Dan

We just learned about the tribe of Zebulun.

Another of the Twelve Tribes of Israel was Dan.

Dan was the fifth son of Jacob, and his mother was Bilhah who was one of the maids of Rachel.

The most famous person from the tribe of Dan was the strong man Samson from the Bible.


(from: wikipedia - dan (son of jacob))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus Paid it All

The Potato Eaters - Van Gogh

We just learned about Van Gogh's painting of Still Life with Cabbage.

Another famous painting by Van Gogh is called The Potato Eaters made in 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands.

This painting was part of what people call his "Peasant Character Studies".
During this time Van Gogh made many paintings about people that were poor but worked very hard jobs like farming or sewing.

His painting of the Potato Eaters is of a group of poor people sitting around a small table eating dinner.
He wanted it to look dirty and for the people not to look beautiful because he wanted to show how hard the people worked, and that they weren't rich.


(from: wikipedia - the potato eaters)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Flying Pins - Claes Oldenburg

Hindi - Counting to Twenty

We counted to 15 in Hindi, let's keep going!

16 kumi na sita - sounds like koo-mee nah see-tah - 文A

17 kumi na saba - sounds like koo-mee nah sah-bah - 文A

18 kumi na nane - sounds like koo-mee nah nah-nay - 文A

19 kumi na tisa - sounds like koo-mee nah tee-sah - 文A

20 ishirini - sounds like ee-she-ree-nee - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: kumi na sita, kumi na saba, kumi na nane, kumi na tisa, ishirini

Russian: шестнадцать (shestnadtsat'), семнадцать (semnadtsat'), восемнадцать (vosemnadtsat'), девятнадцать (devyatnadtsat'), двадцать (dvadtsat')

Norwegian: seksten, sytten, atten, nitten, tjue

Greek: δεκαέξι (dekaéxi), δεκαεπτά (dekaeptá), δεκαοχτώ (dekaochtó), δεκαεννέα (dekaennéa), είκοσι (eíkosi)

ASL: sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty

Italian: sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti

German: sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig

Spanish: dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte

French: seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt

Desalter

We just learned about the Oil Refinery.

One part of refining oil is called a Desalter.

When crude oil comes out of the ground it has a bunch of chemicals in it that need to be removed to make it more useful.
Usually oil ends up getting mixed up with water which can have a lot of other things mixed in it like calcium, sodium and magnesium chlorides.
These are all called salts, and aren't the same as the salt you eat but they have to be removed from the oil.

The crude oil gets heated up really hot and then mixed with some fresh water.
It gets pumped into another tank that uses electricity to get the water and salts to go to the bottom of the tank and get separated from the oil.
The desalted oil on top then gets pumped out.


(from: wikipedia - desalter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cooling Fan

European Mink

We just learned about the European Polecat.

Another type of animal in the same family is the European Mink.

This animal is about 15 inches, and weighs about 1.5 pounds.

They are small good little hunters that swim really well and live in small caves.


(from: wikipedia - european mink)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Golden Snub Nosed Monkey

Glomerulus

We just learned about the Renal Corpuscle.

Another part of the Kidnys is the Glomerulus.

This is a small bunch of blood vessel capillaries called a tuft that helps push the blood and water through the kidneys to be cleaned up.


(from: wikipedia - glomerulus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antitragus

Argentina

We just learned about the country of Clipperton Island

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

This country is in South America, and borders Chile, Bolivia, Paragua, Brazil, Uruguay and the Atlantic Ocean.
It is over 2 million square kilometers, and about 47 million people live there.
The people in this country speak Spanish.


(from: wikipedia - argentia)

The flag of Argentina is sideways stripes of blue, white and blue with a yellow sun in the middle.
Many people think the white and blue are for the skies and clouds.
The sun is called the Sun of May and is for the old Incan gods, and for the independence from Spain.


(from: wikipedia - flag of argentina)

To eat in this country you might have asado, which is barbecued meat like beef, pork or chicken.


(from: wikipedia - argentine cuisine)

Visiting this country you might go see the mountain aconcagua that is 6,961 meters high, and is the highest peak outside of Asia.


(from: wikipedia - aconcagua)

There is a large glacier in the southern part of Argentina called Perito Moreno Glacier that people will go walk out on, and sometimes see parts of it break off and fall into the ocean.


(from: wikipedia - perito moreno glacier)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kyrgyzstan

Zebulun

We just learned about Issachar.

Another of the twelve tribes is Zebulun.

He was the 10th son of Jacob and Leah, and the last one of the 6 sons that Leah had.


(from: wikipedia - zebulun)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs - Van Gogh

We just learned about the Vincent Van Gogh.

One of the first paintings from Vincent van Gogh is Still Life with Cabbage and Clogs in the Netherlands in 1881.

When Van Gogh was 28 years old he made one of his first paintings, of some cabbages and wooden shoes called clogs on a table.
Paintings of things that are not moving are called still life.
This was before Van Gogh came up with his own different style that made him famous later on.


(from: wikipedia - early works of vincent van gogh)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Monument to Joe Louis - Robert Graham

Hindi - Fifteen

We just learned about all the months of the year in Hindi!

Let's learn about some more numbers.

We already counted to 10 in Swahili, now let's learn some bigger numbers!

11 ग्यारह (gyaarah) - sounds like g-yah-rah - 文A

12 बारह (baarah) - sounds like bah-rah - 文A

13 तेरह (terah) - sounds like tay-rah - 文A

14 चौदह (pandrah) - sounds like pah-n-drah - 文A

15 पंद्रह (chaudah) - sounds like chah-oo-dah - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: kumi na moja, kumi na mbili, kumi na tatu, kumi na nne, kumi na tano

Russian: одиннадцать (odinnadtsat'), двенадцать (dvenadtsat'), тринадцать (trinadtsat'), четырнадцать (chetyrnadtsat'), пятнадцать (pyatnadtsat')

Norwegian: elleve, tolv, tretten, fjorten, femten

Greek: ένδεκα (éndeka), δώδεκα (dódeka), δεκατρία (dekatría), δεκατέσσερα (dekatéssera), δεκαπέντε (dekapénte)

ASL: eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen

Italian: undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici

German: elf, zwölf, dreizehn, vierzehn, fünfzehn

Spanish: once, doce, trese, catorce, quince

French: onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze

Oil Refinery

We just learned about the Oil Platform.

Another part of how we use oil is an Oil Refinery.

When the oil is pumped out of the oil well in the ground, it needs to be cleaned up and made into something that can be used in engines or to make other things that need oil.
An oil refinery is the place the oil is brought to, and cleaned up in what is called refining.


(from: wikipedia - oil refinery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Radiator

European Polecat

We just learned about the Stoat.

Another animal in the same family is the European Polecat.

This is a small animal about 400 milimeters long, weighing about 1,200 grams.
They have brown and black fur, and usually a white face.

Some people in Europe have been able to keep polecats as pets, and even teach them how to hunt things like rats.
Long ago polecats were hunted a lot for their fur, and there are many made up stories about polecats having powers to paralyze someone with just a bite to the neck!


(from: wikipedia - european polecat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red-Shanked Douc

Renal Corpuscle

We just learned about the Nephron.

Another part of the kidneys is the Renal Corpuscle.

The word renal has something to do with the kidneys, and the word corpuscle means something to do with cells.
The renal corpuscle works to help clean up the blood by filtering out bad stuff.

The kidneys take in blood from the body, clean it up and send it back around the body, and then any waste gets sent out of the body when you go to the bathroom.


(from: wikipedia - renal corpuscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antihhelix

Clipperton Island

We just learned about the country of Saba

Let's learn a little about the country of Clipperton Island!

This country is in the Pacific Ocean, west of Mexico.
It is about 6 square kilometers, and no one lives there.


(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)

This type of island is a coral atoll, which means it is a circle island with water in the middle called a lagoon.


(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)

Through the years different countries owned the island, like Mexico and Spain, but it was not a very good place to live so everyone left.
These days it is just a place that people sometimes visit to go fishing or scuba diving.
Because no one lives on the island, the wild animals like to visit the island, and some birds that were endangered have found a safe home there.

(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kuwait

Issachar

We've now learned about Reuben, Simeon, Ephraim, and Judah.
from the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Another of the twelve was Issachar.

Issachar was the fifth son of Leah, and the ninth son of Jacob.


(from: wikipedia - issachar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blessed Assurance

Vincent van Gogh

We just learned about Michelangelo's sculpture of The Deposition and a lot of other works of art by Michelangelo.

Another of the most famous artists in the world was Vincent van Gogh.

He was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and grew up going to a few different schools where he was not a very happy kid.
Later on he got a job helping to make and sell artwork, and that made him much happier.

Through his life he started making paintings in the impressionist style, and then later on he made his own special style.

Sadly Van Gogh was not very famous while he was alive.
He started to get a little famous right before he died, and then about 10 years after he was gone some people found out what a genius he was and since then he has become one of the most famous artists of all time.

A lot of artists are famous for making a few dozen paintings, or even a few hudred.
Van Gogh made over 2,000 works of art, and some of his most famous paintings have sold for over 100 million dollars.

Even though Van Gogh only lived to be 37 years old and didn't have much time to become a master, he is thought to be one of the best artists of all time.


(from: wikipedia - vincent van gogh)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Truncated Pyramid Room - Bruce Nauman

Hindi - November, December

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Hindi!

We already learned that January, February is जनवरी (janavaree), फरवरी (pharavaree)
March, April is मार्च (maarch), अप्रैल (aprail), May, June is मई (maee), जून (joon), July, August is जुलाई (julaee), अगस्त (agast), and September, October is सितंबर (sitambar), अक्टूबर (aktoobar)

Let's keep going!

November - नवम्बर (navambar) - sounds like nah-vah-m-bah-r - 文A

December - दिसम्बर (disambar) - sounds like dis-ah-m-bah-r - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Novemba, Desemba

Russian: ноябрь (noyabr'), декабрь (dekabr')

Norwegian: November, December

Greek: Νοέμβριος (Noémvrios), Δεκέμβριος (Dekémvrios)

ASL: November, December

Italian: Novembre, Dicembre

German: November, Dezember

Spanish: Noviembre, Diciembre

French: Novembre, Décembre

Oil Platform

We just learned about the Drilling Rig.

Another way to drill for oil is an Oil Platform or Offshore Platform.

This is a big building out in the water that has drills going down into the water to the ocean floor.
The drill digs down below the ocean floor to drill for oil and then bring it back up to the oil platform.

Some oil platforms have big metal posts holding them still in the water, and some are just floating on top of the water.




(from: wikipedia - oil platform)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Car Battery

Stoat

We just learned about the Giant Otter.

Another kind of animal in the same family is the Stoat, also called the short-tailed weasel, or mustela erminea.

This animal is small, and grows to about 300 milimeteres and weighs about 250 grams.

In some of the colder northern areas, the stoats will change from brown fur coats in the summer to white coats in the winter.

In many countries there are legends about stoats being spirit animals, lucky animals, or poisonous.



(from: wikipedia - stoat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Maroon Leaf Monkey

Nephron

We just learned about the Interlobular Arteries and Veins.

Another part of the kidney is the Nephron.

In the renal column that we learned about, the nephron is a very tiny microscopic part of the renal column that helps do the work of filtering and cleaning the blood.


(from: wikipedia - nephron)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Helix

Saba

We just learned about the country of Saint Barthelmy

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

This country is in the Caribbean, near the island of Bonaire.
It is about 13 square kilometers, and about 2,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak Dutch or English.


(from: wikipedia - saba (islands))

The flag of Saba is white with red triangles and blue triangles and a yellow star in the middle.
Red is for courage, blue is for the sea white is for peace, and the yellow star is for the island.


(from: wikipedia - flag of saba (island))

Visiting this country you might go see Mount Scenery, an 887 kilometer tall volcano.

(from: wikipedia - mount scenery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: North Korea

Judah

We've now learned about Reuben, Simeon, and Ephraim from the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Another of the twelve was Judah.

Judah was one of the sons of Jacob and Leah. When the sons of Jacob were jealous of his son Joseph and wanted to kill Joseph, Judah was the one who stopped them from killing him and said they should just sell Joseph instead of killing him.

Judah was the Great great great great great great great great grandfather of King David, and David was the Great (times 24) grandfather of Jesus.
So sometimes Jesus is called the "Lion of Judah" because he came from the tribe of Judah.


(from: wikipedia - judah (son of jacob))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

The Deposition - Michelangelo

We just learned about Michelangelo's sculpture of the Risen Christ.

Another famous work of art by Michelangelo is called The Deposition, made in Florence in 1555, also called The Florentine Pietà, The Bandini Pietà or The Lamentation over the Dead Christ.

This statue shows Jesus after he had died on the cross, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Nicodemus who were both followers of Jesus.
Most people believe that the sculpted face of Nicodemus was made to look just like Michelangelo's face.

People think that Michelangelo meant to make this statue to e outside of his tomb after he died, so he worked on it very hard day and night for eight years.
Then he started getting angry and was breaking parts of the sculpture because he was frustrated that it was not perfect.

Later on after Michelangelo died, another sculptor named Tiberio Calcagni was hired to fix up the broken arms and legs that Michelangelo had damaged.


(from: wikipedia - the deposition (michelangelo))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tower - Sol Lewitt

Hindi - September, October

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Hindi!

We already learned that January, February is जनवरी (janavaree), फरवरी (pharavaree)
March, April is मार्च (maarch), अप्रैल (aprail), May, June is मई (maee), जून (joon), and July, August is जुलाई (julaee), अगस्त (agast).

Let's keep going!

September - सितंबर (sitambar) - sounds like sih-tah-m-bah-dr - 文A

October - अक्टूबर (aktoobar) - sounds like ah-k-too-bah-dr - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Septemba, Oktoba

Russian: Сентябрь (Sentyabr'), Октябрь (Oktyabr')

Norwegian: September, Oktober

Greek: Σεπτέμβριος (Septémvrios), Οκτώβριος (Októvrios)

ASL: September, October

Italian: Settembre, Ottobre

German: September, Oktober

Spanish: Septiembre, Octubre

French: Septembre, Octobre

Drilling Rig

We just learned about the Oil Derrick.

Another part of how we get oil is a Drilling Rig.

We learned about oil wells and oil derricks.
A drilling rig is just a bigger bunch of machines and tools used to get oil that are all grouped together in one place called a "rig".


(from: wikipedia - drilling rig)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Manual Transmission

Giant Otter

We just learned about the Smooth Coated Otter.

Another kind of animal in the same family is the Giant Otter, also called the water jaguar, river wolf, water dog, or pteronura brasiliensis.

Just like you would think from the name, this is the biggest kind of Otter in the world, growing to over 5 feet long and weighing over 60 pounds!
These animals live in South America, mostly right along the Amazon river.

Because they are so big, they will sometimes even be able to hunt things like snakes, turtles, camains (which are like small crocodiles) and even very dangerous fish like pirhanas!
With webbed feet and a tail so big it almost looks like a wing flapping in the water, they are great swimmers!

(from: wikipedia - giant otter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dusky Leaf Monkey

Interlobular Arteries and Veins

We just learned about the Renal Cortex.

Another part of the kidneys is the Interlobular Arteries and Veins.

These are the arteries that bring fresh oxygenated blood to the kidneys and the veins that take the used up deoxygenated blood away from the kidneys.

They are inside the Renal Capsule, and go around the kidneys to make sure there is a fresh supply of clean blood for the kidneys being pumped in every heartbeat.


(from: wikipedia - interlobular arteries)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Auricle

Saint Barthélemy

We just learned about the country of Sint Eustatius

Let's learn a little about the country of Saint Barthélemy!

This country is in the Caribbean Sea, just south of Saint Maartin.
It is about 25 square kilometers, and about 10,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak French or Creole.
This island is a territory owned by France.


(from: wikipedia - saint barthélemy)

The flag of Saint Barthélemy is just the French flag, but they also have a different flag just for the island that has the coat of arms on it.
The coat of arms is a shield with three gold flowers, a white cross, and three gold crowns.
These three different parts of the shield are for the three different lands that ruled over the island, the French, the Knights Hospitaller, and Sweden.


(from: wikipedia - flag and coat of arms of saint barthélemy)

To eat in this country you might have cod, crab or lobster, since this is a small island in the ocean with lots of fishing.


(from: wikipedia - saint barthélemy cuisine)

Visiting this country you might go see one of the many beautiful beaches that bring touists from other countries to visit.

(from: wikipedia - saint barthélemy)

In the 1600s there was a pirate named Daniel Montbars that supposedly hid his pirate treasure somewhere on the island of Saint Barthélemy.

(from: wikipedia - daniel montbars)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Iran

Ephraim

We've now learned about Reuben and Simeon from the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Another of the twelve was Ephraim.

Most of the other twelve were sons of Jacob, but Ephraim was actually the grandson of Jacob.
Because Jacob got mad at one of his other sons Reuben, he said that Ephraim would be brought up to be an equal to the other sons.


(from: wikipedia - ephraim)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: All Creatures of Our God and King

Risen Christ - Michelangelo

We just learned about Michael's artwork at St. Peter's Basilica.

Another famous sculpture by Michelangelo is called Risen Christ and was made in 1521 in Florence.

This sculpture is of Jesus after he rose from the dead standing and holding a cross.

When he was working on this sculpture, after Michelangelo started carving it he found a black mark inside the white marble block, so he put that one away and started over with a whole new block of white marble.
Even though the first sculpture was not finished, someone still wanted to have it because Michelangelo was so famous, and later on someone even finished up the sculpture.
So there are now two of the same sculpture, but one of them has a black mark on the back side.

A lot of sculptures at the time were just of people standing straight up, but Michelangelo made this one of Jesus with his leg bent and his head turned, and people really liked that it then looked different depending on where you were standing and looking at the statue.


(from: wikipedia - risen christ (michelangelo, santa maria sopra minerva))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Repetition Ninetee - Eva Hesse

Hindi - July, August

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Hindi!

We already learned that January, February is जनवरी (janavaree), फरवरी (pharavaree)
March, April is मार्च (maarch), अप्रैल (aprail), and May, June is मई (maee), जून (joon).

Let's keep going!

July - जुलाई (julaee) - sounds like joo-lah-ee - 文A

August - अगस्त (agast) - sounds like ah-gah-st - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Julai, Agosti

Russian: Июль (Iyul'), Август (Avgust)

Norwegian: Juli, August

Greek: Ιούλιος (Ioúlios), Αύγουστος (Ávgoustos)

ASL: July, August

Italian: Luglio, Agosto

German: Juli, August

Spanish: Julio, Agosto

French: Julliet, Août

Oil Derrick

We just learned about the Pumpjack.

Another part of how we get oil is the Oil Derrick.

A derrick is a really tall tower that helps out with all of the drilling.
It can be used to hold the pulleys, levers, drills or any other things that are used to drill into the ground and get the oil out.


(from: wikipedia - derrick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Automatic Transmission

Smooth-Coated Otter

We just learned about the Spotted Necked Otter.

Another type of animal in the same family is the Smooth-Coated Otter, or lutrogale perspicillata.

These otters live in Asia, in countries like India.
They grow to be about 60 centimeters long and weigh about 10 kilograms.
Their fur is brown or grey, and it is short and smooth.

Just like other otters these animals love the water, but they can live anywhere from a river to a lake or a swamp.
They make their houses under tree roots or big rocks, and they sometimes will rest on the beach by the river to take a nap.

Smooth-Coated Otters are very good hunters, and they know how to chase and catch fish.
Some people have now trained otters to help them catch fish, by sending the otters in the water to chase fish right into a net to be caught.



(from: wikipedia - smooth-coated otter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Northern Plains Gray Langur

Renal Cortex

We just learned about the Renal Capsule.

Another part of the kidneys is the Renal Cortex.

This is just inside of the renal capsule, and is where the kidneys start working on filtering out bad things from the blood.


(from: wikipedia - renal cortex)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Outer Ear