New Jersey

We just learned about the US state of New Hampshire.

New Jersey is a state in the US, on the north east part of the country, right on the Atlantic Ocean.
It's nickname is The Garden State because there was a lot of farming there in the past, and it's motto is Liberty and prosperity.

It is the most densely packed state, which means it has the most people all bunched together in one small area.
It doesn't have the most people in a single state, but the people there are more tightly packed in than any other state.


(from: wikipedia - new jersey)

The flag of New Jersey is a tan color, with the state seal on it.
The seal has three plows for the farming that was in New Jersey's past.
There is a horse's head and a helmet showing that New Jersey is in charge of itself.
The two goddesses of liberty and prosperity are on the seal, which is the state motto.


(from: wikipedia - flag of new jersey)

New Jersey was a very important state in the American Revolutionary war, and there is a famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware river, on the way to go take back the town of Trenton, New Jersey.

(from: wikipedia - washington crossing the delaware)

Thomas Edison was a very famous inventor whose laboratory was in New Jersey.
He helped bring long lasting light bulbs, electricity and movies all across the US.

(from: wikipedia - thomas edison)

One day a large flying airship called the Hindenberg was flying into New Jersey.
There was a disaster and it burst into flames and crashed.
It was a terrible tragedy, and after it blew up people were afraid to use airships like that anymore.

(from: wikipedia - hindenburg disaster)

The 22nd and 24th president of the US was Grover Cleveland who was from New Jersey.
He was president back in 1885.

(from: wikipedia - grover cleveland)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: South Africa

Jesus appears to Mary

We've learned how the two women named Mary found Jesus' empty tomb and men in bright clothing that were angels telling them that Jesus had come back to life.

When the two women were leaving the tomb, Jesus appeared to Mary!
She was very excited to see him, but he told her that he had not yet gone up to heaven to see God the Father, and he wanted her to go tell his disciples what she saw.

(from: wikipedia - noli me tangere)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blessed are the poor

Statue of Liberty - Bartholdi

We just learned about the famous work of art the Bethlehem Mural by artist Banksy.

Another famous work of art is the Statue of Liberty by French artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi in 1887.

Bartholdi liked America a lot because they gained their freedom from the British during the American Revolutionary War, and then they abolished slavery after the civil war. He also liked that America was a place that a lot of people moved to from other countries, when people were looking for a place to start new families and build new homes.

He came and visited America a few times, and when he was on the boat coming over he saw an island by New York that was empty, so he had the idea to put a statue there as a symbol of freedom for America.

He also wanted the people in his home country of France to look at the freedom that America had, and hopefully try to push for their own freedom.

The statue is of a Roman goddess named Libertas who stood for liberty and freedom.
In one arm she is holding a torch high to shine the light of freedom to the world.
In her other arm she is holding a tablet that has the year of America's independence, July 4th, 1776.

The statue was built piece by piece in France, and the pieces were shipped over the Atlantic Ocean to America to be put together.

After it was built it became a symbol of American Freedom for all travelers coming to the America from other countries.

(from: wikipedia - statue of liberty)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Harvest Moon

German - His face is rough

We just learned in German her hands are soft is Ihre Hände sind weich..

To say his face is rough you would say Sein Gesicht ist rau.
We can break it up into four words:
His - Sein - sounds like zah-een /?/
face - Gesicht - sounds like gah-zikt /?/
is - ist - Sounds like isst /?/
rough - rau - Sounds like rah-oo /?/


So all together Sein Gesicht ist rau sounds like Zah-een gah-zikt isst rah-oo.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Su cara es áspera

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Son visage est rude.

Sleet

We just learned that hail is large ice chunks that come down from clouds.

Sometimes the pieces of ice are very small, and we call that Sleet or sometimes ice pellets.

The sleet happens when there is cold air way up high in the sky, then warm air in the middle and cold air on the bottom.
The clouds in the cold air make snow which falls down.
When it goes down into the middle of the sky where the air is warm, the snowflakes melt and turn into rain drops.
Then when the rain drops fall to the lowest part of the sky where it is cold again, they re-freeze but turn into sleet ice pellets instead of snow flakes.

(from: wikipedia - ice pellets)


There is also another type of frozen pellet that is a lot like sleet, called Graupel.

This is when there are super cold drops of water called "rime" fall onto snowflakes as they are falling down.
The super cold rime hits the snowflake and puts a coat of ice all around it.

If the rime doesn't hit a snowflake, it will instantly freeze when it hits where it lands, like a tree or on the ground.




(from: wikipedia - graupel)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pyrite

Akita Inu

We just learned about the type of dog called the Basenji

Another type of dog is called the Akita Inu
Long ago the Akita was used to hunt bear, wild boar and deer. It would go into the woods to try and push the animal to where the hunter was, and just keep the animal busy until the hunter could attack it.

The Akita dogs are very loyal to their masters.

One very famous story is about an Akita dog named Hachikō.
Every day Hachikō's master would go ride the train, and every day Hachikō would walk with him to the train station, and then wait there for him to come home.
One day his master died before he could come home, but Hachikō still waited at the train station for him.
He went home to eat and sleep, but then came back to the train station to wait for his master, and waited for him for nine years until he finally died of old age.
There is now a statue of Hachikō at that train station to honor his loyalty.


(from: wikipedia - akita (dog))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Okapi

Popliteal Artery

After the oxygenated blood comes through the femoral artery, it goes to the popliteal artery.

This artery goes in the middle of your leg, right behind your knee.

(from: wikipedia - popliteal artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Epiglottis

New Hampshire

We just learned about the US state of Nevada.

New Hampshire is a state in the US on the north east part of the country, right on the atlantic ocean and bordering Canada to the north.

It's nickname is The Granite State because there is a lot of granite rock in the state.
It's motto is Live Free or Die which came from the American Revolution when the colonies were fighting against the British.

(from: wikipedia - new hampshire)

The New Hampshire flag has the state seal on it in front of a blue background.
The seal shows a famous ship the USS Raleigh which was built in New Hampshire, and a wreath around the ship for fame, honor and victory.
There are nine stars because it was the ninth state in the US.
The boat is on the water at the city of Portsmouth, and the yellow land is for the hard igneous rock of granite.

(from: wikipedia - flag and seal of new hampshire)

In the town of Jefferson, there is an amusement park called Santa's village with roller coasters and water slides.

(from: wikipedia - santa's village (jefferson, new hampshire))

Eleanor Porter who who wrote the book about Pollyanna was from Littleton New Hampshire, so the town made a statue of Pollyanna, and once a year they have a Glad Day celebration in her honor.

(from: wikipedia - pollyanna)

The White Mountains go through New Hampshire, and that part of the mountains is called the presidential range

(from: wikipedia - presidential range)

Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the US was from New Hampshire, elected in the 1850s.

(from: wikipedia - franklin pierce)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Democratic Republic of Congo

Jesus Tomb - Angels

When Mary and Mary found Jesus' empty tomb there were men there in bright white clothing like snow or lightning.

These angels told them that Jesus was not there and that he had risen to heaven as he said he would.


(from: wikipedia - matthew 28:2)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

Bethlehem Mural - Banksy

We just learned about the work of art A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet.

Another famous work of art is the wall mural in Bethlehem painted by artist Banksy in 2005.

Some artists use their skills to send a message about things they want to say to the world.
The artist Banksy has gone out to public places and painted things on walls of buildings or by streets so that people can see paintings that may change the way they think about the world.

In the Banksy mural in Bethlehem there are some children by a crack in the wall with a sunny beach on the other side.

Many of the paintings that Banksy makes are on buildings where it is against the law to spray paint things.
Spray painting pictures on someone else's property is called graffiti.
Since Graffiti is illegal, Banksy has to work in secret to keep from getting arreested.

At this time no one even knows who Banksy really is.
People don't even know if Banksy is a man or a woman, or if Banksy is even a bunch of people working together!
Whoever it is, they are very famous and they are using their art to send messages about how they feel about the world.

(from: wikipedia - banksy)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Waning Crescent

German - Her hands are soft

We just learned in German our table is short is Unser Tisch ist kurz.

To say her hands are soft you would say Ihre Hände sind weich.
We can break it up into four words:
Her - Ihre - sounds like ee-uh /?/
hands - Hände - sounds like han-duh /?/
are - sind - Sounds like zint /?/
soft - weich - Sounds like vah-ee-hhk /?/


So all together Ihre Hände sind weich sounds like Ee-uh han-duh zint vah-ee-hhk.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Sus manos estan suaves

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Ses mains sont douces.

Hail

We just learned that rain happens when enough water vapor collects in a cloud and it falls to the ground as water.

If there is a thunderstorm cloud and the air in the sky is cold enough, this can cause hail.

The water in the clouds freezes and turns to very small bits of ice.
In a cumulonimbus cloud with a lot of strong wind blowing up, the small bits of ice will keep getting blown back up into the sky and then falling down, getting more and more ice on them until they are too big and heavy to get blown back up and they fall down to the ground.

Hail can be as small as tiny pebble or larger than a golf ball!


(from: wikipedia - hail)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Minerals

Basenji

We just learned about the type of dog called Chow Chow.

Another type of dog is called the Basenji.
Basenji's are from Africa, and they are a very old type of dog going all the way back to the ancient pharoahs. There are paintings of these dogs sitting at the feet of pharoahs from over a thousand years ago.

The basenji's bark is different, and sounds more like a yodel or is sometimes called a barroo.

(from: wikipedia - basenji)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dolphin

Femoral Artery

After the oxygenated blood comes through the abdominal aorta it splits into 10 smaller arteries.

One of those is called the iliac artery which then continues to the femoral artery.
This is a big artery that runs right down the inside of your thigh.


(from: wikipedia - femoral artery)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pharynx

Nevada

We just learned about the US state of Nebraska.

Nevada is a state on the west side of the US, right next to California.
It's state nicknames are Silver State because of the silver discovered there, Sagebrush State because of the sage brush that grows there, and the Battle Born State because it became a state during the civil war.
It's state motto is All for Our Country
The state name comes from the Spanish word for snow covered, because of the snow on the mountains in the winter.

(from: wikipedia - nevada)

The Nevada flag has a blue background with a silver star, a yellow scroll with the words Battle Born, and some green sage brush plants. These are for the three state nicknames.

(from: wikipedia - flag of nevada)

The seal of Nevada has a silver miner, a quartz mill, a train, telegraph poles, a sheaf of wheat, a sickle, a plow, the sin rising over snowy mountains, the state motto "All for Our Country" and 36 stars because it was the 36th state added to the US.

(from: wikipedia - seal of nevada)

In the 1950s there was a place in Nevada called the Nevada Test Site where people would test nuclear bombs out in the desert.

(from: wikipedia - nevada test site)

In the 1920s there was a large dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona called the Hoover Dam.
It gets power from the water called hydroelectric power and gives the electricity to the cities.

(from: wikipedia - hoover dam)

In the city of Las Vegas, there are many casinos where people can go gambling. Many of the casinos are very fancy like pirate ships, huge fountains, pyramids or even made to look like the cities of New York, Paris or Venice.

One of the streets called Fremont Street has a giant TV screen above it for four city blocks.

(from: wikipedia - fremont street)

There is a colorful water spouting geyser in Nevada called the Fly Geyser

(from: wikipedia - fly geyser)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Egypt

Jesus Empty Tomb

After Jesus was buried, the two women named Mary went to Jesus' tomb to put some nice smelling spices on his body in the tomb.

When they got to where his tomb was, the guards that were supposed to be keeping people away from the tomb were gone, and so was the stone blocking the tomb!

The women ran off to tell the disciples what they saw, but the disciples did not believe them.


(from: wikipedia - Empty Tomb)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Calming the storm

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère - Manet

We just learned about The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio.

Another famous work of art is a painting called A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by French painter Édouard Manet in 1882.

The painting is of a woman who is serving people at a bar, and she is standing in front of a mirror.
Many people talked about the reflection of people in the mirror, and that the reflection of the serving barmaid is off to the right instead of right behind her where it should be if the person is standing right in front of her.

There are green feet hanging down from the top left part of the painting, because in the restaurant there was someone on a trapeze above the restaurant as a performer.

Manet was a part of what was called the Realism movement, which meant his paintings looked like normal real people in real situations, and nothing was made up.


(from: wikipedia - a bar at the folies-bergère)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Last Quarter Moon

German - Our table is short

We just learned in German their car is tall is Ihr Auto ist groß.

To say our table is short you would say Unser Tisch ist kurz.
We can break it up into four words:
Our - Unser - sounds like oo-n-zah /?/
table - Tisch - sounds like tish /?/
is - ist - Sounds like isst /?/
short - kurz - Sounds like koo-ats /?/


So all together Unser Tisch ist kurz sounds like mine oo-n-zah tish isst koo-ats.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Nuestra mesa es bajo

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Notre table est courte

Rain

We just learned about the Anemometer that measures wind speed.

We know that clouds are tiny little drops of water and water vapor floating around in the sky.

When those tiny little drops of water get bigger and bigger from more air vapor and from bumping into each other, after a while they get so heavy they can't stay up in the sky anymore and they fall out of the clouds.

This is rain!

(from: wikipedia - rain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Petoskey Stone

Chow Chow

We just learned about the Afghan Hound.

Another type of dog is the Chow Chow.

This type of dog has fluffy fur around it's face, almost like a lion's mane.
It is a kind of dog that has been around China for a very long time.

(from: wikipedia - chow chow)

The Chow Chow also has a blue/black tongue and mouth.

(from: wikipedia - chow chow)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grasshoppers

Abdominal Aorta

We just learned about the Thoracic Aorta.

Next stop for oxygenated blood in the arteries is the Abdominal Aorta.

The abdominal artery brings blood to your stomach, intestines and other parts of your digestive system.
It also brings blood to your stomach and back muscles.

(from: wikipedia - abdominal aorta)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Adam's Apple

Nebraska

We just learned about the state of Montana

Nebraska is a state in the midwest part of the US, right about in the very middle of the lower 48 states which doesn't include Alaska and Hawaii.

The state nickname is the Cornhusker State because they grow so much corn, and the motto is Equality before the law.
The name of the state comes from a Native American word meaning flat water.

(from: wikipedia - nebraska)

The flag of Nebraska is dark blue, with the state seal in the middle all colored in yellow.
The seal shows a train, mountains, a steamboat, the Missouri river, a cabin, wheat sheaves, a blacksmith at an anvil, and the state motto.

(from: wikipedia - flag of nebraska)

Kool-Aid was first invented in Hastings Nebraska. Edwin Perkins invented it after figuring out how to take liquid out of a fruit juice, and turning it into a powder.
In the town of Hastings, they have a party called Kool-Aid Days.


(from: wikipedia - kool-aid man)

The spade ranch is the oldest cattle ranch in Nebraska. They mark all of their cattle with a shape that looks like an ace of spades.

(from: wikipedia - spade ranch (nebraska))

There is a large rock that has a tall point sticking up on it like a chimney, and it is called Chimney Rock.

(from: wikipedia - chimney rock national historic site)

Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States, was born in Nebraska

(from: wikipedia - gerald ford)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ethiopia

Jesus Burial

We just learned about Jesus saying it is finished at his crucifixion.

After Jesus had died, one of Jesus' disciples named Joseph of Arimathea asked Pontius Pilate for the body.
Joseph took Jesus' body, wrapped it in a clean cloth, put it into a tomb, and rolled a big stone in front of it.

Jesus' mother Mary and Mary Magdalene who was a follower of Jesus were both outside the tomb.

Since Jesus had told everyone that he would rise again in three days, Pontius Pilate had a guard stay by the tomb to make sure it was closed up tight, and stand outside to make sure that nobody would steal Jesus' body and then pretend like he had risen from the dead.

Some of the women who were followers of Jesus went home to make some spices and perfumes which were used on people's bodies after they died, with plans to bring them back later for Jesus' body.

(from: wikipedia - burial of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Walking on water

The Calling of St. Matthew - Caravaggio

We just learned about The Thinker by artist François-Auguste-René Rodin.

Another famous work of art is The Calling of Saint Matthew in 1600 by Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

This is a painting of when Jesus came to call Matthew the tax collector to be one of his followers.

Jesus is on the right hand side, pointing his finger to Matthew.
The light coming from the window is almost like light being shined on Matthew because Jesus is calling him.
Also the way Jesus is holding his hand is just like the painting of Adam on The Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.

Matthew is the bearded man on the left, who has a look on his face like "Who, me?" as Jesus is calling him.
All of the tax collectors are dressed very fancy, with nice robes and shoes, and Jesus is wearing a robe and is barefoot.
This helps show the difference between earthly and heavenly treasures.

Caravaggio painted two other pictures of Saint Matthew.
One was called The Inspiration of Saint Matthew and was about Matthew writing the Gospel.
The other was called The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and was about when Matthew was killed for his beliefs in Jesus.
All three paintings are on the walls at the Contarelli Chapel in Rome.

(from: wikipedia - the calling of st matthew (caravaggio))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Waning Gibbous

German - Their car is tall

We just learned in German your food is hot is Ihr Essen ist heiß.

To say their car is tall you would say Ihr Auto ist groß.
We can break it up into four words:
Their - Ihr - sounds like Ee-uh /?/
car - Auto - sounds like ah-oo-toh /?/
is - ist - Sounds like isst /?/
tall - groß - Sounds like guh-oh-ss /?/


So all together Ihr Autoist groß sounds like mine Ee-uh ah-oo-toh isst guh-oh-ss.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Su coche es alto

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Leur voiture est haut