Zambia

We just learned about the country of Angola.

Zambia is a country in the southern part of the African continent.


(from: wikipedia - zambia)

The flag of Zambia is mostly green, with an orange eagle in the right corner above three smaller stripes of red, black and orange.

The green is for the country's natural beauty like trees and animals, the red is for the battle for freedom, the black is for the people of Zambia, the orange is for the minerals like gold in the land, and the orange eagle means the people can rise above the country's problems.

(from: wikipedia - flag of zambia)

To eat in Zambia you might have nshima, which is corn ground up into flour, then rolled into a paste kind of like mashed potatoes.

(from: wikipedia - nshima)

Victoria falls is one of the largest waterfalls in the whole world.

(from: wikipedia - victoria falls)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Denmark

Ask, Seek and Knock

We just learned about Jesus' telling people not to judge others

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he told his followers to always ask God for help.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

He told his followers to think of us as God's children. Since people give food to their children and help them, God who is all powerful will give even more to us, his followers.

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!


(from: wikipedia - kingdom of god)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ezekiel

Venus - Mariner 2

We've learned about the Space Exploration of the moon, all the way up to the Apollo 11 moon landing.

We've also sent space crafts up to study other planets.
The first one was in 1962, called the Mariner 2.

It was launched on August 27, and on December 14 it got as close as 22,000 miles from Venus.

(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)

That might not seem very close, but the Earth is about 25,000,000 miles from Venus, so it got a lot closer than we are!

The last time the space craft sent data back to us was on January 3, 1963, then it stopped working and has just been floating in space, orbiting around Venus for over 50 years.

The Mariner 2 was used to try and measure the temperature and collect other information in the air near the planet.


(from: wikipedia - mariner 2)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Star Absolute Magnitude

Spanish - Counting to fifteen

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

11 once - sounds like oh-n-say /?/
12 doce - sounds like doh-say /?/
13 trece - sounds like t-day-say /?/
14 catorce - sounds like cah-toh-d-say /?/
15 quince - sounds like kee-n-say /?/


(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze

Silicon

We just learned about the metal Silver

Another chemical element is Silicon, called "Si" for short on the Periodic Table.

Silicon is a type of rock that is kind of like a metal and kind of not.
The words for rocks like that is metalloid.

We learned before that silicon is a semiconductor which means it is ok but not great at letting electricity go through it.

(from: wikipedia - silicon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Superconductor

Butterfly - Pupa

After a butterfly has hatched from it's egg, and eaten a lot of food as a larvae (or caterpillar) it goes off to find a place to hang out.

Caterpillars usually find the bottom of a leaf, and attach themselves to it with some silk.
After that they shed their outer skin, and underneath is a hard skin that becomes the shell they stay in for a while.
When they are in this shell they are called a pupa or sometimes a chrysalis.
They stay inside the chrysalis and start growing their wings so they can turn into a butterfly.


(from: wikipedia - butterfly)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hippo Sunscreen

Pancreas

The pancreas is a part of the digestive system that is right next to the duodenum.

It is connected to the duodenum, and when food passes by it lets out chemicals that help your body control the amount of glucose (which is like sugar) it uses for energy.

It releases chemicals called insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and polypeptide.


(from: wikipedia - pancreas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pectorals