Cirrostratus cloud

We've now learned that cirrus clouds are thin wispy stringy clouds way up high in the sky,
cumulus clouds are big and puffy, almost like cotton balls,
cumulonimbus clouds are tall mushroom shaped clouds that are seen during storms,
stratus clouds are flat hazy foggy clouds that sometimes have light rain,
and nimbostratus clouds are big, hazy and dark and are a sign of rain.

Another type of cloud is called a cirrostratus cloud.
Just like cirrus clouds, they are very high up in the sky, and just like stratus clouds they are flat and hazy.

Since they are so high up in the sky they are usually made up of tiny ice crystals, and because of this sometimes at night they can make a halo around the moon in the night sky.

(from: wikipedia - cirrostratus cloud)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sedimentary Rock

Spider Tubular Webs

We've now learned that orb weaver spiders that build big spiral webs,
other spiders build cobwebs or tangle webs,
and others build funnel webs.

Another type of web is called a tubular web.

These types of webs are built in cracks in walls, or trees.
The spiders put their web out from the cracks so they can feel when an insect walks over it,
and when they feel their web move they jump out and bite their prey.


(from: wikipedia - segestria florentina)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wildebeest

Internal Thoracic Artery

We've learned about the oxygenated blood in the subclavian artery,
and how it branches into the vertebral artery in your neck to give blood to your brain.

Another branch of the subclavian artery is called the internal thoracic artery.

This artery brings blood to your chest.

(from: wikipedia - internal thoracic artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Respiratory System

Louisiana

We just learned about the state of Kentucky.

Louisiana is a state on the southern part of the USA. It has many nicknames:
Bayou State - because there are many slow marshy rivers and swamps called bayous in Louisiana.
Child of the Mississippi - because the Mississippi river ends in Louisiana and goes out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Creole State - because people who lived in Louisiana before it was part of the US were called creoles.
Pelican State - because the pelican is the symbol on the state seal.
Sportsman's Paradise - because there is so much fishing in Louisiana.
Sugar State - because sugar was a very important crop.

The state motto is: Union, Justice, Confidence.

(from: wikipedia - louisiana)

The flag of Louisiana has the state motto on it, and also a picture of a mother pelican poking herself in the chest, making herself bleed so she can feed her babies.

This might seem strange, but it is based on an old legend about a pelican whose children were starving and she did not have enough food to feed them so she cut herself so her babies could live.

This story is used in Christianity to be a symbol like Jesus who died on the cross so his followers could live eternally.


(from: wikipedia - flag of louisiana)

Louisiana catches more crayfish than anywhere else in the world, and the US eats more crayfish than any other country!
Crayfish are sometimes called crawfish, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, or mudbugs.

(from: wikipedia - procambarus clarkii)

Louisiana is the birth place of jazz music, as many of the most famous jazz musicians are from Louisiana, like Louis Armstrong.

(from: wikipedia - louis armstrong)

New Orleans is a very famous city in Louisiana, right on the Mississippi.
Many people go there to visit the old buildings, listen to music and eat many different types of food.
Cajun food was a type of food invented by people who used to be from Canada, but were kicked out and went to live in New Orleans.

(from: wikipedia - new orleans)

There are many swamps in Louisiana, with lots of alligators, snakes and turtles.

(from: wikipedia - honey island swamp)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Afghanistan

Jesus Trial - Crown of Thorns

After Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to be crucified,
the crowd of people made fun of him, put a robe on him and gave him a crown made of sharp thorns to wear to pretend like he was a king since he said he was the king of the Jews.

Even though Jesus was very powerful, he did not fight back because he knew it was all part of God's plan for him to die on the cross.


(from: wikipedia - crown of thorns)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Healing on the Sabbath

Guernica - Picasso

We just learned about the famous work of art A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by artist Georges Seurat.

Another famous work of art is the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso.

This painting was about a war that was going on in Spain, and Picasso wanted to make a painting that would make people realize that war was bad.
Picasso was famous for painting in a style known as cubism, which was a very different way to paint pictures of things.
The artist would think about all of the sides of something that they wanted to paint, like the left, front, right and back sides, and then in the painting would show more than just one side.
Usually in a painting you only see one side of a person, like their front or left side.
But with cubism things could be painted to show more sides, and it usually looked very strange.

In the painting Guernica there are many pictures of things that you can find if you look closely.
A bull, a woman holding a baby, a horse, a light bulb, and faces of different people who are scared, surprised or sad.

Because the cubism style of painting is so strange looking, some people have looked and found other types of hidden pictures like a skull or a bull, or even other people.


(from: wikipedia - guernica (painting))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solar Eclipse

German - I am happy

Last time we learned that the German words for horse, sheep and duck are Pferd, Schaf and Ente.

Let's learn how to say I am happy in German!

In German when you see the letters ch together, it means to make a sound like a cat hissing.

We can break it up into three words:
I - Ich - sounds like ichh /?/
am - bin - sounds like ben /?/
happy - glücklich - Sounds like gloo-k-leechh /?/

Together Ich bin glücklich sounds like ich ben gloo-k-leech


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Estoy feliz

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Je suis heureux