Nicolaus Copernicus Monument - Thorwaldsen

We just learned about the Arc de Triomphe by Jean-Pierre Cortot in Paris, France.

Another neoclassical sculpture is the statue of Copernicus by Bertel Thorwaldsen.

Copernicus was a Polish astronomer, famous for telling everyone that the sun was the middle of our galaxy, because people used to think the earth was at the middle.

Bertel Thorwaldsen was a famous sculptor, and was given the job to make this famous statue honoring Copernicus.

During World War II, the nazi army took the statue down and had plans to melt it, but they lost the war before they melted it down so the Polish people put the statue back up.


(from: wikipedia - nicolaus copernicus monument, warsaw)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Golden Madonna of Essen

Greek - Good Morning

We just learned a few ways to say hello and goodbye in Greek, like Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), and Αντίο (Antío).

Sometimes you might want to say good morning, good afternoon, or good night.

Good Morning/Day - Καλημέρα (Kaliméra) - sounds like kah-lee-may-dah

Good Afternoon/Evening - Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra) - sounds like kah-lee-spay-dah

Good Night - Καληνυχτα (Kalinychta) - sounds like kah-lee-nich-tah


The letters for these words are:

Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) μ (mu) έ (epsilon) ρ (rho) α (alpha)
Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) σ (sigma) π (pi) έ (epsilon) ρ (rho) α (alpha)
Κ (Kappa) α (alpha) λ (lambda) η (iota) ν (nu) υ (upsilon) χ (chi) τ (tau) α (alpha)


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Good Night

Italian: buongiorno, buon pomeriggio, buonasera, buona notte

German: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Spanish: Buenos días, buenos tardes, buenas noches

French: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne nuit

Thrust Fault

We just learned about the Aftershock that happens after the biggest part of the earthquake.

We've learned about the Dip Slip fault before.

Another fault type is a Thrust Fault.
This is a lot like the dip-slip, but the slip goes in the opposite direction.
Sometimes they even call it a reverse thrust fault.


(from: wikipedia - thrust fault)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forge Welding

Wallace's Flying Frog

We just learned about the Mission Golden-eyed Tree Frog or Amazon Milk Frog.

Another type of frog is Wallace's Flying Frog.

It is only about 100 milimeters long, and has long toes with webbing in between.
With these big feet that are almost like wings, this frog can float like a parachute down from trees, or even jump and glide from tree to tree.

These are very bright and colorful frogs, with a shiny green back, a yellow or white belly, and yellow coloring on it's toes.


(from: wikipedia - wallace's flying frog)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mandarin Ratsnake

Intervertebral Disc

We just learned about the connective tissue the Supraspinous Ligament that goes over the back of your spine.

Another piece of connective tissue is the Intervertebral Disc, or the Intervertebral Fibrocartilage.

This is the piece of cartilage that is in between each of your vertebrae in your spine.

These discs protect each of your vertebrae from bumping against each other, and also helps hold them together.
They also work like shock absorbers so when you are jumping up and down, all the vertebrae in your spine have soft cushions between them.


(from: wikipedia - intervertebral disc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cervical Plexus

Nuevo León

We just learned about the Mexico State of Chiapas.

Another Mexico state is Nuevo León, which means New Lion, and is named after the state in Spain called León.

This state is north part of Mexico, and has one small 9 mile stretch where it connects to the US at the state of Texas.


(from: wikipedia - nuevo león)

The coat of arms for Nuevo León shows the Cerro de la Silla mountains, next a lion for the state's name.
Below that is the temple of San Francisco which was part of Nuevo León but is now in Texas.
Next to the temple are chimneys showing the workers of Mexico.
In the borders are old weapons from the warriors from long ago, and chains for the group of all the people working together.
On the bottom is a ribbon that says "Semper Ascendens" which means "Always Ascending".

(from: wikipedia - nuevo león)

La Huasteca is a place where a lot of people like to go rock climbing.


(from: wikipedia - la huasteca (climbing area))

Cerro de la Silla which means hill of the chair is a mountain area where a lot of people like to go hiking.


(from: wikipedia - cerro de la silla)

The state has a large farm of wind turbines that can bring electricity to over 630,000 homes.


(from: wikipedia - nuevo león)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Elias Mountains

Ladder of Divine Ascent

We just learned about the Lavra caves for monks.

Another part of the life of monks was a writing called the Ladder of Divine Ascent.

This was a book that gave people some rules and ideas about things they should do to be better servants of God.

There were 30 steps to the ladder, and they covered things like obeying God, asking for forgiveness, not doing bad things, not thinking you are better than other people, and inner peace.

Many monks read these words and tried to follow them to be better servants.


(from: wikipedia - ladder of divine ascent)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Abel