Central Retinal Artery

We just learned about the Optic Disc.

Another part of the eye is the Central Retinal Artery.

This is in the back of the eye at the retina, where the fresh oxygenated blood is brought to the eye for it to use.

(from: wikipedia - central retinal artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lining Mucosa

Ross Ice Shelf

We just learned about the Larsen Ice Shelf.

Another ice shelf in Antarctica is the Ross Ice Shelf.

This is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica.
It is about 500 miles wide, and 600 miles long, almost as big as the country of France.

It sticks up above the water up to 160 feet high, but most of the shelf is actually underwater.
In some parts it os over 2,000 feet thick, which is about half a mile.

Just like the Larsen Ice Shelf, this shelf sometimes has icebergs break off.
In the year 2000, the largest iceberg ever measured in the world broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf.
It was called Iceberg B-15, and it was about 183 miles long and 23 miles wide, about the size of the island of Jamaica.



(from: wikipedia - ross ice shelf)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Royal Palace of Madrid

Muslim Conflict

We just learned about the Church of the East in China.

Another part of early Christianity was the Muslim Conflict.

Around 610 AD, a man named Muhammad started a new religion called Islam, and the followers of Islam are called Muslims.

Christianity and Islam were both spreading around Europe, the Middle East and Africa all through the years 600 AD and 700 AD, and people fought over which one was true.

Most of the countries in the Middle East, northern Africa, and even Spain and Portugal became mostly Muslim.

Christianity was still spreading into Western Europe, but many countries that used to be Christian switched to Islam for hundreds of years.


(from: wikipedia - spread of islam)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Quartodecimanism

The Willing Captive - Chauncey Ives

We just learned about the Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Harriet Hosmer.

Another The Willing Captive by Chauncey Ives in 1886.

Ives was born in Connecticut, and when he was a teenager he started learning how be a sculptor.
After a few jobs he moved to Italy to learn from other masters there.

In 1886 he made a sculpture of a young woman who was captured by Native Americans. After staying with the Natives for a while, her mother came to take her back, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay with the Natives or go back to her mother.

There are true stories like these where Natives would capture young girls and raise them as their own, and sometimes the girls would decide to stay with the Natives instead of going back home.


(from: wikipedia - chauncey ives)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indus Valley Civilization

Russian - Black, white, brown, gray

We just learned that in Russian, red, orange and yellow are красный (krasnyy), оранжевый (oranzhevyy), желтый (zheltyy),
and green, blue, purple, pink are зеленый (zelenyy), синий (siniy), фиолетовый (fioletovyy), розовый (rozovyy).

Let's learn some more colors!

black - черный (chernyy) - sounds like choh-r-nee 文A

white - белый (belyy) - sounds like bee-ah-lee 文A

brown - коричневый (korichnevyy) - sounds like kah-dree-ch-nee-yeh-vee 文A

gray - серый (seryy) - sounds like see-ah-dree 文A



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

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

Valve Trim

We just learned about the Valve Spring.

Another part of the valve is the Valve Trim.

The valve stem, seat, disc and any parts that are inside the valve are all together called the Valve Trim.


(from: wikipedia - valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Rocket into Planetary Space - Hermann Oberth

Jellyfish Ephyra

We just learned about the Jellyfish Polyps.

Another part of a jellyfish is the Ephyra.

After the polyps grow for a little while, they start to grow parts that look more like a jellyfish.
It starts to get a bell shape, grow some tentacles and even mouth parts.
Eventually it floats away and is like a mini-jellyfish, not quite grown yet.

This part of the jellyfish's life is known as the Ephyra.

Later on it grows up a little more and is called a Medusae, which is the science word for the jellyfish species.


(from: wikipedia - ephyra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Radula

Optic Disc

We just learned about the Opthalmic Artery.

Another part of the eye is the Optic Disc.

At the back of the eye there is a place where all the nerves come together and go out to the brain.
Because this spot has nerves, there are no rods or cones there, so it is like a blind spot in your sight.

There are some fun eye tests that you can do to actually show that you have a blind spot where things disappear from your sight!


(from: wikipedia - optic disc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Masticatory Mucosa

Larsen Ice Shelf

We just learned about the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Another part of Antarctica is the Larsen Ice Shelf.

This is the shelf of ice that's on the Antarctic Peninsula.
An ice shelf is a big piece of ice that goes out from the land and has water underneath it.

The Larsen Ice Shelf used to be about 33,000 square miles, but because of global warming it has gotten 7,000 square miles smaller and is now 26,000 square miles.

The ice shelf is split up into parts A, B, C, D, E, F and G.

Shelf A melted away in 1995 and is gone. It was about 500 square miles, twice the size of the city of Chicago.

Shelf B is almost gone, and in 2002 over 1,250 square miles broke off and floated away. That is about the size of the state of Rhode Island. This ice shelf had not melted for over 10,000 years.

Shelf C is melting and breaking away also. It is 17,000 square miles. In 2017 a 2,200 square mile piece broke off and floated away. This iceberg was called A68, weighed more than a trillion tons, and was taller than a 70 story building.

Shelf D has not broken away so far and is about 8,000 square miles.




(from: wikipedia - larsen ice shelf)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Castillo de Coca

Church of the East in China

We just learned about the Christian Nations in 600 AD.

Another part of early Christianity is the Church of the East in China.

People were going all over the world to tell others about God and Jesus, like Germany, England and Africa.

In the year 635 AD, a monk from Syria named Alopen went into a city in China called Chang'an, and met with Emperor Taizong.

The Emperor said it was ok for Alopen to go all over China and tell people about Christianity.
After this he traveled around and told people in China learn about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - murals from the nestorian temple at qocho)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hildegard of Bingen

Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning - Hosmer

We just learned about the statue of Doctor John Witherspoon by American sculptor William Couper.

Another American sculpture is Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning made by Harriet Hosmer in 1853 in Washington D.C.

Harriet Hosmer was known as the first professional female sculptor.
During her time women were not allowed to go to art school, so she had to get private lessons to learn.
After she grew up she moved to Italy where she met a lot of other famous artists.

Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were both very famous poets back in the 1800s, and they lived in Rome Italy.
Harriet Hosmer met them and saw how they were in love with each other, so she made a sculpture of their hands together.

Harriet had to work very hard to be good at art because many people did not think women could or should be artists.

After she was successful, she told people: "I honor every woman who has strength enough to step outside the beaten path when she feels that her walk lies in another; strength enough to stand up and be laughed at, if necessary.".


(from: wikipedia - )


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: George Washington - Horatio Greenough