Brain

We just learned that the Nervous System is made up of the Central Nervous System which is your brain and spinal cord, and the Peripheral Nervous System which is all the nerves going through your body.

Let's learn more about the brain.

The brain is the part of the body that is in control of everything.
It tells the body when to breathe, when to walk or jump, and when to smile.

It also gets sent all the messages from body.
When you stub your toe it sends a message to your brain telling you that it hurts.
When you see, smell, hear, taste or touch things, all of those messages go to your brain.

The brain also is what helps you think and learn.
From learning how to talk, spell, do math or even how to sing.
It's also where your memories are, where your brain keeps track of the things you've seen and heard.


(from: wikipedia - human brain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Descending Aorta

Lake Taymyr

We just learned about Lake Athabasca in Canada.

The next biggest lake is Lake Taymyr in Russia.
It is very far north, and is frozen over for all but three summer months.
In those summer months the temperature is about 44 degrees fahrenheit.


(from: wikipedia - lake taymyr)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Missouri

Holy Week

We've learned that the Lent season begins with Fat Tuesday and then Ash Wednesday, and then goes on for several weeks.

The last week of Lent is called Holy Week, as it gets close to the Easter holiday.


(from: wikipedia - holy week)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus Crucificion - Why have you forsaken me?

Statue of Gudea

We just learned about the Cylinder Seal sculptures.

Another set of sculptures are the many statues of Gudea.

Gudea was a king in the land of Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.
The people he ruled over made many statues of him, and many of them survived for thousands of years.

The statues were made of different types of stone called alabaster or diorite.


(from: wikipedia - statues of gudea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Charles IV of Spain and His Family - Francisco Goya

Italian - My drink is cold

We just learned that in Italian to say this chair is small you say La sedia è piccolo.

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

To say My drink is cold, we say La mia bevanda è freddo.

Here's how to say it:
My - La mia - sounds like lah me-ah /?/
drink - bevanda - sounds like bay-van-dah /?/
is - è - Sounds like ay-ee /?/
cold - freddo - Sounds like fd-ay-doh /?/


So all together La mia bevanda è freddo sounds like lah me-ah bay-van-da ay-ee fd-ay-doh.


(from: wikipedia - accademia della crusca)

In German:
Mein Getränk ist kalt

In Spanish:
Mi bebida es fría

In French:
Ma boisson est froid

Tropical Depression

We just learned that large storms in the tropics are called Tropical Cyclones and that they have many different names.

Many of these names are based on how strong the cyclone is.

The first level of tropical cyclone is called a Tropical Depression.
This means the storm clearly looks circular, but the winds are less than 39 miles per hour.


(from: wikipedia - tropical cyclone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shelf Clouds

Coral Snake

We just learned about the Blunthead Tree Snake.

Another type of snake is the Coral Snake.

This snake has stripes of red, yellow, white and black.

It is a very venomous snake, and it's venom can be deadly to humans if they are not taken to a hospital quickly.
Coral snakes are afraid of humans and will usually try to get away if they are seen, but sometimes if they are threatened they will bite.
Their fangs are not very long, so they can not bite through thick leather like gloves or shoes.

Other snakes like milk snakes have colors just like the coral snake, but not in the same order.
Some people have come up with ways to remember which ones are venomous, like:
Red and black, friend of Jack. Red and yellow, kills a fellow.
Yellow, Red, Stop!

Coral snakes mostly live on the ground underneath leaves, and they eat snakes, lizards, frogs, birds and rodents.

(from: wikipedia - coral snake)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shiba Inu