Friday, January 27, 2017

ASL - Horse, Sheep, Duck


We just learned in ASL how to say dog, cat, cow, chicken and pig.
Let's learn more animals!

horse - Put your thumb up by the side of your head with your palm facing foward, and your first two fingers up almost like ears, and then wiggle them forward like a horse's ear.
sheep - Hold your left arm out in front of you across your body, and use your first two fingers of your other hand like scissors like you are cutting the wool off of the sheep.
duck - Using your thumb and your first two fingers make them like a beak opening and closing, in front of your mouth. The two fingers can be spread out a little to show that it is a big duck's beak.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

Chris Wood - ASL Lessons: Animals



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: cavallo, pecora, anatra

German: Pferd, Schaf, Ente

Spanish: caballo, oveja, pato

French: French - cheval, mouton, canard

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Coal


We just learned about charcoal.

Another type of fuel used in blacksmithing is coal.

Coal is something that is mined or dug up from the ground.
It is made from old plants that turned to dirt and were buried and pressed underground for a long long time.
Blacksmiths use coal as a type of fuel to make other types of ashes that can be used to make different kinds of metal.


(from: wikipedia - coal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fujita Scale

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

European Fire-Bellied Toad


We just learned about the difference between Frogs and Toads.

One type of frog is the European Fire-Bellied Toad.

Even though these are called toads, they are not part of the family of "True Toads" called Bufonidae.

These toads have a green back with black spots, and an orange or red belly with black stripes.
Their eyes have heart shaped pupils and webbed feet.

A full grown toad can be about 2 inches long.
To protect themselves, their skin makes a poison that might give you a rash if you pick one up, and would make you feel sick if you ate it.

Some frogs like this one shed their skin.
They puff themselves up big, cough to loosen the skin, then tear the old skin off and eat it!


(from: wikipedia - european fire-bellied toad)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fox Terrier

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Nucleus


We just learned about the Soma.

Another part of the neuron is the Nucleus.

The nucleus is in the middle of the Soma, and is the part of the neuron that is in control.
It is like the brain that tells the rest of the neuron what to do.


(from: wikipedia - soma (biology))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aortic Valve

Monday, January 23, 2017

Klamath-Siskyou Mountains


We just learned about the Calapooya Mountains.

Another group of mountain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera are the Klamath-Siskyou Mountains in Oregon and California.

In this group there are the Klamath, Siskiyou, Trinity Alps, Salmon and Yolla Bolly mountains.
The Yolla Bolly mountains get their name from the Wintu Native American words for "snowy peak" since it's one of the only mountain areas that gets snow.

There are a lot of protected forests in this area, over 7 million acres, including a 400 mile trail called the "Bigfoot Trail".

(from: wikipedia - klamath mountains (ecoregion))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Winnipeg

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Joshua


We just learned about the Bible person Aaron.

Another person from the Bible is Joshua.

After Moses led the people of Israel across the desert, he put Joshua in charge.
Joshua went on to many other lands, and with God's army he took over many of the lands.

One of the places was called Jericho, where there were large walls around the city.
God told Joshua that he would help them take over the city, and make the walls fall down.
He told them to march around the city for six days, and then on the seventh day to blow their horns and shout at the wall and it will come crashing down, and they could go take over the city.

The book of Joshua in the Bible has a very famous saying, from when he told his people that they had to make a choice to follow God or not.

Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."


(from: wikipedia - joshua)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Church Calendar

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Cloisters Cross


We just learned about the Bernward Doors.

Another ancient Romanesque sculpture is the Cloisters Cross.

This cross is almost 2 feet tall, and is carved out of walrus tusks (called ivory).

Even though the cross is not very big, it has 92 carvings and 98 inscriptions.
The carvings are pictures showing stories from the Bible.


(from: wikipedia - cloisters cross)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lion Man of Hohlenstein Stadel

Friday, January 20, 2017

ASL - Cow, Chicken, Pig


We already learned how to say dog and cat in ASL.

Now let's learn about some farm animals!

cow - With your thumb by your head, your pinky sticking out, and your other three fingers closed, wave your hand forward and back like a cow's horn.

chicken - With your right hand fingers in the G shape and your left hand flat, use your right hand like you are pecking seeds from your left hand.

pig - With your right hand under your chin and your fingers pointing to the left, wiggle your fingers.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

tannerpetrella - Sign Language Snippets week 5-Farm Animals



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: mucca, pollo, maiale

German: Kuh, Huhn, Schwein

Spanish: vaca, pollo, cerdo

French: vache, poulet, porc

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Charcoal


We just learned about Flux.

Another thing used in blacksmithing is charcoal.

When the blacksmith is making a fire in the blast furnace or the forge, they need something to burn very hot, very fast.
Charcoal is something that is made after burning up some fuel like wood, but not burning it up all the way.

After some of the water and other parts of the wood are burned up, the left over blackened pieces of wood chips are saved after being cooled, and then used later in large piles to burn up very fast and hot.


(from: wikipedia - charcoal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wall Cloud

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Frogs and Toads


We've learned a whole lot about snakes, now let's learn about frogs!

Frogs and toads are all part of the same group of animals in nature, called the "Anura" order.
Anura comes from an old Greek word meaning "without tail".

There is a smaller group of animals that is part of the Anura order, called the "Bufonidae" family, or sometimes called the "True toad" family.
But even in that family, some of those animals are still named frogs, like the harlequin frog which is a true toad!

So all toads are frogs (Anura), but not all frogs are toads (Anura Bufonidae).

A lot of times people think of frogs as the ones that go into water or are wet all the time, and toads as the ones with warts that are dry and live on land.

That's not always true either!
The European fire-bellied toad isn't a true toad even though it's called a toad, and it lives in the water.
And the Panamanian golden frog which is a true toad even though it's called a frog has smooth skin and lives in the water.

There are about 4,800 types of Anura, and only a few hundred of them are true toads.
So really most of them are frogs, even if we call them toads.

True toads don't have any teeth, and they have glands to spit poison from their skin, and they sometimes are warty but not always.
To really tell if it is a toad, you have to know about its skeleton, skin, mouth, glands and a lot of other things that you can't tell without a lot of research!


(from: wikipedia - frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Boston Terrier

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Soma


We just learned about the Neuron in the nervous system that sends messages in the body.

One part of the neuron is called the Soma.

The soma is the big part of one end of the neuron that has smaller parts inside of it.
It comes from the Greek word meaning "body", so the soma is the main body of the neuron.


(from: wikipedia - soma (biology))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mitral Valve

Monday, January 16, 2017

Calapooya Mountains


We just learned about the Oregon Coast Range.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera is the Calapooya Mountains in Oregon.

These mountains have a lot of forests, and long ago they acted like a wall that people had trouble getting around, so they built the Applegate Trail to help travelers get to the gold mines that were in Northern California.


(from: wikipedia - calapooya mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Erie

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Aaron


We just learned about Moses.

Another person from the Bible is Aaron.

Aaron was the brother of Moses, and helped Moses lead the Isrealites.
Moses was nervous speaking to people, so when Moses had to go talk to Pharaoh, he had Aaron do the talking.
He also helped Moses lead the people through the desert.
Because Aaron was such a good speaker, he was made as the first High Priest.


(from: wikipedia - aaron)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Acts

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Bernward Doors


We just learned about the Baptismal Font at St. Bartholomew's Church, Liège.

Another Romanesque sculpture is the Bernward Doors made in 1015 for the Hildesheim Cathedral in Germany.

These metal doors were made mostly of copper, and have 16 different pieces, each one made with it's own picture.
Each picture is a relief, meaning the sculpture stands out above the background.
The 8 pictures on the left are from the book of Genesis, telling the story of Adam and Even and Cain and Abel.
The 8 pictures on the right are from the Gospel, telling the story of Jesus from the angels visiting Mary to going up to heaven.


(from: wikipedia - bernward doors)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Metz & Co showroom - van der Leck

Friday, January 13, 2017

ASL - Black, White, Brown, Gray


We just learned in ASL how to sign red, yellow, orange and green, blue, purple, pink.

Let's learn some more colors!


black - Hold up just your right pointer finger pointing to the left at your forehead, almost like a salute. Pull your arm backwards like it is drawing a black line on your forehead.

white - With your open hand, put your fingertips on your chest, and then close your fingers together with your fingers still all straight, and pull your hand out away from your chest.

brown - Using the hand shape for the letter B, put your hand up next to your face with your palm facing outward and your fingertips pointed up. Move your hand downward, keeping the pointer finger by your face.

gray - With both hands open, arms out and your palms facing toward your chest and your thumbs pointed up, move your hands back and forth, alternating either hand. So when your right hand is going forward, your left hand is going backward.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

Colors - Mrs. Rodriguez's ASL Classes



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: nero, bianco, marrone, grigio

German: schwarz, weiß, braun, grau

Spanish: negro, blanco, marrón, gris

French: noir, blanc, brun, gris

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Flux


We just learned about Gangue.

Another part of smelting is something called flux.

When blacksmith has iron ore, they want to turn it into iron, and get rid of the gangue and turn it into slag.

Sometimes the only way to get rid of the gangue ore is to use another chemical called a flux.
There are a few different types of fluxes, but one that was used a lot is limestone.

When the iron ore is heated up in the blast furnace, the limestone melts and sticks to the gangue, and it all melts off and turns into slag, just leaving the iron behind.



(from: wikipedia - limestone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tornado Family

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Snake - Venom


We just learned about the Snake Fangs.

Another part of the snake is the venom.

The saliva or spit in our mouth is what snakes use in their mouth for venom.

There are different types of venom that can do different things to the body.

Neurotoxins attack the nervous system, and can cause hallucinations (seeing things that aren't real), muscle spasms (muscles move without control), muscle paralysis (can't move), and numbness (can't feel anything).

Cytotoxins attack the cells in the body, and can eat away at skin, fat, muscles, blood or bodily organs.

When the snake bites their prey, they squirt the venom into the prey's body.
The blood in the prey's body then carries that venom all over the body and the snake can eat their prey.


(from: wikipedia - snake venom)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jack Russell Terrier

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Neuron


We just learned about the Enteric Nervous System.

All of the parts of the nervous system are made up of smaller things called neurons.

Neurons are like tiny little computers in the body that send and receive messages to other neurons all over the body.


(from: wikipedia - neuron)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tricuspid Valve

Monday, January 9, 2017

Oregon Coast Range


We just learned about the Cascade Range.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt in the North American Cordillera is the Oregon Coast Range.

There are many forests in this mountain range, and many people use this area to get trees to be used for houses and buildings.


(from: wikipedia - oregon coast range)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Great Slave Lake

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Moses


We just learned about the Joseph.

Another person from the Bible is Moses.

Moses was one of the most important people in the Bible.
His name is mentioned more in the Old Testament than anyone else.
Moses did many amazing things in his life.

When he was born, there was a law to kill Hebrew boys that were born, so his mother put him in a basket by the river. He was found by the Pharaoh's daughter and she saved him.

He grew up and saw that the Hebrews were slaves, so he ran away from Egypt to become a shepherd.
When he was a shepherd, God appeared to him as a burning bush, and told him to go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to free the Hebrew people.

The Pharaoh did not listen to Moses, so God made really bad things called plagues happen to the Egyptians.
Water turned to blood, swarms of pests like flies took over the land, and farm animals died.
The last plague was the death of all firstborn children, and after that the Pharaoh let the Hebrews go.
After they left, Pharaoh changed his mind and chased after them, but Moses parted the Red Sea and the Hebrews went across but the Egyptian army drowned trying to follow them.

Moses took his people to Mt. Sinai and God gave him the Ten Commandments.
He built the Ark of the Covenant to put the stone tablets into.

Moses lead his people through the desert for 40 years, and in that time God gave him over 600 laws to tell his followers so they could be safe living in the desert.


(from: wikipedia - moses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Revelation

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Baptismal Font at St. Bartholomew's Church, Liège


We just learned about the Reliquary of St. Maurus.

Another famous sculpture is the Baptismal Font at St. Bartholomew's Church, Liège made in 1107 in Belgium.

It is made of bronze, and the sculptures are in high relief.
High relief means that the parts of the sculpture stick out very far from the background.

The pictures on this sculpture are of the people that wrote the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
These people are sometimes called the Four Evangelists.

This is a baptismal font, which is a tub that gets filled with water for people to get baptized in.
It is still used even today.


(from: wikipedia - baptismal font at st bartholomew's church, liège)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Composition VII - van Doesburg

Friday, January 6, 2017

ASL - Green, Blue, Purple, Pink

We just the ASL signs for red, orange and yellow.

Let's learn more colors!

green - Make the hand sign for the letter G, and twist your hand back and forth.

blue - Make the hand sign for the letter B, and twist your hand back and forth.

purple - Make the hand sign for the letter P, and twist your hand back and forth.

pink - Make the hand sign for the letter P, and put your tall finger up to your chin and pull it down, sort of like the sign for red, but using your tall finger.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

Learn ASL colors with Fireese - Fun show for kids - My Smart Hands



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: verde, blu, viola, rosa

German: grün, blau, lila, rosa

Spanish: verde, azul, morado, rosa

French: vert, bleu, violet, rose

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Gangue


We just learned about slag.

The glassy chemicals that the blacksmith tries to remove from the iron ore are called Gangue.

One kind of gangue that is seen a lot is the rock Quartz.


(from: wikipedia - gangue)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Steam Devil

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Snake - Fangs


We just learned about the Snake Skull.

Another interesting thing about snakes is their fangs.

Some snakes have fangs that point straight down or almost a little forward, so they can poke people with their fangs.
Other snakes have fangs in the front of their mouth, but they curve backwards, so they can only bite something if they can get it into their mouth, but they will be able to hang on and not lose their bite.
There are even snakes with fangs in the very back of their mouth, so they really aren't able to bite much, but if they have managed to really get a deep bite on their prey they can use their venom.

The snakes fangs are all hollow, and fill up with venom that they get from inside their mouth, just like the saliva or spit that is in a human's mouth.


(from: wikipedia - snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Yorkshire Terrier

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Enteric Nervous System


We just learned about the Parasympathetic Nervous System.

Another part of the Autonomic Nervous System in the Peripheral Nervous System is the Enteric Nervous System.

This part of the nervous system is mostly in control of the body's digestion.


(from: wikipedia - enteric nervous system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Heart Valves

Monday, January 2, 2017

Cascade Range


We just learned about the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in the belt is the Cascade Range which goes from British Columbia Canada, through Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

There are a lot of volcanoes in this mountain range, and for the last 200 years all of the volcanoes that have erupted in the lower US states were in the Cascades.

The most famous eruption was Mount St. Helens in 1980.

The famous people Lewis and Clark came through the Cascades mapping their way across the US.




(from: wikipedia - cascade range)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Malawi

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Joseph


We just learned about the person from the Bible Leah.

Another person from the Bible is Joseph.

Joseph was the favorite of Jacob's 12 sons, and he had given Joseph a nice coat with lots of colors.
His brothers were so jealous of him being the favorite that they kidnapped him and sold him to some travelers.
The traveler went to Egypt, where Joseph worked for him for a long time and did very well.

Joseph helped the Pharaoh of Egypt understand some of his dreams, and the Pharaoh was so happy he made Joseph very powerful, almost like a prince that was more powerful than anyone but the Pharaoh himself.

A great famine came long where no one could grow food in their farms, and Joseph had been wise and saved up food to help people survive.
His family came to visit him, and he gave them food and a new home to stay in so they would be protected from the famine.


(from: wikipedia - joseph (genesis))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jude

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Reliquary of St. Maurus


We just learned about the Gloucester Candlestick.

Another ancient sculpture is the Reliquary of St. Maurus.

Just like the Shrine of the Three Kings these are sarcophagi, coffins with people's bones in them.
Inside the silver plated golden covered boxes are the bones of St. Maurus, St. John the Baptist, and St. Timothy.

During World War II, this reliquary was buried underneath a church to protect it from armies that would steal it.

It was buried for around 40 years and forgotten, until someone went looking for it and dug it up.


(from: wikipedia - reliquary of st. maurus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Composition II - Mondrian

Friday, December 30, 2016

ASL - Red, Orange, Yellow

We just learned about the alphabet in ASL.

Now let's learn some colors!

red - Hold up your pointer finger in front of your chin below your mouth, and pull it down two times, almost like you are scratching your chin.

orange - Hold your hand out like a fist in front of and below your mouth, and squeeze it two times, almost like you are squeezing a bottle of orange juice into your mouth.

yellow - Hold up your hand in the finger spelling sign for "Y" and spin your hand two times.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

Learn to sign: COLORS in American Sign Language - Meredith ASL



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: rosso, arancione, giallo

German: rot, orange, gelb

Spanish: rojo, naranja, amarillo

French: rouge, orange, jaune

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Slag


We just learned about the Smelting.

When a blacksmith is smelting to get the iron out of iron ore, the left over stuff is called slag.

It looks kind of like glass, sand or rocks, and was usually thrown away as waste.


(from: wikipedia - slag)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Firestorm

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Snake - Skull


We just learned about the snake skeleton.

Part of the snake's skeleton is the skull.

Sometimes when a snake has to eat a really big meal, it has to open up it's mouth very large.
Some people say that the snake has to unhinge or unhook it's jaw.
This is not really true, because the snake's jaw is already split open at the bottom middle, even before eating anything.

So when they have to eat something big, their bottom jaw spreads out to the left and the right to get big enough for their meal.

(from: wikipedia - snake skeleton)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Keeshond

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Parasympathetic Nervous System


We just learned about the Sympathetic Nervous System.

Another part of the Autonomic Nervous System is the Parasympathetic Nervous System, sometimes just called the PSNS.

Remember the Sympathetic Nervous System gives us the "fight or flight" feelings.

The PSNS gives us what we call the "rest-and-digest" feelings.
These are more for when you are sitting at rest, eating or just relaxing.


(from: wikipedia - parasympathetic nervous system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Heart - Blood Flow

Monday, December 26, 2016

Olympic Mountains


Remember we're learning about the moutain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt on the North American Cordillera.

We just learned about the Insular Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Olympic Mountains.

These mountains have water on three sides, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Seattle to the east.
Because they are surrounded by so much water, the western slopes are the wettest place in the lower 48 states, which doesn't include Alaska and Hawaii.

The tallest mountain in this range is Mount Olympus, which is different from the famous mountain in Greece.


(from: wikipedia - olympic mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Great Bear Lake

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Leah


We just learned about the person from the Bible named Rachel.

Another person from the Bible is Leah.

Leah was Rachel's older sister, and when Jacob asked to marry Rachel, her father said he had to marry Leah first.
She was sad that Jacob loved Rachel, but she had six sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun) and one daughter (Dinah).

Her son Judah would be the ancestor of David, who was the ancestor of Jesus.
Rachel died in childbirth of her son Benjamin, so when Jacob was laid to rest in his tomb he was put next to Leah.


(from: wikipedia - leah)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Third John

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Gloucester Candlestick


We just learned about the Stavelot Triptych.

Another famous sculpture is the Gloucester Candlestick.

This candlestick is made of bronze, which is a mixture of a bunch of metals like copper, tin and silver.
People believe this candlestick was made up of a bunch of old melted coins.

It has many sculpted little statues on it from the bottom to the top. There are dragons at the bottom, and at the top are the four people who wrote the Bible gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The candlestick has words written on it in Latin. Translated to English they are:
"This flood of light, this work of virtue, bright with holy doctrine instructs us, so that Man shall not be benighted in vice."

This means that sculpture can remind people to follow the teachings of the Bible and live a good life full of light, and not do bad things and live in the darkness.

There are some sculpted figures on the candlestick that are trying to climb up toward the light, and others that are trying to crawl away from it toward the bottom.






(from: wikipedia - gloucester candlestick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Revolving Torsion Gabo

Friday, December 23, 2016

ASL Alphabet

We just learned how to Count to ten in ASL.

Signing the ASL alphabet is called "fingerspelling".

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

ASL ABC Lesson and Song - Learn Sign Language Alphabet - My Smart Hands



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

The Italian alphabet looks the same as the English alphabet.

The German alphabet has the letters ä, ö, ü, ß

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

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

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Smelting


We just learned about Pig Iron.

Removing metals like iron from iron ore is called smelting.

The rocks that have metal in them get heated up, and the metal ends up separate from the leftover waste.


(from: wikipedia - smelting)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fire whirl

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Snake - Skeleton


We just learned about the Snake - Molting.

Another part of snake biology is the skeleton.

Snakes only have a skull, backbone and ribs, and a few small bones left over from when snakes used to be lizards and had legs.
They can have 200 to 400 vertebrae in their backbone, depending on the type of snake.


(from: wikipedia - snake skeleton)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Samoyed

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Sympathetic Nervous System


We just learned about the Autonomic Nervous System, which is part of the Peripheral Nervous System.

One part of the Autonomic Nervous System is the Sympathetic Nervous System.

This part of our nervous system gives us what we call the fight-or-flight feelings.
That means when something happens that scares you or hurts you, this helps make your decision for whether you run away or whether you fight back.


(from: wikipedia - sympathetic nervous system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pulmonary Artery

Monday, December 19, 2016

Insular Mountains


We just learned about the Coast Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt, in the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in that belt is the Insular Mountains in British Columbia, Canada.

These mountains were made from lava, and created the Vancouver Islands and the Haida Gwaii Islands.
The bottom of these mountains goes below the sea level, which is called not fully exposed.

There are still many earthquakes in this area.


(from: wikipedia - insular mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Baikal

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Rachel


We just learned about the person from the Bible named Jacob.

Another person from the Bible is Rachel.

Rachel was one of the wives of Jacob.

While Jacob was running away from his brother Esau because he had stolen Esau's birthright and blessing, he was working for a man named Laban.
He saw Laban's daughter Rachel and thought she was very beautiful, so he asked Laban if he could marry her.
Laban said he had to work for him for 7 years before he could marry her, and he agreed.
After 7 years he had the wedding, but Laban tricked him and made Jacob marry Rachel's older sister Leah first.
He agreed to work for Laban for another 7 years and then married Rachel also, so he had two wives.

Rachel was very upset for a long time because she could not have babies, but then after a long time she was able to have two children, Joseph and Benjamin.

(from: wikipedia - rachel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Second John

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Stavelot Triptych


We just learned about the Shrine of the Three Kings.

Another ancient roman sculpture is the Stavelot Triptych.

We learned before that a triptych is like a sculpted book that opens and closes.
This triptych opens up, and has two smaller triptychs in the middle.

The smaller triptychs are much older, and are said to have held small pieces of the cross that Christ died on, as well as some dirt from Christ's tomb, and a piece of his mother Mary's robe.

The triptychs are made of gold, jewels and glass, and have pictures showing saints, mother Mary, and the story of the Christian Emperor Constantine's mother when she traveled to find the cross that Christ died on.


(from: wikipedia - stavelot triptych)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dance - Objectless Composition - Rodchenko

Friday, December 16, 2016

ASL - Six, seven, eight, nine, ten


We Counted to five now let's count to ten in ASL!


Remember for 1-5 your palm was facing toward you.
For 6-9, hold your hand out in front of you, with your palm facing away from you.
Hold up all your fingers, but hold down one for each number:

6 - Pinky finger.
7 - Ring finger.
8 - Tall finger.
9 - Index finger.

For 10, close your fist, put your thumb up, and wiggle your hand around.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

ASL Numbers 1-10 | Sign Language - My Smart Hands



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: sei, setto, otto, nove, dieci

German: seis, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Spanish: seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

French: six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Pig Iron


We've now learned about Sponge Iron and Wrought Iron.

Another type of iron made in a forge is Pig Iron.

This is iron after it has gone through a blast furnace, it is stirred and stirred while heated.
There are a lot of things called impurities in the metals, that make the iron harder to work with or not look as nice.
After heating and stirring, the metal can be cooled and turned into little metal bricks nicknamed "pigs".

They got this nickname because the way the iron was made in molds, it looked like a bunch of little piglets with a larger mother pig.

When they broke off the small pieces from the mother sow, they called them pigs.



(from: wikipedia - pig iron)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dust Devil

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Snake - Molting


We just learned about Snake Scales.

Another part of snake biology is when snakes shed their skin, called molting, sloughing or ecdysis.

Snake skin cane get dirty, worn out, and even covered with bugs like mites or ticks.
So to keep their skin fresh they will peel off the outside layer and have fresh skin and scales underneath.

Usually when a snake is getting ready to shed its skin, it goes and hides somewhere safe.
Then the new layer of skin underneath the old layer gets gooey and slippery.
The snake finds a rough or sharp thing to catch the dry outer skin on, then they keep slithering along.
Just like pulling a sock off, the snake pulls its old skin off and then goes on its way with a nice clean fresh skin.

Younger snakes can shed their skin 4 times a year, and an older snake may only shed their skin 1 or 2 times a year.


(from: wikipedia - snake scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: American Eskimo Dog