Sunday, December 18, 2016

Rachel


We just learned about the person from the Bible named Jacob.

Another person from the Bible is Rachel.

Rachel was one of the wives of Jacob.

While Jacob was running away from his brother Esau because he had stolen Esau's birthright and blessing, he was working for a man named Laban.
He saw Laban's daughter Rachel and thought she was very beautiful, so he asked Laban if he could marry her.
Laban said he had to work for him for 7 years before he could marry her, and he agreed.
After 7 years he had the wedding, but Laban tricked him and made Jacob marry Rachel's older sister Leah first.
He agreed to work for Laban for another 7 years and then married Rachel also, so he had two wives.

Rachel was very upset for a long time because she could not have babies, but then after a long time she was able to have two children, Joseph and Benjamin.

(from: wikipedia - rachel)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Second John

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Stavelot Triptych


We just learned about the Shrine of the Three Kings.

Another ancient roman sculpture is the Stavelot Triptych.

We learned before that a triptych is like a sculpted book that opens and closes.
This triptych opens up, and has two smaller triptychs in the middle.

The smaller triptychs are much older, and are said to have held small pieces of the cross that Christ died on, as well as some dirt from Christ's tomb, and a piece of his mother Mary's robe.

The triptychs are made of gold, jewels and glass, and have pictures showing saints, mother Mary, and the story of the Christian Emperor Constantine's mother when she traveled to find the cross that Christ died on.


(from: wikipedia - stavelot triptych)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dance - Objectless Composition - Rodchenko

Friday, December 16, 2016

ASL - Six, seven, eight, nine, ten


We Counted to five now let's count to ten in ASL!


Remember for 1-5 your palm was facing toward you.
For 6-9, hold your hand out in front of you, with your palm facing away from you.
Hold up all your fingers, but hold down one for each number:

6 - Pinky finger.
7 - Ring finger.
8 - Tall finger.
9 - Index finger.

For 10, close your fist, put your thumb up, and wiggle your hand around.

Here is a helpful video showing these signs:

ASL Numbers 1-10 | Sign Language - My Smart Hands



ASL
(from: wikipedia - american sign language)

Italian: sei, setto, otto, nove, dieci

German: seis, sieben, acht, neun, zehn

Spanish: seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez

French: six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Pig Iron


We've now learned about Sponge Iron and Wrought Iron.

Another type of iron made in a forge is Pig Iron.

This is iron after it has gone through a blast furnace, it is stirred and stirred while heated.
There are a lot of things called impurities in the metals, that make the iron harder to work with or not look as nice.
After heating and stirring, the metal can be cooled and turned into little metal bricks nicknamed "pigs".

They got this nickname because the way the iron was made in molds, it looked like a bunch of little piglets with a larger mother pig.

When they broke off the small pieces from the mother sow, they called them pigs.



(from: wikipedia - pig iron)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dust Devil

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Snake - Molting


We just learned about Snake Scales.

Another part of snake biology is when snakes shed their skin, called molting, sloughing or ecdysis.

Snake skin cane get dirty, worn out, and even covered with bugs like mites or ticks.
So to keep their skin fresh they will peel off the outside layer and have fresh skin and scales underneath.

Usually when a snake is getting ready to shed its skin, it goes and hides somewhere safe.
Then the new layer of skin underneath the old layer gets gooey and slippery.
The snake finds a rough or sharp thing to catch the dry outer skin on, then they keep slithering along.
Just like pulling a sock off, the snake pulls its old skin off and then goes on its way with a nice clean fresh skin.

Younger snakes can shed their skin 4 times a year, and an older snake may only shed their skin 1 or 2 times a year.


(from: wikipedia - snake scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: American Eskimo Dog

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Autonomic nervous system


We just learned about Brachial Plexus

Remember we learned that the Nervous System is split up into two parts, the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS).
And that part of the Peripheral Nervous System is the Somatic Nervous System.

Another part of the Peripheral Nervous System is the Autonomic Nervous System.

This part of your nervous system controls your internal organs, like your heart, stomach or liver.


(from: wikipedia - autonomic nervous system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Right Ventricle

Monday, December 12, 2016

Coast Mountains


We just learned about the Yukon Ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Coast Mountains.
On the west side of these ranges is a temperate rainforest, which then leads to ice fields and glaciers in the middle, and on the east side is plateaus and forests.

This mountain range has the largest bunch of ice fields in the world.


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Tanganyika