Graphite

Graphite is a dark shiny black rock.
One interesting thing about graphite is that if you look at what it's made of, it's the exact same as a diamond.

Both are made from the chemical element called Carbon.

The difference is that the diamond was squished and heated up for a long long time.


(from: wikipedia - graphite)

Graphite also comes off if you rub the rock on something.
The dark part of the pencils that you write with is graphite.

(from: wikipedia - graphite)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Molecules

Wolf Spider

Wolf spiders are furry little spiders that live mostly on the ground by themselves in the woods.

They might look a little scary, but they are very helpful as they eat lots of bugs like flies and mosquitos.
They are very good at hiding, and they hunt at night because of their good eyesight, so you really almost never will see them.

They have two big eyes, right above four smaller eyes.

(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)

When wolf spiders lay eggs, they are very small and fragile. The mother wolf spider will user her spider silk to wrap all the eggs up in a sac, and carry them around to keep them safe.

(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)

Once the spider eggs hatch, the spider babies are still very tiny and fragile, so they climb up onto their mother's back, and the mother keeps them safe there while they are growing.

(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vultures

Stomach - Cardia

The esophagus opens into the stomach, and the first part of the stomach is the cardia.

At the top of the cardia is a place that opens and closes, that keeps the food and drink in the stomach from coming back up into the esophagus.


(from: wikipedia - stomach)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palatine Bones

Morocco

We just learned about the country of Sudan.

Morocco is a country in Africa on the Northwest part of the continent, right on the Atlantic Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - morocco)

To eat in Morocco you might have couscous, which is a type of steamed wheat with meat and vegetables.

(from: wikipedia - moroccan cuisine)

A famous author named Leo Africanus was from Morocco. He wrote an important book about the geography of Northern Africa.

(from: wikipedia - leo africanus)

On the North part of Morocco, there is an area of land that comes very close to the South part of the country of Spain.
It is so close that on a clear day you can see across the water to the other country on the continent of Europe.
This water passage is called the Strait of Gibraltar, and it connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.

(from: wikipedia - strait of gibraltar)

The highest mountain peak in North Africa is Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains.

(from: wikipedia - toubkal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spain

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

Let's keep learning about the Sermon on the Mount.

We've learned about these Beautitudes:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted and
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The fourth one is:

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.


(from: wikipedia - matthew 5:6)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: King David

Solar Core - Heat

Let's keep learning about the sun's Solar Core.

The temperature at the core is over 28 million degrees fahrenheit.
A hot summer day on earth is only about 80 degrees, so that's pretty hot!


(from: wikipedia - heat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Constellations - Taurus

Spanish - His face is rough

We've learned that in Spanish:
I am happy is Estoy feliz,
You are sad is Estás triste,
He is angry is Él está enojado,
They are excited is Ellos estan emocionados,
We are surprised is Estamos sorprendido,
This house is big is Esta casa es grande,
The chair is small is La silla es pequeña,
My drink is cold is Mi bebida es fría,
Your food is hot is Tu comida está caliente,
Their car is tall is Su coche es alto,
Our table is short is Nuestra mesa es bajo and
Her hands are soft is Sus manos son suaves

Let's learn more about the things we see every day.

To say His face is rough you would say Su cara es áspera

We can break it up into four words:
His - Su - sounds like soo /?/
face - cara - sounds like kah-dah /?/
is - es - sounds like ay-ss /?/
rough - áspera - sounds like ah-spay-dah /?/

All together His face is rough sounds like soo kah-dah ay-ss ah-spay-dah.



(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - His face is rough - Son visage est rude