Chimpanzee

Let's keep learning about Primates.

One type of primate is the Chimpanzee, also called the common chimpanzee or robust chimpanzee.

This type of primate is the most like a human of any other primate.
Their skeletons, brains, and bodies are the most alike humans, and the way they act toward each other is a lot like humans can.

Chimpanzees are usually about 150 pounds and about 4 feet tall.
There is another type of chimpanzee called the "bonobo" that is a lot like the common chimpanzee, but a little smaller.

Chimpanzees have dark hair all over their bodies, except for their face, the inside of their hands and the bottoms of their feet.
With hands like humans, chimps can climb trees, and even use sticks and rocks like tools.
Their feet are more like a human hand, which helps them climbing trees.

These primates hang around in all different types of groups.
Sometimes there are groups of males that go hunting together, sometimes groups of females working together to help raise babies, and sometimes groups of males, females, babies and old chimps all staying together.

They live in forests, climb trees, are covered in fur and make loud screeching sounds, but these primates are the closest things to a cousin that humans have in the animal kingdom.


(from: wikipedia - chimpanzee)



Baby Chimpanzees Playing With Bubbles - BBC Earth


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cats

Paratope

We just learned about the Antibody that helps find and get rid of pathogen diseases.

Another part of the immune system is the Paratope.

We learned about how the antibody is like a detective with a lock looking for the antigen with the right key.

The paratope is the part of the antibody that is like the lock.
They are made up of chemicals in the body that the antibody uses to find diseases.


(from: wikipedia - paratope)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Central Retinal Artery

Georgia

We just learned about the country of Estonia

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

Don't confuse this with the US state of Georgia, it's on the other side of the world!

This is a small country that borders Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Armenia and Turkey to the south. It also borders the Black Sea.

About 3 million people live there, and it is about 27,000 square miles.


(from: wikipedia - georgia (country))

Georgia's flag is from the old medieval Kingdom of Georgia that ruled the land in the middle ages.
It is a red cross on a white background, with smaller red crosses in the other four corners.


(from: wikipedia - flag of georgia)

To eat in Georgia you might have nigvziani badrijani. This is fried eggplant with walnuts and garlic.


(from: wikipedia - badrijani)

Visiting Georgia you might go see

(from: wikipedia - rabati castle)

Georgia is home to an ancient monastery in the town of Vardzia
It is built in a cave with over 400 rooms, with paintings and churches and bell towers.

(from: wikipedia - vardzia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ross Ice Shelf

Protestant Reformation

We just learned about Sola Fide.

Another part of early Christianity is the Protestant Reformation.

Around the same time that Martin Luther was disagreeing with how the Catholic church told people to worship God, there were other people that also disagreed in other ways.

With so many people disagreeing with the Catholic church, there were people that started to get together in groups and worship the way they thought was right.

So before where people would have to go to the Catholic church, now they could go meet together and worship the way Luther thought was right, calling themselves Lutherans.
Others thought John Calvin was right, so they met together and called themselves Calvinists.
Some believed people should only be baptised as adults, so they called themselves Anabaptists.
There were even rulers like the King of England who thought he should be the head of the church so he started the Anglican church.

All of these groups together were called "protestants", meaning that they protested or disagreed with the rules of the Catholic church.

The protestant reformation was when a lot of Christians protested the rules of the Catholic church, and "reformed" or decided to worship in a different way.

A lot of times the leaders of the Catholic church did not like this, and tried to have people put in jail or even killed for trying to go against what they said.
Eventually many people left the Catholic church and started their own groups or religions.


(from: wikipedia - reformation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Muslim Conflict

Birth of the Muses - Jacques Lipchitz

We just learned about the scuplture Clown Tight Rope Walker by Louise Nevelson.

Another famous American sculpture is the Birth of the Muses by Jacques Lipchitz, made in 1950 in Massachussetts.

This sculpture comes from the story of Pegasus landing on Mt. Helicon causing four springs of water to come up from the ground, which were the source for the muses.

It is an abstract art sculpture, so it is not just a nice sculpture of a horse with some water, it looks a little twisted and turned so the artist wanted people to use their imagination to see the real picture.


(from: wikipedia - birth of the muses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Willing Captive - Captive Ives

Swahili - Black, white, brown, gray

We just learned that in Swahili, red, orange and yellow are nyekundu, machungwa, manjano,
and green, blue, purple, pink are kijani, bluu, zambarau, nyekundu.

nyeusi, nyeupe, kahawia, kijivu Let's learn some more colors!

black - nyeusi - sounds like n-yay-oo-see - 文A

white - nyeupe - sounds like n-yay-oo-pay - 文A

brown - kahawia - sounds like kah-hah-wee-ah - 文A

gray - kijivu - sounds like kee-jee-voo - 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: черный (chernyy), белый (belyy), коричневый (korichnevyy), серый (seryy)

Norwegian: svart, hvit, brun, grå

Greek: μαύρο, λευκό, καφέ, γκρι

ASL: black, white, brown, gray

Italian: nero, bianco, marrone, grigio

German: schwarz, weiß, braun, grau

Spanish: negro, blanco, marrón, gris

French: noir, blanc, brun, gris

Coupling

We just learned about the Leading Wheel.

Another part of a steam locomotive is a Coupling, also called a coupler.

This is what connects the train cars to each other.
Some of the train couplings are loose with chains and bang into each other a lot.
Other types are very tightly linked together and don't move much.



(from: wikipedia - railway coupling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Trim

Primates

We've learned a whole lot about Cats! From the wild tigers and lions to the tabby, calico and Ojos Azules house cats.

Let's learn about Primates!

There are a lot of animals that are primates, like gorillas, monkeys. Humans are also primates, which means gorillas and monkeys are like our cousins!
Obviously humans look and act different and are a lot smarter, but there are also a lot of things that humans have the same with other primates.

All primates have big brains, good eyes, can see in color, and can move around their arms and shoulders better than other animals.

Some are very big, like gorillas weighing over 400 pounds, and some are very small like small lemurs weighing less than a pound.

Primates are different than a lot of other animals, because they can walk on two legs, and can easily climb trees.
They like to live together with their families, so they do not like to live alone like a tiger.

Only humans can make enough sounds to make words like they do, but some chimpanzees and gorillas have learned to use some words in sign language!
Humans are the smartest living things on the planet, so it's no surprise that some other primates that have brains and bodies a lot like ours are pretty smart too.


(from: wikipedia - primate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Ephyra

Antibody

We just learned about the Antigens that are like signs on pathogen diseases showing what kind of disease they are.

Another part of the immune system is the Antibody.

The antibody is the part of the body that looks for those signs on the antigens to get rid of them.

There are all different types of antibodies, and each one is built like a detective looking for a different type of bad disease.

The antibodies are built in a Y shape, and work with antigens like a lock and key.

If the antibody lock matches the antigen key, then the antibody gets to work getting rid of that antigen to kill the disease.


(from: wikipedia - antibody)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Optic Disc

Estonia

We just learned about the country of Czech Republic

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

Estonia is a small country in Europe, bordering Latvia and Russia, and the Baltic Sea.
It is about 17,000 square miles, and has about a million people living there.
There are many islands in the sea that are part of Estonia, over 2,000 islands!


(from: wikipedia - estonia)

The flag of Estonia is blue, black, and white stripes.
The blue is for the sky, the black is for the soil and for the hard times of the people, and the white is for purity and hard work.

(from: wikipedia - flag of estonia)

To eat in Estonia, you might have mulgipuder, which is sort of like a meat and potatoes pudding

(from: wikipedia - estonian cuisine)

Visiting Estonia, you might go see the Kuressaare Castle, which was built in 1380 AD.

(from: wikipedia - kuressaare castle)

There is a palace in Estonia called Kadriorg Palace, built in 1725 for Catherine I of Russia.


(from: wikipedia - kadriorg palace)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Larsen Ice Shelf

Sola Fide

We just learned about the Luther Bible.

Another part of early Christianity is Sola Fide which means faith alone.

Remember that Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five theses saying that he believed people should not have to be punished or make a payment to be forgiven for their sins.

The idea of Sola Fide or "faith alone" was that people should be saved only because they had faith in Jesus, not because they earned it by payment or punishment somehow.

A lot of believers like Martin Luther liked the idea of Sola Fide, and used some of the writings in the Bible as their reasons for why, like Ephesians 2, 8-9:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

(from: wikipedia - sola fide)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Church of the East in China

Clown Tight Rope Walker - Louise Nevelson

We just learned about the Cubi VI by David Smith.

Another Clown Tight Rope Walker by Louise Nevelson in 1942 in New York.

Louise was born in the Ukraine, and moved with her family to Maine in 1905.
She studied some artwork in high school, and then later moved to New York where she got married and studied art more.

When she was young her father was a lumberjack, which gave her some interested in working with wood for her art.

In 1943 she put on an art show called "The Clown as the Center of his World" where she had many sculptures about circus things like clowns, and all of the art was made with found objects.

"Found Object" art, also called "objet trouvé" is when an artist takes something from the normal world like a shoe or a spoon and uses it as part of their sculpture.


(from: wikipedia - louise nevelson)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth

Swahili - Green, Blue, Purple, Pink

We just learned that in Swahili, red, orange and yellow are nyekundu, machungwa, manjano.

Let's learn more colors!

green - kijani - sounds like kee-jah-nee 文A

blue - bluu - sounds like bloo-oo - 文A


purple - zambarau - sounds like zah-m-bah-roo - 文A


pink - nyekundu - sounds like n-yay-koo-n-doo - 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: зеленый (zelenyy), синий (siniy), фиолетовый (fioletovyy), розовый (rozovyy)

Norwegian: grønn, blå, lilla, rosa

Greek: πράσινο, μπλε, μοβ, ροζ

ASL: green, blue, purple, pink

Italian: verde, blu, viola, rosa

German: grün, blau, lila, rosa

Spanish: verde, azul, morado, rosa

French: vert, bleu, violet, rose

Leading Wheel

We just learned about the Driving Wheel.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Leading Wheel.

These wheels are in the front of the train, and are used to help hold up the front part of the locomotive.

They are not the driving wheels that are moved around by the steam engine, they just roll along when the driving wheels push the train along, and help hold up the train.


(from: wikipedia - leading wheel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Spring

Ojos Azules

We just learned about the type of cat called the Egyptian Mau.

Another type of cat is the Ojos Azules.

This is a type of cat from Mexico, that has big blue eyes.
The name of the cat means "blue eyes".

They can have any color fur, and they usually have white on the ends of their nose, tail and paws.


(from: wikipedia - ojos azules)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Polyps

Antigen

We just learned about the Pathogen.

Another part of how the body fights sickness is an Antigen, also called "Ag".

An antigen is a part of a pathogen disease that the body can use to figure out what kind of disease it is.
It's almost like the disease is wearing a type of sign, mark or color that tells the body what it is.

Once the body knows what kind of disease it is, it can use the right types of white blood cells like T cells or NK cells to go kill the bad disease.

The antigens are made up of things called proteins, peptines or polysaccarides.
Those are just fancy words for chemicals on a disease that look like a sign to our virus fighting immune system.


(from: wikipedia - antigen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Opthalmic Artery

Czech Republic

We just learned about the country of Cyprus

Let's learn a little about the country of Czech Republic, also called Czechia!

This is a small country in the middle of Europe, that borders Austria, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
It is about 30,000 square miles, and 10 million people live there.

The country has had many names through the years, but one of the most famous was "Bohemia".
One of the leaders long ago was named Wenceslas, and was the person in the famous old song Good King Wenceslas.


(from: wikipedia - czech republic)

The flag of the Czech Republic is a blue triangle on the left, and a white and red stripe.
The blue is for loyalty, the white is for peace and the red is for courage.


(from: wikipedia - flag of the czech republic)

To eat in the Czech Republic you might have svíčková, which is steak with vegetables, spices and boiled in cream.


(from: wikipedia - svíčková)

Visiting the Czech Republic you might go see the famous city of Prague.

(from: wikipedia - prague)

Built in 930 AD, the St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest church in the country.

(from: wikipedia - st. vitus cathedral)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antarctic Ice Sheet

Luther Bible

We just learned about the Ninety-Five Theses.

Another part of early Christianity was the Luther Bible.

Just like the Wycliffe's Bible that we learned about being translated into English, Martin Luther worked to make a Bible that was in German for the people of Germany.

Historians think that there were about 200,000 of Luther's Bibles printed, which made a big difference in the way that people could read and study the Bible outside of just going to church.

They didn't have to learn Hebrew, Latin or Greek, and they could have the books at schools and libraries.


(from: wikipedia - luther bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christian Nations in 600 AD

Cubi VI - David Smith

We just learned about the sculpture of Winged Man by Richard Hunt.

Another famous American sculpture is CUBI VI by David Smith made in 1963.

In the 1960s in America, a lot of artists started making more abstract art.
Artist Roland David Smith was born in Indiana, and went to college for art, worked in a factory for a while, and then met some other famous artists.

In 1965 he started making a set of "Cubi" sculptures made out of stainless steel.
They are mostly just a bunch of shapes, but they also look like people in different positions.

There are 28 different CUBI sculptures, all numbered with roman numerals from Cubi I to Cubi XXVII.


(from: wikipedia - david smith (sculptor))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Doctor John Witherspoon - Couper

Swahili - Red, Orange, Yellow

We just learned about the alphabet in Swahili.

Now let's learn some colors!

red - nyekundu - sounds like n-yeh-koo-n-doo - 文A


orange - machungwa - sounds like mah-ch-oo-n-g-wah - 文A


yellow - manjano - sounds like mah-n-jah-noh - 文A



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: красный (krasnyy), оранжевый (oranzhevyy), желтый (zheltyy)

Norwegian: rød, oransje, gul

Greek: κόκκινο, πορτοκαλί, κίτρινο

ASL: red, orange, yellow

Italian: rosso, arancione, giallo

German: rot, orange, gelb

Spanish: rojo, naranja, amarillo

French: rouge, orange, jaune

Driving Wheel

We just learned about the Leaf Spring.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Driving Wheel.

When the steam power moves the pistons, it is connected to rods that turn the wheels.
Only some of the wheels are connected to these rods, and they are called the driving wheels.
The other wheels are just holding up the train and they turn just because the driving wheels are pulling the train along.

This is the same for most other things with wheels too, like the pedals on a bicycle usually only turn the back wheel of the bike.


(from: wikipedia - driving wheel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gasket

Egyptian Mau

We just learned about the Asian Semi-longhair.

Another type of cat is the Egyptian Mau.

These cats can be lots of different colors, like grey, black, brown, yellow, or even blue.
They all have green eyes, spots on their fur, and a long black line that goes down their back.
On their head they can either have the M shape like a tabby cat, or a shape that some people think looks like a scarab beetle.

Egyptian Maus are one of the oldest types of cats, and many people think they are where other house cats came from.
They have long back legs, which helps them run fast.
These are the fastest cats in the world, running over 30 miles per hour!





(from: wikipedia - egyptian mau)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Amebocyte

Pathogen

We just learned about the Thymus.

All of these parts of the lymphatic system help fight against bad things called Pathogens.

A pathogen is a living thing that can cause you to get sick.
It could be a virus, bacteria or other type of living thing that can get into your body.

The different types of cells in the lymphatic system like T cells or all work together to fight these pathogens, and keep your body healthy.

The science of these living things is called a microbioly, and the science for how these living things can hurt the body is called pathology.
(from: wikipedia - pathogen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eye Movement

Cyprus

We just learned about the country of Croatia

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

This country is an island that is in the Mediterranean sea, off the southern coast of Turkey.

A little over a million people live in Cyprus, and it is only about 3,500 square miles.

The people living on this island are mostly either Greek or Turkish.
In Greek, the name for the island was Kupros, and there was so much copper on the island, that the word "copper" we use comes from the name of the island.

A person living on this island would be called a Cypriot.


(from: wikipedia - cyprus)

~ The flag of Cyprus has the shape of the island in orange, the color of copper that is mined in Cyprus.
It also has olive branches, for the peace they want to have between the Greek and Turkish people.

(from: wikipedia - flag of cyprus)

To eat in Cyprus you might have haloumi, which is a type of cheese made from goat and sheep's milk.

(from: wikipedia - cypriot cuisine)

One of the oldest schools still in use in the world is the Pancyprian Gymnasium made in 1812.


(from: wikipedia - pancyprian gymnasium)

Another famous place in Cyprus is the Church of Christ Antiphonitis, that was built before 1200 AD.

(from: wikipedia - antiphonitis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mount Erebus

Ninety-Five Theses

We just learned about the Swiss Guard.

Another part of early Christianity is the Ninety-Five Theses.

In the year 1517, a man named Martin Luther who was a monk and a priest disagreed with some of the things that the Catholic Church was doing.

In those days if someone sinned, they had to ask for forgiveness, but also pay money to the church, and this was called an indulgence.
Luther did not think it was right for people to pay money for sins, so he wrote a paper with his ideas as to why it was wrong, and called it his 95 theses.

He took them to the church and nailed them to the door, which was what people usually did when they wanted to talk about a problem.
His paper caused a lot of people to fight about his ideas, and many people were very upset with him for writing this paper, and demanded that he take it back.
He did not, and that caused a lot of changes in the future of the church.


(from: wikipedia - ninety-five theses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint David

Winged Man - Richard Hunt

We just learned about the Dogon Mother and Child by Jerry Harris.

Another famous American sculpture is Winged Man - Richard Hunt.

Hunt was born in Chicago, and grew up learning about art.
He started making sculptures in the 1960s when it was a difficult time for African American people to be allowed to make public sculptures.

There are many of his sculptures all over Chicago and the US, like the Winged Man sculpture made in 1987 in Chicago.


(from: wikipedia - richard hunt (sculptor))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Statue of Charles Sumner - Thomas Ball

Swahili Alphabet

We just learned how to Count to ten in Swahili.

The Swahili alphabet looks pretty much like the English one, but there are some letters missing, and some grouped letters that sound different.

Swahili does not use the letters q or x, and the letter c is always grouped with the letter h for a ch sound like in the word chew.

The grouped letters are ch, dh, gh, kh, ng', ny, sh, th and ts.

ch - like "ch" in chew
dh - like "th" in they.
gh - like the French "r" letter, which is made by almost closing up the back of your throat and then making a sound.
kh - like a cat hissing sound with the back of the throat.
ng' - like "ng" in ringer.
ny - like saying nyah nyah.
sh - like "sh" in shed.
th - like "th" in thumb.



(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

The Russian alphabet: Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Фф, Хх, Цц, Чч, Шш, Щщ, Ыы, Ээ, Юю, Яя

The Norwegian 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, Æ, Ø, Å The Greek alphabet: Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω

ASL 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

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

Leaf Spring

We just learned about the Blastpipe.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Leaf Spring.

When a train bounces up and down when it hits a bumpy part of a track, these leaf springs help make it less bouncy.
Just like the shocks in a car that help the car not bounce around so much, these springs make a smoother train ride.

Leaf springs are made up of a bunch of flat metal pieces with different lengths all stacked on top of each other, bent in a shape so that when the train hits a bump it will use the bent shape to help smooth out the bump.
The spring will flatten out to help absorb the bump, and then after the bump it will go back to its bent shape.


(from: wikipedia - leaf spring)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Stem

Asian Semi-longhair

We just learned about the Cyprus Cat.

Another type of cat is the Asian Semi-longhair.

This cat is also sometimes called by the name of Tiffanie.

It is a gentle cat that has a lot of energy and personality.
These cats love their owners so much that they get jealous if other cats come around, and they will meow a lot if they do not get enough attention from their owner.


(from: wikipedia - asian semi-longhair)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Velarium

Thymus

We just learned about the Phagocytosis.

Another part of the immune system is the Thymus.

We learned before about the type of lymphocyte white blood cells called T cells that go to the thymus to grow.

The thymus is only a few inches long and wide, but it is very important.
When young T cells leave the bone marrow to go to the thymus they are called thymocytes.

The thymocytes get to the thymus and then they are put to the antigen test.
Antigens are things that are part of the human body, but also part of viruses.
We want our T cells to fight against virus antigens, but not human body antigents.
So this thing called the MHC tests to see if the young thymocyte is a virus fighter.

If it is a virus fighter, this is called "positive selection" and it gets to grow up to a T cell and leave the thymus.
If not, this is caled "negative selection" then it has to be destroyed or it could hurt the body.


(from: wikipedia - thymus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fovea