Left Ventricle

We've learned that oxygenated blood goes from the pulmonary veins to the left atrium which is part of the heart.

The left atrium sends the blood into a large area of the heart called the left ventricle.

The left ventricle takes in all of the fresh blood full of oxygen, and pushes it all the way out to every part of your body.
From the tips of your toes to your fingers and ears, the blood carrying the oxygen that your body needs is pumped out by the muscles of the left ventricle.

(from: wikipedia - ventricle (heart))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Procerus Nose Muscle

Florida

We just learned about the US State of Deleware.

Florida is a state on the south east part of the US, right on the Atlantic Ocean.
The name Florida comes from the spanish word for flower.
It's nickname is The Sunshine State, and the motto is In God We Trust.

Since Florida sticks out into the ocean, it is called a peninsula.


(from: wikipedia - florida)

Florida's flag has a big red X on a white background. That is known as St. Andrew's Cross.
This was the flag of Spain a long time ago, and Florida used to be owned by Spain, so their flag is a part of their history.
In front of the red X is Florida's state seal.

(from: wikipedia - flag of florida)

The state seal of Florida has a Native American woman spreading out hibiscus flowers.
There are palm trees and a steamboat in the background.
The words on the seal say Great Seal of the State of Florida and In God we Trust.

(from: wikipedia - seal of florida)

Since Florida is on the ocean, it has lots of interesting wildlife, like the American Alligator, the leatherback turtle and the manatee.

(from: wikipedia - american alligator)


(from: wikipedia - west indian manatee)


(from: wikipedia - leatherback sea turtle)

Kennedy Space Center is in Florida, where they launched the space shuttle Columbia.

(from: wikipedia - kennedy space center)

Walt Disney World is the largest and most visited amusement park in the world.

(from: wikipedia - walt disney world)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indonesia

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

We just learned about the Plans to kill Jesus

After Jesus told his apostles that he was the Messiah,
that he would be killed and then raised back to life three days later
and was transfigured on the mountaintop he went to Jerusalem.

Jesus told his apostles to go to the nearby village and they would find a donkey.
He told them to take the donkey and bring it back to Jesus.

The apostles went to the village and just like Jesus said they found a donkey tied up there waiting,
so they untied it and brought it to Jesus.

Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem, and when he got there a big crowd of people was cheering in the streets for him.
They took their coats off and put them on the ground for Jesus to sit on or walk on.
They cut branches down from the palm trees and placed them on the road for him.
They shouted out loud to him:
Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!

The people of Jerusalem saw Jesus as their king coming to save them.


(from: wikipedia - triumphal entry into jerusalem)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Apostles - Thomas

Luncheon of the Boating Party - Renoir

We just learned about the painting The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali.

Another famous painting is called the Luncheon of the Boating Party, by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who is sometimes called just Renoir. (Sounds like uh-en-wah)
This painting shows a bunch of people having lunch on a boat.
When people are painted it is usually called figures.
When things like tables and food are painted it is called still life.
When backgrounds like mountains or sunsets are painted it is called landscape.
This painting combined all three.

Some of the people on the boat were Renoir's friends, and the woman on the bottom left playing with a dog is the woman that Renoir would marry later on.

The painting was made in the year 1881 and Renoir it is called an impressionist painting.
The impressionist painters did things like paint outside in the sunlight when a lot of people thought you should paint indoors.
They used lots of ways to try and show sunlight and brightness in their paintings, to try and make things look alive and happy.

Usually when someone wanted to make something stand out, they would use very sharp strong lines, kind of like the dark lines around the Mona Lisa, but for this painting they used bright colors in front of mixed colors. So the people in the white shirts really stand out in front of their background.

They also used different kinds of mixed colors and bright colors with small brush strokes to make it look like there was light shining off of people and things.
If you look at the white shirt the man is wearing, from far away you can see it as a white shirt, but up very close you can see almost a rainbow of colors like red, blue, pink, orange, yellow and white.


(from: wikipedia - luncheon of the boating party)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Domes

German - Dog, Cat

To say dog in German, you say Hunt and it sounds like hoont /?/

To say cat in German, you say Katze and it sounds like cat-suh /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

To say it in Spanish:
perro, gato
To say it in French:
chien, chat

Cold Front

We've learned that water vapor can get lifted up into the air to become clouds by things called weather fronts.

One type of front is called a cold front.
It's when a whole bunch of cold air is moving along together in the wind in one direction.

When the cold front hits a bunch of warm air, it is heavier than the warm air.
So the warm air lifts high up into the air.
Almost like a shovel pushing along, the cold air stays low and the warm air goes high.

Remember that the warm air can be full of water vapor, and now that water vapor is high up in the sky where clouds start forming.

When the weather scientists want to show cold fronts on a map, they use blue triangles on a line, with the tip of the triangle pointing which way the cold front is moving.

(from: wikipedia - cold front)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Stratovolcano

Spider Hearts & Blood

We just learned a little about Spider Lungs.

Spiders have hearts up along the back side of their lower body, on the part called their abdomen.

Spiders don't have normal blood like we do, they have something called hemolymph.
It's kind of like our blood, but it's a blue or grey color instead of red, and it has different kinds of nutrients in it.

Our heart pumps blood to all the parts of our body in tubes called veins and arteries.
Spiders have a heart and some smaller tubes for their hemolymph, but mostly they just help dump it out on all the inside parts of the spider's body.

(from: wikipedia - chelicerata)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Electric Eel