Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Palatine bones



Let's learn the other parts of the facial skeleton!

We've already learned about the mandible, maxilla, nasal bone and vomer.
Next up is the palatine bone. If you feel in the roof of your mouth toward the back, that's it! It is part of the roof of your mouth and is below your nose.
palatine
(from: wikipedia - palatine bone)


Monday, May 27, 2013

Spain


Let's keep learning about the countries in Europe!

We've already learned about France.

Next up is Spain.

In Spain they speak Spanish, and to say hello you would say Hola!.
The people there call their country EspaƱa (like Ess-pahn-yah)
spain
(from: wikipedia - spain)


Spain is home to a special type of dancing called Flemenco
flemenco
(from: wikipedia - flamenco)

And there is an old tradition of a running race where people are chased by wild bulls!
It's called the running of the bulls
running of the bulls
(from: wikipedia - running of the bulls)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

King David



Let's keep learning about the kings from the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles.
We already learned about the prophet Samuel and King Saul.

Next up is King David.

David was a small boy, but he had great faith.

When the Israelits were fighting a giant named Goliath none of the soldiers would meet him in battle,
but David went up against him using only a sling to throw rocks.
He hit Goliath right in the head and killed him, because he believed in God's power.

David was also a musician, and met with King Saul because his music helped make the king's bad headaches go away.

Eventually David became king after Saul died.
He is such a popular king that some people called Jesus a son of David because Jesus was from David's family.

David was a great king until one day when he saw a woman that was not his wife,
and stole her away from her husband.

God was angry because David could have had anything he wanted, but he stole something that wasn't his.
David loved the Lord and so he begged for forgiveness.
God forgave him, but because David had done something bad, he had many other problems with his family.

Eventually David died as an old man in his bed after making his son Solomon the next king.

(from: wikipedia - david)

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Constellations - Taurus


We've now learned about the constellations the Big Dipper and Orion.

Next up is Taurus.
This one is supposed to be a giant bull in the sky.
The best way to find it is to first find Orion, then look to the left of Orion's belt and you should see a bunch of stars that make up a V shape.
That's Taurus!

Follow the points of the V and you should find two stars that make up the points of the bull's horns.

taurus
(from: wikipedia - taurus constellation)


Friday, May 24, 2013

French - Thursday, Friday


Let's keep learning the days of the week in French.

We already learned that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was Lundi, Mardi and Mercredi

Next up is Thursday and Friday.

Thursday - Jeudi - sounds like zhuh-dee /?/

Friday - Vendredi - sounds like vahn-duh-ah-dee /?/

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Ions


We just learned a little about Mass.

A while back we learned about atoms,
and the parts inside of them protons, neutrons and electrons

Electrons have a negative charge, and Protons have a positive charge.

If an atom has more electrons than protons or more protons than electrons,
then we call it an ion.

If we know the number of electrons and protons, we can figure out whether it is more negative or more positive.

So if an atom has 4 electrons and 2 protons, then there are 2 more electrons.
This would give the atom a negative charge of 2.
An ion with a negative charge is called an anion.

If an atom has 6 protons and 2 electrons, then there are 4 more protons.
This would give the atom a positive charge of 4.
An ion with a positive charge is called a cation.


(from: wikipedia - ion)

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wasps and Bees


We just learned about the Flying Squirrel.

Let's learn about Wasps and Bees.

When striped yellow bugs are flying in the air, it can be hard to tell sometimes if it is a bee or a wasp.
Maybe because there are over 100,000 types of wasps, and 20,000 types of bees!

The biggest difference you can notice is that most bees have some hair on them, and wasps have no hair.
Bees eat nectar from flowers, and wasps eat other bugs.
Most bees die when they sting you, and most wasps don't die and can keep stinging.

Even though we might be scared of bee and wasp stings, they do help us out!
Bees help make flowers grow, and wasps eat small bugs that can hurt plants and crops.

Here is a honey bee:
honey bee
And a bumble bee:
bumble bee

Here is a yellow jacket (wasp):
yellow jacket
Here is a hornet:
hornet
(from: wikipedia - characteristics of common wasps and bees)