Spider silk - cribellum

We just learned a little about the Spider Silk Webs.

Some spiders have something called a cribellum instead of just normal spinnerets.
When they make silk, it comes out as very tiny string which gets all wrapped around itself and looks almost like it is made of wool.

Because the silk is so tiny and all bunched up, insects get tangled up in it and the spiders can go capture them.


(from: wikipedia - cribellum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Jay

Common Carotid Artery

We've learned how the oxygenated blood goes up the ascending aorta and then turns at the aortic arch.

Right at the arch there are two tubes that go up your neck, called common carotid arteries.
The one on the left is called the left common carotid artery and of course the one on the right is the right common carotid artery.
They go up the side of your neck to bring oxygenated blood to your brain and all the parts of your head like mouth, eyes and nose.


(from: wikipedia - common carotid artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eyebrow Muscles

Illinois

We just learned about the US state of Idaho.

Illinois is a state in the midwest area in the US. It borders Lake Michigan on it's north east side, and the Mississippi river on the west side.
It's nicknames are Land of Lincoln because president Abraham Lincoln grew up there, and The "Prairie State" because it was a land covered in prairie grass.

The state motto is: State sovereignty, national union

(from: wikipedia - illinois)

The flag of Illinois has the state seal on it, which shows an eagle holding a shield with USA stars and stripes on it.
In it's beak the eagle is holding a banner that has the state motto in it, state sovereignty, national union.

When Illinois first made their motto they were trying to say that the states should have the rights to do whatever they wanted without the rest of the USA's permission.
So state sovereignty meant the state was the boss, and national union meant they still wanted the USA to be connected as a bunch of states.
That was one of the things that the civil war was fought over. The states on the north union side thought the USA should be the boss over the states, and the south confederates thought the states should be the boss over USA.

Illinois fought in the civil war on the north union side, so later when the flag was redesigned, one of the people who didn't think it was right to have state sovereignty like that had the flag redesigned to have the word sovereignty printed upside down because the south confederacy lost the war.


(from: wikipedia - flag and seal of illinois)

The west border of the state is the Mississippi river, one of the longest rivers in the whole world.


(from: wikipedia - quincy, illinois)

The city of Chicago which is the third biggest city in the US is right on Lake Michigan.

(from: wikipedia - chicago)

There is a large statue honoring the Black Hawk War of Native Americans in Illinois.

(from: wikipedia - black hawk statue)

One of the tallest buildings in the world is called the Willis or Sears Tower.

(from: wikipedia - willis tower)

The 40th president of the US Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois.

(from: wikipedia - ronald reagan)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Philippines

Arrest of Jesus - Jesus' Prayer

After Jesus had eaten the Last Supper with his disciples, they went out to a place called Gethsemene.

There Jesus went for a walk by himself to pray.
He prayed to God the Father and said "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

He wasn't talking about an actual cup, but the job that he had to do that was very difficult.
Jesus knew that very soon he was going to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, and this was a very hard thing to do.
He asked God for help, and said that he would do whatever God commanded.
When he got done praying he want back to his disciples who had all fallen asleep!
He told them to wake up and pray so that they would be strong.


(from: wikipedia - arrest of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apostles and Disciples

Whistler's Mother - Whistler

We just learned about the famous painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.

Another famous piece of art is the painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 by painter James McNeill Whistler in 1871.

The painting is better known by it's nickname Whistler's Mother, because it is a painting of Anna McNeill Whistler, who was the painter's mother.

Many people have asked what the painting means or what is the story behind it, but the artist Whistler very strongly believed in something called Art for Art's sake.
This means that he believed his paintings should be good enough for someone to enjoy, just by looking at them.
In French this was called l'art pour l'art which means "the art for the art".

Since it is a famous painting of an artist's mother, this painting has been used many times as a way to get people to remember their mothers and feel good about them.

(from: wikipedia - whistler's mother)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Soil

German - Red, Orange, Yellow

We just learned about the different letters in the German alphabet, ä, ö, ü, ß

Now let's learn some colors!

red - rot - sounds like row-t /?/

orange - orange - sounds like oh-ahn-zhe /?/

yellow - gelb - sounds like geh-lp /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
rojo, naranja, amarillo

Do you remember how to say it in French?
rouge, orange, jaune

Dew Point

We've just learned about all types of weather fronts, like a stationary front and what happens when warm air and cold air run into each other.

When the water vapor in warm air is lifted high up into the sky, it gets colder.
The colder temperatures will eventually turn the water vapor back into tiny water droplets if it gets too cold.

The temperature that the water vapor changes into water drops is called the dew point.
If it is colder than the dew point, it turns to water.
If it is hotter than the dew point, it turns to vapor.


(from: wikipedia - dew point)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lava Tube

Spider silk - webs

We just learned about Spider's Silk Balooning When spiders make webs, they use different types of silk.

Some parts of the web like the spoke lines going straight out are not sticky. Those are called ampullate or dragline silk.

Other parts that are sticky and bugs can get caught on are called flagelliform, or capture lines.

(from: wikipedia - spider silk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mink

Aortic Arch

We've learned that the big tube leaving the heart is called the aorta, and the first part of the aorta that goes up is called the ascending aorta.

After the ascending aorta goes up, it turns toward the middle of your body by your trachea.
That curved part where it turns is called the aortic arch.

There are some smaller tubes that come out of the aorta at the arch and go up toward the neck and head, and then the large aorta tube turns to go downward.

(from: wikipedia - aortic arch)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cheek Muscles

Idaho

We just learned about the US state of Hawaii.

Idaho is a state in the north west part of the US, bordering Canada.

It's state nickname is the Gem State because almost every kind of gem like diamonds or rubies have been found in Idaho.
It's motto is Esto perpetua, which is Latin for Let it be forever.


(from: wikipedia - idaho)

The flag of Idaho has the state seal on it, which shows a woman for equality, liberty and justice.
There is a man who is dressed as a miner to show that there is a lot of mining in Idaho.
It also has pictures of farming, animals and rivers.

(from: wikipedia - flag and seal of idaho)

There is a large waterfall in Idaho called Shoshone Falls.

(from: wikipedia - shoshone falls)

One of the main crops that comes from Idaho is the potato. There is even a museum for the potato, called the Idaho Potato Museum.

(from: wikipedia - idaho potato museum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bangladesh

Last Supper - Communion

We've learned that Jesus was having his Last Supper with his apostles, he said that Judas would betray him.

While Jesus was at the dinner, he took some bread and gave it to his disciples, told them to eat it, and that it was his body.
Then he poured some wine in a cup and gave it to his disciples, told them to drink it, and that it was his blood.

He told them to eat and drink the bread and wine like that to remember him because he was going to die on the cross for them.

This is sometimes called Holy Communion, or the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper.
The word Eucharist means thanksgiving.

(from: wikipedia - eucharist)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Matthias

The Great Wave off Kanagawa - Katsushika Hokusai

We just learned about the famous painting American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Another famous piece of art is the painting The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai in 1830.

This enormous wave in the painting is a wave of the open sea, called okinami.
If you look in the background of the painting you can see Mt. Fuji in Japan.

The style of painting for this artwork is called ukiyo-e, which means pictures of the floating world.
The paintings were woodblock printing, which was a special way for people to make paintings.

First a painter would paint a picture on a piece of very thin paper called washi.
Then someone would glue the paper on to a piece of wood, where a carver would carve traced lines through the paper into the wood to match the painting.
Then they would remove the paper, and paint the colors on to the wooden block.
Next another piece of fresh paper would be put on the block, and pressed hard against it using a tool called a baren. When the paper was pulled away, it would have a print copy of the original painting from the block.

Using this style, they could make many copies of the artwork and sell them to the rich people in the area.


(from: wikipedia - the great wave off kanagawa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Impact Craters

German Alphabet - ä, ö, ü, ß

The letters in the German alphabet look just like the ones in the English alphabet, but there are four extra letters:

ä, ö, ü, ß

ä sounds like the a in the word game.
The word gähnen means yawn, and it sounds like gain-en. - /?/

ö sounds like the u in the word put.
The word Löwe means lion, and it sounds like luavah - /?/

ü sounds like the oo in the word soon.
The word müde means tired, and it sounds like moo-dah - /?/

ß sounds like the letter s, just held out a little longer.
The word Straße means street, and it sounds like strah-ss-ss-uh. - /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember the Spanish alphabet?
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ
O, P, Q, R, RR, S, T, U
V, W, X, Y, Z

Do you remember the French alphabet?
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, I, J, K, L, M, N
O, P, Q, R, S, T, U
V, W, X, Y, Z

Stationary Front

We've learned that a cold front is a bunch of cold air moving along, a warm front is a bunch of warm air moving along, and an occluded front is when one type of front catches up to another one and takes it over.

Sometimes cold and warm fronts crash into each other, but neither of them is strong enough to take over the other one.
So they just sort of mix together and sometimes make some interesting weather.

Since both fronts are fighting against each other but neither are moving much, this is called a stationary front.
The word stationary means not moving.

Many times because there is warm air up high being held up for a while, a stationary front can be the sign of rain or snow storms that last a long time.

On a weather map the stationary front is the red half circle picture for a warm front on one side of a line, and the blue triangle picture for a cold front on the other side of the line.

(from: wikipedia - stationary front)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lava Channel

Spider Gossamer Silk Ballooning

We just learned about the Spider Silk Glands.

Sometimes when little baby spiders are born, there are not enough small insects for all the spiders to share for food,
so they need to move to a new place where there are more things for them to eat.

It would take a very long time for them to walk far enough to find more food, so they have a special way to travel very far easily.
The baby spiders stand up on their tip toes, put their abdomen in the air, and using their spinnerets they shoot some very fine silk called gossamer out. The gossamer collects together and almost looks like a kite.
Then the spider waits for a gust of wind to come along, and because they are just tiny spiders they get picked up and blown through the air, flying until they land on something like a tree where they can set up a web and start looking for food.

This is called ballooning or kiting.

(from: wikipedia - spider silk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Reindeer

Ascending Aorta

We've learned that the left ventricle chamber of the heart pushes the good oxygenated blood to all the parts of your body, and the big tube leaving the heart is called the aorta.

The aorta starts by going up toward your head, and then it turns and goes down towards your belly area.
The part where it is going up is called the ascending aorta.
The word ascending means going up.


(from: wikipedia - ascending aorta)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Depressor Lip Muscles

Hawaii

We just learned about the US State of Georgia.

The US state of Hawaii is way out in the Pacific ocean, and is made up of hundreds of islands.
There are eight large islands: Ni'ihau, Kaua'i, O'ahu, Moloka'i, Lāna'i, Kaho'olawe, Maui and the Island of Hawai'i.

The biggest island is called Hawai'i, just like the name of the state.
Sometimes so they don't get mixed up, people just call it The Big Island.

In the language of the native Hawaiians, they said the vowels a little differently than we normally do.
For the word Hawaii, it's pronounced Hah Wah Ee Ee.

Any time you see the apostrophe like this ' then you say the vowel separately.
Lana'i is Lah Nah Ee.

Hawaii was the 50th state added to the United States, in 1959.

The state nickname is The Aloha State, and it's motto is Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono which means The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness

(from: wikipedia - hawaii)

The flag of the state of Hawaii has the flag of the United Kingdom on it, to remember that Hawaii used to be owned by the United Kingdom. There are also eight red white and blue stripes, for the eight major islands of the state.

(from: wikipedia - flag of hawaii)

The seal of Hawaii has a shield on it, with red white and blue stripes, and a pulo'ulo'u which is a stick with a ball on the end that was used for kings and queens.
On the left is King Kamehameha I who helped bring all the islands together, and the goddess of liberty on the right.

(from: wikipedia - seal of hawaii)

There are many waterfalls all over all of the islands, like the Akaka Falls waterfall on The Big Island.

(from: wikipedia - akaka falls state park)

There are beaches with black sand on them in Hawaii, like Punalu'u Beach.

(from: wikipedia - punalu'u beach)

The islands of Hawaii were made when volcanoes erupted and the lava cooled and turned into islands.

The Big Island has five volcanoes on it, and two of them are active.
The most active one is called Kīlauea and it has been erupting since 1983.

(from: wikipedia - kīlauea)

On the island of Maui, there is a shield volcano called Haleakala.

(from: wikipedia - haleakalā)

The 44th president of the United States Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.

(from: wikipedia - barack obama)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: South Korea

Last Supper - Judas' Betrayal

When Jesus was having his Last Supper with his apostles, he said that one of them would betray him.

There were a lot of people that did not like Jesus, and some of them wanted to have him killed, but they wanted someone like one of his apostles to tell them where he was.

Jesus knew that Judas would be the one who would do it, so at the last supper he told his apostles that Judas was the one who would betray him.

Judas left the supper and went to tell the people who wanted to kill Jesus where he was.

(from: wikipedia - last supper)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Judas Iscariot

American Gothic - Grant Wood

We just learned about the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer.

Another famous piece of art is the painting American Gothic by American painter Grant Wood in 1930.

The story behind the painting is that he was driving around the town of Eldon Iowa and saw an old farmhouse that had a fancy window in it, and he thought it was a bit silly to have a fancy window on such a plain house.
So he paid his sister and his dentist to pose as a farmer and his daughter.

You can notice that the pitchfork the farmer is holding has three prongs.
The three lines just like the pitchfork also show up on the farmer's overalls, his face, and the window of the farmhouse.

People were not happy with the painting at first because they thought Grant Wood was making fun of farmers in Iowa where the painting was done.
They thought he made them look boring and grumpy.

Grant Wood said that he actually liked hard working Americans that were serious and were farmers, and that's why he did the painting.

Very soon after he made this artwork, the Great Depression happened, which was a time where people had to work very hard to even get a little bit of food, and many people lost their jobs and were very poor.

Because this painting looked like serious hard working Americans, it became very famous and people liked it a lot because they thought it was a good picture to show very serious hard working Americans.


(from: wikipedia - american gothic)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Grabens

German - Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten

We counted to five, now let's count to ten in German!
6 seis - sounds like zeks /?/
7 sieben - sounds like zeeben /?/
8 acht - sounds like acht /?/
9 neun - sounds like no-een /?/
10 zehn - sounds like tsay-n /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

Do you remember how to say it in French?
six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Occluded Front

We've learned that a Cold Front is a bunch of cold air moving along, and a Warm Front is a bunch of warm air moving along.

What if a really fast cold front catches up to a slower moving warm front?

Or a really fast warm front catches up to a slower moving cold front?

When either of those things happen, it is called an Occluded Front.
The word occluded means to close or shut.

Remember that the cold air is heavier than warm air, so whenever a cold front catches up to a warm front, it pushes under the warm front and the warm air goes up.
When the warm air catches up to a cold front, it goes up above the cold air.

Sometimes storms and even funnel clouds that could turn into tornadoes happen at occluded fronts, because the cold and hot air is all getting pushed around in different locations.

We know the picture for the cold front is blue triangles, and the picture for the warm front is half red circles.
The picture for the occluded front is purple triangles and half circles on the same line.


(from: wikipedia - occluded front)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fissure Vent

Spider Silk Glands

Spiders make silk in a part of their body called the silk gland.

The silk gland makes a liquid out of something called proteins.
The liquid goes into a large area called a sac where the silk liquid is saved.
When the spider wants to make the stringy silk, it squishes the liquid down a smaller tube.
This squishing makes the liquid start to turn harder because it is being squished so hard.

At the very end right by the spinnerets where the silk string comes out,
the silk liquid gets squished into a really tiny tube where it turns into the silky string that we see in spider webs.

(from: wikipedia - spider silk)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Fox

Aorta

We've learned that oxygenated blood goes comes into the heart at the left atrium which is part of the heart, and then goes to the left ventricle which pushes the blood to all the parts of your body.

The big tube that the left ventricle pushes the blood to first is called the aorta.

The aorta is a big long tube that goes up from your heart, then turns and goes downward all the way down to your hips area.

(from: wikipedia - aorta)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Levator Lip Muscles

Georgia

Georgia is a state on the east coast of the US, right on the Atlantic Ocean, in the south right above Florida.
It was named after King George II of England.

Georgia's nicknames are the Peach State because they grow a lot of peaches, and the Empire State of the South because for a long time the state made a lot of money.

The state motto is: Wisdom, Justice, Moderation

(from: wikipedia - georgia (u.s. state))

The flag of Georgia looks kind of like one of the old flags of the US with 13 stars on it for the 13 original colonies of the US, but it only has 3 stripes. During the American Civil War one of the first flags used by the confederacy was just like that and was called the Stars With Bars.

The Georgia flag also has a picture in the middle of the star circle, with the words: Constitution, wisdom, justice, moderation and In God We Trust. There are three pillars, and a soldier with a sword, dressed in a uniform like soldiers wore in the American Revolution.

(from: wikipedia - flag of georgia (u.s. state))

Savannah is a very famous fancy city in Georgia.

(from: wikipedia - savannah, georgia)

Famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and raised in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

(from: wikipedia - martin luther king, jr.)

One of the biggest aquariums in the whole world is in Georgia, with over 10 million gallons of water!

(from: wikipedia - georgia aquarium)

Two presidents of the US were from Georgia, Jimmy Carter and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

(from: wikipedia - jimmy carter)


(from: wikipedia - franklin d. roosevelt)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Thailand

The Last Supper

After Jesus went to Jerusalem and was greeted as a king,
he sat down for with his twelve apostles for the last time before he would be taken away to be killed.

Because it was the last time they would have supper together, this is known as The Last Supper.

(from: wikipedia - last supper)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - James Son of Alphaeus

Girl with a Pearl Earring - Johannes Vermeer

We've just learned about the Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and The Persistence of Memory by Salvadore Dali.

Another very famous painting is called Girl with a Pearl Earring by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer in 1665.

The artist Vermeer painted what is called a tronie, which is the head and shoulders of a person, usually with a smile or something standing out in the painting, and not necessarily a painting of anyone famous.

The very dark background of the painting makes the woman more noticeable, and the light and dark colors are to make it look like there is a light up to the left shining on her face, and making her face look bright, her lips and eyes and pearl shine.


(from: wikipedia - girl with a pearl earring)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Wrinkle Ridges

German - One, Two, Three, Four, Five

Let's count to five in German!
1 ein - sounds like ah-een /?/
2 zwei - sounds like s-vah-ee /?/
3 drei - sounds like drai (with the German R, you use the back of your throat) /?/
4 vier - sounds like fee-uh /?/
5 fünf - sounds like fuh-nf /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco

Warm Front

We've learned about weather fronts, and one type called cold fronts.

A warm front is a big bunch of warm air moving along.
When it comes to a cold front it is lighter than the cold front so it goes over it.

When the warm air goes over the cold air, it cools down and the sometimes turns into clouds.

When the weather people on the news want to show a warm front they use red half circles on a line.

(from: wikipedia - wikimedia commons - weather front)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shield Volcanoes