Swahili - Please, You're Welcome

Remember that to say thank you in Swahili, you say Asante.

To say please in Swahili is tafadhali - Sounds like tah-fah-d-hah-lee. - 文A

To say you're welcome, you say karibu - Sounds like kah-ree-boo. - 文A




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: пожалуйста (pozhaluysta)

Norwegian: Vær så snill, Værsågod

Greek: Παρακαλώ (Parakaló)

ASL: Please, You're Welcome

German: bitte, bitte schön

Spanish: Por favor, de nada

French: s'il vous plait, de rien

Superheater

We just learned about the steam locomotive Boiler.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Superheater.

When the water gets heated up by the fire and goes through the fire tube boiler, it gets really hot and leaves the boiler as steam.
To make it even hotter, that hot steam is sent back into some other pipes to get heated even more.
This is called a superheater.

Superheated steam is better because it is more of a dry steam.
The dry steam holds the heat better, and helps the inside of the engine not get wet and rusty.


(from: wikipedia - superheater)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bonnet

Sphynx Cat

We just learned about the Persian Cat.

Another type of cat is the Sphynx Cat.

This is a type of cat with no fur.
One funny thing about their skin is that even though they don't have fur their skin can be different colors, and if fur did grow from that skin it would be the same color as that skin..

Because they don't have fur they cat get cold, and they can either wear clothes made for them or they will go try and find warm places to curl up.


(from: wikipedia - sphynx cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nerve Net

Neutrophil

We just learned about the Monocyte.

Another type of white blood cell is a Neutrophil, also called a neutrocyte or heterophil.

We've learned about 2 other types of white blood cells:
- lymphocytes - that help kill off bad diseases using T, B or NK cells.
- monocytes - that help fight off infections and clean up garbage in the body.

The neutrophils are a lot like the monocytes, where their job is to go fight off bad germs and dirt that cause infections and make you sick.
These are the first line of defense for your body when there is an infection, they are like the emergency workers that rush to the scene to help out.


There are more neutrophils than any other type of white blood cell, and the human body makes about 100 billion neutrophils every day.

One of the only differences between monoctyes and neutrophils is that when a monocyte fights off an infection or disease they leave behind some clues about what kind of disease it might be.
These clues help the super powerful lymphocytes come in if there is a bad disease that needs to be killed off.


(from: wikipedia - neutrophil)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Uvea

Armenia

We just learned about the country of Andorra

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

This is a small country in an area called Eurasia, meaning some people think of this area as Europe and others think of it as Asia.
It is east of Turkey, south of Georgia, north of Iran, and west of Azerbaijan.
The country is about 11,000 square miles and has about 3 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - armenia)

The Armenian flag is 3 horizontal stripes.
Red - for the mountains, for freedom, for the Christian people, and for the Armenian Genocide
Blue - for the skies
Orange - for courage and hard work


(from: wikipedia - flag of armenia)

To eat in Armenia you might have kibbeh which is a type of spicy meat, served with yogurt

(from: wikipedia - armenian cuisine)

The Etchmiadzin Cathedral was built around 300 AD, and is the oldest cathedral in the world.

(from: wikipedia - etchmiadzin cathedral)

Armenia is home to the world's oldest leather shoe, and the world's oldest winery.
In 2007 scientists found a cave with these things they believe were made aound in 4000 BC.

(from: wikipedia - areni-1 winery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Half Tower

Sistine Chapel

We just learned about the Gutenberg Bible.

Another part of early Christianity is the Sistine Chapel.

In 1473 AD the builder Baccio Pontelli tore down an old chapel that was falling over and built a new big chapel for the pope at the time called Pope Sixtus IV.
It was called the "Cappella Magna" or Great Chapel, it was the new home for the Pope and was full of many famous works of art by artists like Boticelli and Michelangelo.
The name was changed to the Sistine Chapel for the name of Pope Sixtus.

When the church is trying to choose a new pope, they put a chimney up on the roof.
If all of the church leaders agree on the pope then they throw all their ballots in the fireplace and it makes white smoke out of the top of the chimney, telling everyone that there is a new pope.
If they can not agree, then they put some other things in the fireplace to make black smoke come out of the chimney to tell everyone they have not made up their minds yet.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pentarchy

Puma - William Zorach

We just learned about the sculpture Dream Lady by Edward McCartan.

Another famous American sculpture is Puma by William Zorach made in 1954 in Philadelphia.

Zorach was born in Lithuania in 1889, and moved to America when he was 5.
He grew up learning how to be an artist in America.
While he was an artist, a lot of other artists in America were making things in the old classical style, but Zorach liked the cubism style.

He made many paintings and sculptures in America and was even a college art teacher for many years.


(from: wikipedia - william zorach)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Xicalcoliuhqui

Swahili - Very good thanks, and you?

We just learned to say How are you? in Swahili, Hujambo or Unakuwaje

and Very good thanks is Sijambo asante or Safi asante

To be polite you should also ask how the other person is doing.

You can really just say hujambo or unakuwaje to the person, or you can actually say "and you".

And you? - Na wewe? - sounds like nah way-way - 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Спасибо Хорошо (Spasibo khorosho). А вы? (A vy?) / А ты? (A ty?)

Norwegian: Veldig bra takk. Og du?

Greek: Πολύ καλά, ευχαριστώ. εσύ? (Polý kalá, efcharistó)

ASL: Very Good Thanks, and You?

Italian: Molto bene, grazie.

German: Sehr gut, danke. Und Sie?

Spanish: Muy bien gracias. ¿Y tú?

French: Très bien, merci. Et vous?

Boiler

We just learned about the Firebox on a locomotive.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Boiler.

We learned before about the Fire Tube Boiler that has a bunch of tubes full of water that are heated up by the burning coal in the Firebox.

The boiler is the long cylinder shaped part of the locomotive that has all of that fire burning and hot water heating inside of it.


(from: wikipedia - boiler)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Body

Persian Cat

We just learned about the Scottish Fold Cat.

Another type of cat is the Persian Cat.

This type of cat has long fur, and a flat face that makes it look grumpy.
The villan cat Mr. Tinkles from the movie Cats and Dogs was a Persian Cat.

Persian cats can have just about any type of fur color, from orange to grey to all white.


(from: wikipedia - persian cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Stomach

Monocyte

We just learned about the kind of white blood cell called a lymphocyte, and the kind of lymphocyte called the B Cell.

There are other kinds of white blood cells, like one called the Monocyte.

These white blood cells are bigger than their cousins the lymphocytes, and their job is to go around cleaning up dirty things like infections in the body.

When they see something like dirt or infection they turn into something else called a macrophage and they wrap themselves around the bad stuff, almost like they are eating it, and they destroy the unhealthy bad stuff.

They are different from the lymphocytes because lymphocytes are really for targeting specific diseases or viruses, and monocytes are really more like cleaning up all the dirty garbage and fighting off infections.

So if your skin gets cut and you don't wash it off and keep it clean, you can get dirt and germs in your body.
The monocytes help fight off the bad stuff that comes from the dirt and germs if it gets infected.


(from: wikipedia - monocyte)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Choroid

Andorra

We just learned about the country of Albania.
Let's learn a little about the country of Andorra!

This is a very small country right in between France and Spain.
It is only 180 square miles, and only about 77,000 people live there.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

The flag of Andorra has vertical blue, yellow, red stripes, with the coat of arms of Andorra in the middle.
The coat of arms has four parts, made up from the banners of old royal families who first founded the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of andorra)

There is a spa in Andorra called "Caldea" that is the largest spa in Europe, that is 18 floors and 6,000 square meters

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

A lot of the country of Andorra is mountains, so there is a big ski resort called Soldeu that has over a hundred miles of ski slopes.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caltrop

Gutenberg Bible

We just learned about the Devshirme.

Another part of early Christianity was the Gutenberg Bible.

Long ago when people wanted to make a copy of the Bible they had to write it out by hand.
It was not very easy to make paper, ink or pens, so it took a long time, and each copy looked very different depending on who was writing it and what the paper or pen looked like.

Around 1450 people were using something called a Printing Press that was like a big stamp with a roller of paper that could print a lot of copies quickly.

In Germany a man named Johannes Gutenberg used the printing press to make about 150 copies of the Bible, and send them around Germany.
This started a big change in the world of Christianity because a lot more people could read the actual words in the Bible and learn for themselves about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - gutenberg bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Baptism of Clovis I

Dream Lady - Edward McCartan

We just learned about the statue of Prometheus by Paul Manship.

Another famous American sculpture is Dream Lady by Edward McCartan made in Chicago in 1922.

This statue was made to honor Eugene Field, who was a famous writer who wrote some very famous poems like Wynken, Blinken and Nod.

The sculptor McCartan was born in 1879 in New York where he grew up studying art.
He went to Paris for a few years to study art, and usually made things in the old Classical style which meant everything looked very realistic.


(from: wikipedia - edward mccartan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: San Martín Pajapan Monument 1

Swahili - How are you?

We just learned some greetings in Swahili, like Habari, Mambo, Shikamoo and Habari za asubuhi, Habari za mchana, Habari za jioni, Habari za usiku.

There are also a few ways to say How are you? in Swahili:

Hujambo? - sounds like hoo-jah-m-boh 文A

Unakuwaje? - sounds like oo-nah-koo-wah-jay 文A


To respond and say Very good thanks, you would say one of the following:

Sijambo, asante (responding to Hujambo) - sounds like see-jah-m-boh ah-sah-n-tay. 文A

Safi, asante (responding to Unakuwaje) - sounds like sah-fee ah-sah-n-tay. 文A




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Как дела? (kak dela), Спасибо Хорошо (Spasibo khorosho)

Norwegian: Hvordan har du det? Veldig bra takk.

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío), Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα - (Kalinychta)

ASL: How are you?

Italian: Come va? Molto bene, grazie.

German: Wie geht es Ihnen? Sehr gut, danke.

Spanish: ¿Cómo estás? Muy bien, gracias.

French: Comment allez-vous? Très bien, merci.

Firebox

We just learned about the Locomotive Piston.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Firebox.

Remember we learned about the Tender Coal Car where all the coal is stored, and the Fireman who is the person in the Cab that shovels the coal from the Coal Car.

The Fireman shovels the coal into the Firebox where it burns up really hot, which heats up the water to make steam.


(from: wikipedia - firebox (steam engine))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve

Scottish Fold

We just learned about the Siamese Cat.

Another type of cat is the Scottish Fold.

This type of cat started out in 1961 when a cat named Susie was born in Scotland with their ears flopped over forward instead of sticking up like other cats.

Susies kittens had folded ears too, and after that Susie's grandkittens and so on and the breed of Scottish Fold was born.


(from: wikipedia - scottish fold)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nematocysts

B Cells

We've learned about just learned about the T Cells.

Another type of white blood cell lymphocyte is B Cells.

We are looking at:
- the type of blood cells called white blood cells,
- the type of white blood cells called lymphocytes
- the type of lymphocytes called B Cells.

Remember that we already learned about 2 other types of lymphocytes called NK Cells and T Cells.

In your body you have the living cells that make up your body or even bad diseases, and then you have a lot of other liquid floating around that is not made up of cells, just liquid.

The T Cells and NK Cells work on looking at the cells, killing bad ones and letting good ones live.

The B Cells work on the liquid that is flowing around the cells in your body.
If they find anything that looks bad, they let out these things called antibodies that stick to the bad disease and tell the body that this bad cell needs to be killed.


(from: wikipedia - b cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ciliary Body

Albania

We just learned about Thurston Island and a whole lot of other things about the continent of of Antarctica!

We've learned before about some countries in the continent of Europe.

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

Albania is just north of the country of Greece, and east of Italy across the Mediterranean Sea.
It is 11,000 square miles and has about 2.8 million people living there.
Tirana is the capital city and biggest city in the country.

Because of where it is on the map, it has some very cold weather up in the mountains, and very warm weather in the southern parts on the sea.

(from: wikipedia - albania)

The flag of Albania is red with a black double headed eagle on it.
The red is for bravery and strength, and the eagle was the symbol of some of the early royal rulers of the land.


(from: wikipedia - flag of albania)

To eat in Albania you might have Speca të ferguara, which is a layered pie with roasted peppers, usually served with pita bread.

(from: wikipedia - albanian cuisine)

The ancient Greek city of Apollonia is now part of Albania, and there are some ancient Greek ruins there.

(from: wikipedia - apollonia (illyria))

The famous nun Mother Teresa was from Albania.

(from: wikipedia - mother teresa)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Czech Hedgehog

Devshirme

We just learned about the Fall of Constantinople.

Another part of early Christianity was Devshirme.

Many times in history Christians and Hebrews were not treated very well.
In Egypt during Moses time they were slaves, and when Jesus was alive they were not treated well by the Roman empire.
When Emperor Constantine came around, things were very good for Christians for about 1,000 years.

After the fall of Constantinople, some Christians started being mistreated again by the people that were the new Ottoman rulers in the east.

One sad thing that happened is that Christian boys from the ages of 8 to 20 were taken away from their parents and made to work in the army for the Ottomans.

They were not killed or tortured, but they were told that they could not be Christian anymore.
These kids were put into school and could even become rulers in the land, like the Grand Vizier the second most powerful person in a land.

Even though they weren't killed many families were very sad that their kids were taken away.


(from: wikipedia - devshirme)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leo and Attilla

Prometheus - Manship

We just learned about the Vision of Peace by Carl Milles.

Another famous American sculpture is Prometheus by Paul Manship in New York in 1934.

In the 1920s in America, some sculptors started making statues that were a lot like the very old Greek statues in the art style called Classical Art.

Paul Manship was born in Minnesota in 1885 and grew up learning to be an artist.
When he was 24 he won an art competition and got a trip to to go Rome Italy.
While he was there he really learned to like the old Classical style, and when he came back to America he started making statues like he saw in Europe.

The Prometheus sculpture is made of bronze, and it is in New York at the famous Rockefeller Center.
It is 18 feet tall and weighs 8 tons.
Prometheus is a Titan from Greek mythology who brought fire to people by stealing it from the sun.
In this sculpture it has a big ring around Prometheus that he is falling through toward the earth.

On the wall behind the statue are the words: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends."


(from: wikipedia - prometheus (manship))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Toltec Atlantean figures from Tula

Swahili - Good Morning

We just learned a few ways to say hello and goodbye in Swahili, like Habari, Mambo, or Shikamoo.

Sometimes you might want to say good morning, good afternoon, or good night.

Habari is a way to say hello that means "How is the news", Za means "for", and Asubuhi means "morning".
So sometimes to say good morning people will say Habari za asubuhi, which really means "How is the news for morning".

Good Morning - Habari za asubuhi - sounds like hah-bah-ree zah ah-soo-boo-hee 文A

Good Day - Habari za mchana - sounds like hah-bah-ree zah m-chah-nah 文A

Good Evening - Habari za jioni - sounds like hah-bah-ree zah jee-oh-nee 文A

Good Night - Habari za usiku - sounds like hah-bah-ree zah oo-see-koo 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Доброе утро (Dobroye utro), Добрый день (Dobryy den), Добрый вечер (Dobryy vecher), Доброй ночи (Dobroy nochi)

Norwegian: God morgen, God dag, God ettermiddag, God kveld, God natt

Greek: Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα (Kalinychta)

ASL: Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Good Night

Italian: buongiorno, buon pomeriggio, buonasera, buona notte

German: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Spanish: Buenos días, buenos tardes, buenas noches

French: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne nuit

Locomotive Piston

We just learned about the Piston Rod.

Another part of the Locomotive is the Piston.

This is the thing that pushes and pulls the piston rod, using the power of the steam.

Remember we've learned about how hot steam pushes out, and then cooling the steam makes a vaccuum that pulls or sucks in.
- The pushing and pulling of the steam and vaccuum is pushes and pulls this piston
- The piston pushes and pulls the piston rod
- The piston rod pushes and pulls the connecting rod
- The connecting rod spins the train wheel around


(from: wikipedia - piston)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cam

Siamese Cat

We just learned about the Tabby Cat.

Another type of cat is the Siamese Cat.

This type of cat first came from the Asian country of Thailand. This country used to be called Siam, so that is why it is called the Siamese cat.

These cats have blue eyes, big ears, a skinny body.
Most of the time when people think of Siamese cats they picture the white fur on their body and then brown black fur on their face, ears or legs.

Siamese cats can actually have different colored fur at any part of their body, but they are most often white with brown points.



(from: wikipedia - siamese cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tentacles

T Cells

We just learned about NK Cells.

Another type of lymphocyte is T Cells.

We are looking at:
- the type of blood cells called white blood cells,
- the type of white blood cells called lymphocytes
- the type of lymphocytes called T Cells.

These cells are called T Cells because they are usually found in a part of the body called the thymus, which is right in the middle of your chest behind your sternum.

All white blood cells are made in the bone marrow, but after these T Cells leave the bone marrow they go to the thymus.

T Cells are kind of like NK Cells as they go kill bad viruses that attack your body, but the T Cells are special because they are made to only attack certain types of viruses, where as the NK Cells attack everything.

When the T Cells go to the thymus, the thymus sorts them out and figures out which ones are set up to fight the right kinds of viruses that the body wants to fight, and then if a T Cell is not needed it is thrown away.

The T Cells are sort of like specialized attack soldiers waiting for certain viruses to show up and then they attack.


(from: wikipedia - t cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fibrous Tunic

Thurston Island

We just learned about Berkner Island.

Another island in Antarctica is Thurston Island.

This is the third smallest Antarctic island after Alexander Island and Berkner Island.

It is 134 miles long and 56 miles wide.

Up until 1960 people thought this island was actually connected to the main part of Antarctica, which would make it a peninsula, but they later discovered it was actually an island, just surrounded by ice.



(from: wikipedia - thurston island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dragon's Teeth

Fall of Constantinople

We just learned about Joan of Arc.

Another part of early Christianity was the Fall of Constantinople.

Back in the year 313 the emperor Constantine made himself a home city of Constantinople, in eastern Europe.
For a long time it was the strongest city in the area, and was the head of the Roman empire.

Later on the eastern and western parts of Europe started arguing over how the church should be run, and about whether the head of the church should be in Rome, Paris or Constaninople.

When that happened, and Constantinople had other problems like fighting off plagues, it was not the strongest city anymore.

In the middle eastern countries the Ottoman Empire was getting very strong, and so they started a war to take over Constantinople.
The western European countries did not come to help Constantinople, so the Ottomans took over Constantinople easily, and also because they were using gunpowder and cannons.


(from: wikipedia - fall of constaninople)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Patrick

Vision of Peace - Carl Milles

We just learned about the statue of Georgia O'Keefe by Gaston Lachaise.

Another famous American sculpture is the Vision of Peace by Carl Milles made in Minnesota in 1936.

This statue was made to remember the people from Minnesota who died in World War I.

At the bottom of the statue are 5 Native Americans sitting around a fire, and in the middle in the smoke coming up from the fire is a Native American God of Peace.
It wasn't made just for Native Americans, but for the whole world.

The statue is 38 feet high, and made of onyx.
It is on top of a moving base at the bottom that slowly spins the statue around about 1 time every few hours.

Carl Milles was born in Sweden in 1875, and became a famous artist working there until he was 56.
In 1931 he moved to Michigan to be part of the Cranbrook school, and made many sculptures for the school grounds.
He made many other sculptures in Michigan and other parts of the midwest like Minnesota and Wisconsin.


(from: wikipedia - carl milles)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Montezuma's Headdress

Swahili - Hello and Goodbye

We've now learned a whole year of Russian!
Wow!

Let's try another language now, how about Swahili?

This is the language millions of people speak in different countries across the continent of Africa, like Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Let's learn how to say hello and goodbye in Swahili!
There are a few ways to say Hello, Hi or What's up.

These words aren't used much anymore, but they mean Hello:
Jambo - Sounds like jah-m-boh 文A
Hujambo - Sounds like hoo-jah-m-boh 文A

Just like in English a lot of times we say things like What's Up to say Hi, Swahili has the same kind of things.
What's News? - Habari - Sounds like hah-bah-ree 文A
How's it going? - Mambo - Sounds like mah-m-boh 文A

If you are going to say hello to an older person or someone who is in charge like a teacher or a police officer, you use this word which means something like Greetings.
Shikamoo - Sounds like sh-ih-kah-moo 文A




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Привет (privet), Здравствуй (Zdravstvuy), Пока (poka), до свидания (do svidaniya)

Norwegian: Hei, Hallo, Ha det, Ha det brah

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío)

ASL: Hello and Goodbye

Italian: Ciao, arrivederci

German: Hallo, Auf Wiedersehen

Spanish: Hola! Adiós!

French: Bonjour! Au Revoir!

Piston Rod

We just learned about the Connecting Rod.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Piston Rod.

This is the big straight metal rod that is connected to the piston that goes up and down with the steam and vaccuum.

The piston rod is connected to other metal rods that help turn wheels and make the engine go, but the piston just goes straight back and forth and does not turn around at all.


(from: wikipedia - piston rod)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Linear Actuator

Tabby Cat

We just learned about the Calico Cat.

Another type of cat is a Tabby Cat.

Just like the calico, tabby isn't a type of cat breed, it is just a type of fur style that can be on just about any breed of domestic cat.

A tabby cat is any cat that has an M shaped mark on their forehead, and stripes on its body.


(from: wikipedia - tabby cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Arms

NK Cells

We just learned about the type of white blood cell called a Lymphocyte.

There are a few types of lymphocytes, like the NK Cells, also called Natural Killer Cells or large granular lymphocytes (LGL).

These cells float around in the body, and if they find a cell that doesn't look like it's supposed to be part of the body then it lets out some chemicals called cytokines that will destroy the bad cell.

The bad cells might be like a tumor, an infection or a virus, and when the NK Cell releases it's cytokins and the bad cell will be destroyed.
Because these LGLs kill other bad cells they are called natural killers.


(from: wikipedia - natural killer cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aqueous Humour

Berkner Island

We just learned about the largest island in Antarctica, Alexander Island.

The second largest island is Berkner Island.

This island is about 200 miles by 100 miles, and 17,000 square miles, bigger than the US state of Maryland.

Even though it is an island, the rock part of the island is below the water, and on top of the rock is a big bunch of ice that makes up the island.
If all of the ice melted, the island would be under water.

During the cold parts of the year the island is surrounded by ice, so it doesn't always look like an island.



(from: wikipedia - berkner island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Witch Tower

Joan of Arc

We just learned about the Avignon Papacy.

Another part of early Christianity is the famous French person Joan of Arc.

She was born in France in 1412, while there was a war going on between France and England.

When she was 13 she said that she had a vision of some Christian saints, who told her she needed to go help King Charles VII of France to win the war.

At first no one believed her, but she begged over and over again to go see the king.

When she was 17 she finally got to see the king, and he let her go to some of the battles and try to help out.
Wherever she was at the French won their battles easily, so people started believing that she was a sign from God that they could win the war.

She wasn't really a fighter who carried a sword, she usually had a banner that she waved around to try and help get all the French soldiers excited about winning.

When she was 19 she was captured by the English soldiers, and they had a trial where they said she was bad and wasn't talking to Christian saints but was working for the devil, and they had her killed.

Years later the French people said that trial was not fair and said she was innocent, and the church leaders agreed so she became a Christian hero Saint Joan of Arc.

Her story is very famous in France and people have even found the house where she grew up and turned it into a museum.


(from: wikipedia - joan of arc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mariology

Georgia O'Keefe - Gaston Lachaise

We just learned about the sculpture of Richard Yates by Albin Polasek .

Another famous work of American art is the sculpture of Georgia O'Keefe made by Gaston Lachaise in 1927.

Lachaise was born in 1882 in France, where he grew up learning how to be a sculptor.
He met an American woman named Isabel and fell in love with her, so when he was about 20 years old he moved to America with her and they got married.

He was mostly famous for making sculptures of women that looked very big and powerful, like a force of nature.
Most people made sculptures of women that were very small and delicate, so this different way of making sculptures of women was seen as a way to give power to women who were seen by some people as weak.

He also made sculptures of famous people like Georgia O'Keefe.
She was a famous American artist, who some people called the Mother of American modernism.


(from: wikipedia - gaston lachaise)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Teocalli of Sacred War

Russian - Vegetables

We just learned how to say some fruits to drink in Russian.

Let's learn how to say some vegetables.

carrot морковь (morkov') - sounds like moh-dr-koh-v 文A

corn кукуруза (kukuruza) - sounds like koo-koo-roo-zah 文A

pea горох (gorokh) - sounds like goh-droh-k 文A



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: gulrot, mais, erter

Greek: καρότο (karóto), καλαμπόκι (kalampóki), μπιζέλι (bizéli)

ASL: carrot, corn, pea

Italian: carote, mais, piselli

German: Karotte, Mais, Erbse

Spanish: zanahoria, maíz, guisante

French: carotte, maïs, pois

Connecting Rod

We just learned about the Coupling Rod that hooks all the wheels together.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Connecting Rod.

Remember that we learned about how steam pressure works with a steam cylinder to push and pull a piece of metal in a tube called a piston.

The piston is hooked up to the connecting rod, which takes that forward and back pushing an pulling and makes it into a circular push and pull to spin the locomotive's wheel around.


(from: wikipedia - connecting rod)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rack and Pinion