about the country of Antigua and Barbuda

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

This is a very small island country in the Caribbean Sea, just north of Trinidad and Tobago, and South America.
It is about 439 square kilometers, and about 287,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - barbados)

The flag of Barbados is vertical stripes of blue, yellow, and blue with a black trident in the middle.
Blue is for the ocean and sky, yellow is for the sand, and the three points of the trident are for government of the people, by the people and for the people.
The bottom of the trident is broken to show that they are not part of a colony and owned by another country anymore after their freedom.


(from: wikipedia - flag of barbados)

To eat in this country you might have fried breadfruit, which is kind of like a jackfruit.


(from: wikipedia - breadfruit)

Visiting this country you might go to Miami Beach

(from: wikipedia - miami beach, barbados)

There is a large cave in Barbados called Harrison's Cave that has a small train ride you can take through the caves.
Some places you get to stop and get out and walk aroud the cave, like one spot called The Great Hall is 15 meters high.


(from: wikipedia - harrison's cave)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Latvia

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Deck the Halls


We just learned about the Christmas carol Silver Bells.

Another famous Christmas carol is Deck the Halls.

The music for this song is very old, going back to a Welsh song from some time around the 1700s.
That song was mostly someone singing about a beautiful woman that they were in love with, and then singing the same "fah la la la la" part after each verse.

In 1862 a famous Scottish musician named Thomas Oliphant picked new words for the song and made it about Christmas.

Some of the old words for the song talk about drinking mead, so some people have changed those words to talk about singing and Christmas.


(from: wikipedia - deck the halls)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Heliocentrism

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Ezekiel - Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo


We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting of the prophets Isaiah, Daniel, Jonah, and Jeremiah.
.

Another prophet that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling was Ezekiel.

Ezekiel is holding a scroll, and wearing red robes with grey scarves and a hat.
He looks very strong even though he has a white beard showing he is old.

In the Bible Ezekiel was another prophet that had to tell people about bad things that were going to happen to God's people, but he also told about good things that would happen again some day much later.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Throwback - Tony Smith

Friday, January 28, 2022

Hindi - I am happy


Last time we learned that the Hindi words for horse, sheep and duck are घोड़ा (ghoda), भेड़ (bhed), and बत्तख (battakh).

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

म्हानै खुशी होई (mhaanai khushee hoee) - sounds like mah-hah-nee kuh-shee hoo-ee
- 文A



hindi devanagari
(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Nina furaha

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 27, 2022

Power Supply


We just learned about the Disk Drive.

Another part of a computer is the Power Supply.

Everything in the computer uses electricity, like the motherboard, the disk drives, and even some high powered graphics cards.

The power supply takes the electricity coming in from the plug, turns it into the just the right amount and type of power that the computer needs, and it has a bunch of other wires with plugs that go into the motherboard, drives and other places.

The power supply also has a fan on it, that helps keep the computer cool so it doesn't overheat.


(from: wikipedia - power supply unit (computer))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cylinder Head

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Blue-Eyed Black Lemur


We just learned about the Sportive Lemur.

Another type of lemur is the Blue-Eyed Black Lemur.

Just like all other lemurs these primates all live in Madagascar, but because of people cutting down the trees where they live there are only about 1,000 left in the wild.
These primates are very special because they are one of only a few primates (including humans!) that has blue eyes.
They also have different colored fur for male and female lemurs, with the males having black fur and the females having either grey or red fur.

Blue-Eyed Black Lemurs grow to be about 45 centimeters long, and weigh about 2 kilograms.



(from: wikipedia - blue-eyed black lemur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Orangutan

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Nasal Septum


We just learned about the Nostril.

Another part of the nose is the Nasal Septum.

This is what splits the nose into a left and right nostril.
It is made up of different parts, with some of it cartilage and some of it bone.

Sometimes if there is a nose injury a person can have what is called a deviated septum.
In that case the septum in the middle gets removed and they would only really have one big nostril.


(from: wikipedia - nasal septum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blood Cancer

Monday, January 24, 2022

Antigua and Barbuda


We just learned about the country of Saint Lucia

Let's learn a little about the country of Antigua and Barbuda!

This country is in the Caribbean Sea, east of Puerto Rico.
It is about 440 square kilometers, and about 97,000 people live there.
There are two main islands, Antigua which is about 281 square kilometers and has about 95,000 people there, and the smaller island of Barbuda that is about 160 square kilometers and only has a little over 1,000 people living Other than those 2 islands there are over 40 tiny islands that are part of the country.

The people in this country speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - antigua and barbuda)

The flag of Antigua and Barbuda is a red background with an upside down triangle on it with black, blue, and white parts, and a yellow sun.
The red is for the life of the people, black is for the people's history, blue is for hope and the sea, white is for the sand, and yellow is for the sun.


(from: wikipedia - flag of antigua and barbuda)

To eat in this country you might have fungie (pronounced like foo-n-jee) which is cornmeal, usually served with fried flying fish.



(from: wikipedia - funge)

Visiting this country you might take a boat and go to English Harbour

(from: wikipedia - english harbour)

The highest point on the island of Antigua is called Boggy Peak, and was renamed to Mount Obama to honor President Barack Obama.

(from: wikipedia - boggy peak)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kazakhstan

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Silver Bells


We just learned about the Christmas song Little Drummer Boy.

Another famous Christmas song is Silver Bells.

This song was written in 1950 by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.
At first it was going to be called tinkle bells, but the wife of one of the song writers thought it sounded funny since tinkle can be another way to say you are going to the bathroom!
So they changed it to Silver Bells.

One of the writers says the idea for the song came from a bell they had on their desk, but others think it came from the people during Christmas time that ring the bells to help collect money for poor people.


(from: wikipedia - silver bells)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Believer's Baptism

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Jeremiah - Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo


We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting of the prophets Isaiah, Daniel, and Jonah.

Another prophet that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling was Jeremiah.

In the Bible, Jeremiah is sometimes called the weeping prophet because he was very sad that he had to tell God's people a lot of bad news about things that were coming in the future.
Michelangelo's painting of him shows him bent over with his head on his hand looking sad.


(from: wikipedia - prophet jeremiah (michelangelo))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: S, Metal - John Chamberlain

Friday, January 21, 2022

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Disk Drive


We just learned about the Network Card.

Another part of a computer is the Disk Drive.

Some computers have a place where you can put in a CD or DVD to play music or movies, called a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.
Other computers might have a place where you can put in something called a disk that you can save pictures or other things on.

Long ago computers used something called a floppy disk.
The first floppy disks were big and floppy, which is how they got the name.
Floppy disks were square thin plastic things that you put into your computer that you could save information to.

On a lot of computer programs, the "Save" button still looks like a picture of an old floppy disk even though nobody uses them anymore.



(from: wikipedia - floppy disk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cylinder

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Sportive Lemur


We just learned about the Verreaux's Sifaka.

Another type of primate is the Sportive Lemur.

This is a small type of lemur that grows to about 35 centimers, and around 2 pounds.
They have big eyes, because they are all nocturnal, meaning the stay up all night and sleep all day.

Because of their big eyes, they are able to see in the dark and can still hop from tree to tree.
When they are on the ground, they hop like a kangaroo.


(from: wikipedia - sportive lemur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gorilla

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Nostril


We just learned about the Wing of the Nose.

Another part of the nose is the Nostril also called the naris.

The nostrils are the holes in the front of the nose, right above the mouth.
We use our nostrils for breathing in, breathing out, for blowing our nose when it gets stuffed up, and for smelling food.

The nostrils on the outside of the face are called the external nostrils, or anterior nares.
There are actually other nostrils further inside your nose that help bring the air and smells into your body.

Some people can actually flare out their nostrils, and make the holes get bigger and smaller!
Inside the nostril are around 1,000 hairs, and maybe if you have a stuffed up nose there might be nasal mucus (sometimes called snot) or dried nasal mucus (sometimes called boogers).


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Epitope

Monday, January 17, 2022

Saint Lucia


We just learned about the country of Dominica

Let's learn a little about the country of Saint Lucia!

This country is in the Caribbean, just north of South America.
It is about 617 square kilometers, and about 184,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - saint lucia)

The flag of Saint Lucia is blue, with white, black and yellow triangles in the middle.
Blue is for the sky and the sea, white and black are for the people of Saint Lucia, and yellow is for the sunshine.
The triangles are for the two volcanoes called the Pitons on the island.


(from: wikipedia - flag of saint lucia)

To eat in this country you might have bouyon, which is soup made of thick red beans, meat, tubers and vegetables.


(from: wikipedia - saint lucian cuisine)

Visiting this country you might go see the two volcanoes called the Gros Piton and Petit Piton.
In French, Gros means big and Petit means little, so these are the big and little Pitons.


(from: wikipedia - pitons)

There is a place called the Sulphur Springs where you can drive into the base of one of the volcanoes, and it lets out hot sulfur.
The smell of sulfur is like rotten eggs, so it doesn't smell very good but some people think the sulphur air is good for you.
Nearby there are some hot springs where you can take a mud bath and people think it helps them be healthier!

(from: wikipedia - sulpur springs, saint lucia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hungary

Sunday, January 16, 2022

The Little Drummer Boy


We just learned about the Christmas song White Christmas.

Another Christmas song is The Little Drummer Boy.

This song was written in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis in America.

It used to be called "Carol of the Drum" and the writer said she had the idea to write it after hearing a French song called "Patapan".
In the French song the drums go patapan, and in her song they go "pah-rum-pum-pum-pum".

The first people to sing it on a record were the Trapp Family.
The Trapp Family is also sometimes called the Von Trapps, and their family story was the real life inspiration for the movie Sound of Music.

In the Little Drummer Boy song, a little boy comes to see baby Jesus in the manger, and the Magi are giving him really expensive gifts.
The only thing he has is a drum, so he plays a song for baby Jesus and then Mary and Jesus smile at him.


(from: wikipedia - The Little Drummer Boy)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: French Wars of Religion

Saturday, January 15, 2022

Jonah - Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo


We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting of the prophets Isaiah and Daniel.

Another prophet that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling was Jonah.

Jonah is shown with a giant fish in his painting, because in the Bible he was swallowed by a fish.
The painting of Jonah is on the far right end of the ceiling, and Jonah is looking up toward the painting of the Separation of Light from Darkness.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: La Grande Vitesse - Alexander Calders

Friday, January 14, 2022

Hindi - Cow, chicken, pig

We just learned that black white brown and gray in Hindi is काला (kaala), सफेद (saphed), भूरा (bhoora), ग्रे (gre).

We already know that in Hindi, dog is कुत्ता (kutta) and cat is बिल्ली (billee).

Now let's learn about some farm animals!

cow - गाय (gaay) - sounds like gah-ee - 文A

chicken - मुर्गी (murgee) - sounds like moo-edr-ghee - 文A

pig - सुअर (suar) - sounds like soo-eh-r - 文A




hindi devanagari
(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: ng'ombe, kuku, nguruwe

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 13, 2022

Network Card


We just learned about the Sound Card.

Another part of a computer is the Network Card, also called a network interface controller (NIC), network adapter or LAN adapter, where LAN means local area network.

When you are on your computer and you want to connect to the internet to send a message, chat or play games, you use the computer's network card.
These days the network card is just part of the computer's motherboard, but a long time ago you had to buy a special card for your computer.

With wifi and cell phones it is very easy now to get on a network and share messages, but it used to be a lot of work!


(from: wikipedia - network interface controller)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Engine Block

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Verreaux's sifaka


We just learned about the Diademed Sifaka.

Another type of lemur is the Verreaux's sifaka.

This is another sifaka type of lemur that lives only in Madagascar.
They grow to be about 45 centimeters, and weigh a little over 3 pounds.

Verreaux sifakas have white and brown fur and spend most of their lives in the trees.

Sometimes they go down on the ground, but their bodies are built for leaping around trees so they don't really know how to walk.
When these primates go on the ground the hop around on two feet, like a bunny hop!



(from: wikipedia - verreaux's sifaka)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chimpanzee

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Wing of the Nose


We just learned about the Nasal Ridge.

Another part of the nose is the Wing of the Nose also called the Ala of the Nose.

This is the lower part of the nose that spreads out wide where the nostrils are, almost like a wing shape.
The word "ala" is Latin and means "wing".


(from: wikipedia - human nose)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Paratope

Monday, January 10, 2022

Dominica


We just learned about the country of Trinidad and Tobago

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

This country is a small island in the Caribbean Sea, just south east of the Domnican Republic.
It is about 750 square kilometers, and about 71,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak mostly English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - dominica)

The flag of Dominica is green, with a bird in a red circle in the middle, and a cross with yellow black and white stripes.
Green is for the land, the cross is for Christianity, and the stripoes are for the people, the land and the water.
The red circle is for justice, and the 10 stars on the circle are for the 10 areas on the island.
The bird is a sisserou parrot, which is the national bird.


(from: wikipedia - flag of dominica)

To eat in this country you might have callaloo soup, which is a green leafy stew soup.


(from: wikipedia - callaloo)

Visiting this country you might go see Cabrits National Park, where there is a tropical forest, coral reefs, and an old military base called Fort Shirley.
There is a hiking trail that ends up in this park called Waitukubuli Trail, which is the longest trail in the Caribbean at 115 miles.


(from: wikipedia - cabrits national park)

Dominica has many waterfalls and rainforests all over the island, like Trafalgar Falls in Saint George Parish

(from: wikipedia - saint george parish, dominica)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Georgia

Sunday, January 9, 2022

White Christmas


We just learned about the Christmas song Jingle Bells.

Another famous Christmas song is White Christmas, written by Irving Berlin in 1940.

Berlin wrote songs and plays, and wrote this song for his play Holiday Inn, about some people falling in love around Christmas time.
When he wrote the song, he called up his secretary and said it was not just the best song he ever wrote, but the best song anybody every wrote.

The actor and singer Bing Crosby was in the film Holiday Inn, and his deep voice singing the song is the most famous version that everyone knows.
During World War II many people were sad about soldiers being in the war during Christmas time.
So in 1942 a lot of people liked this song for Christmas, because of the part that says "Just like the ones I used to know".

Bing Crosby's version of Irving Berlin's song is said to be the most popular song every made, with over 50 million people buying the song.
Even though it is a great and famous song, Crosby said that anybody could have sang it as well as him, and he once said "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully".


(from: wikipedia - white christmas (song))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Protestant Reformation

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Daniel - Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo


We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painting of Isaiah.

Another of Michelangelo's painting in the Sistine Chapel was of the prophet Daniel.

In the Bible Daniel was a prophet who could tell what people's dreams meant.
His most famous story in the Bible was about the Lion's Den, but in Michelangelo's painting it just shows him thinking and holding a book.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Birth of the Muses - Jacques Lipchitz

Friday, January 7, 2022

Hindi - Black, White, Brown, Gray

We just learned that in Hindi, red, orange and yellow are लाल (laal), नारंगी (naarangee), पीला (peela), and green, blue, purple, pink are हरा (hara), नीला (neela), बैंगनी (bainganee), गुलाबी (gulaabee).

Let's learn some more colors!

black - काला (kaala) - sounds like kah-lah - 文A

white - सफेद (saphed) - sounds like sah-fay-d - 文A

brown - भूरा (bhoora) - sounds like boo-drah - 文A

gray - ग्रे (gre) - sounds like gray - 文A


hindi devanagari
(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: nyeusi, nyeupe, , kahawia, kijivu

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 6, 2022

Sound Card


We just learned about the Hard Drive.

Another part of a computer is a Sound Card also called an audio card or audio interface.

When computers were first made, about the only sound they could make was a BEEP sound.
Then later they were able to make different beeps that could make music.

Eventually people wanted to actually play songs or watch shows on their computers and hear actual sounds.
Most old computer motherboards couldn't do that, so people had to buy a thing called a sound card that plugged into a motherboard.

These days most computers can play music and sounds for movies without having an extra card that has to be plugged in, but sometimes professional people that are making music or movies want to have even better sound might still need an extra piece of hardware to make it better.


(from: wikipedia - sound card)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coupling

Wednesday, January 5, 2022

Diademed Sifaka


We just learned about the Woolly Lemur.

Another type of lemur is the Diademed Sifaka, also called the simpona, ankomba joby, or propithecus diadema.

These sifakas are very large, growing to weigh around 6 kilograms, and about 105 centimeters long, with a very long tail.
They are very colorful, with long soft silky fur.
Diadem is another word for crown, and these lemurs are called diademed because they have a circle of white fur around their face that looks like a crown.
They have grey backs, black hands and feet, and golden legs and taile.

Like other lemurs these primates live mostly in the trees, but they travel a long distance every day to try and protect the land they call home.
With their big strong legs, they can climb through the trees at 30 kilometers per hour, and will go over 1.5 kilometers every day.

If there is danger, the diadamed sifakas will make a sound like a kiss and a sneeze combined.


(from: wikipedia - diademed sifaka)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Primates

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Nasal Ridge


We just learned about the Nasal Root.

Another part of the nose is the Nasal Ridge.

This is the long part of the nose that starts with the nasal root at the top and goes down to the tip of the nose.


(from: wikipedia - human nose)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antibody

Monday, January 3, 2022

Trinidad and Tobago


We just learned about the country of Jamaica

Let's learn a little about the country of Trinidad and Tobago!

This country is in the Caribbean, just north of the South American country of Venezuela.
The main big island is Trinidad, and the smaller main island is Tobago.
There are about 30 total islands in this country, with the others all smaller than Tobago.
The total land of all the islands is about 5,000 square kilometers, and about 1.3 million people live there.
The people in this country mostly speak either English or Creole.


(from: wikipedia - Trinidad and Tobago)

The flag of Trinidad and Tobago is red, with a black diagonal line, and two white diagonal lines on it.
The red is for courage and the fire of the sun, the black is for dedication and the earth, and the white is for purity and water.


(from: wikipedia - flag of trinidad and tobago)

To eat in this country you might have food called doubles, which is flat fried dough filled with chickpeas and curry.


(from: wikipedia - doubles (food))

Visiting this country you might go to Pigeon Point, to see one of the best beaches in the country.

(from: wikipedia - pigeon point, tobago)

Trinidad has a place called Pitch Lake, which is the largest deposit of asphalt in the world, with around 10 million tons.

(from: wikipedia - pitch lake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Estonia