Veste Coburg

We just learned about the Castel del Monte.

Another famous castle is Veste Coburg built in Coburg Germany around 1000 AD.

This castle was built up on a hill, and was added onto over and over again through the years as it became a more important place.

In the 1506 a man named Martin Luther had some different ideas about the way people should go to church and study their Bible.
This made some people very upset and they wanted to put him in jail, so he went into hiding at this castle for a while, and worked on writing the Bible in the German language, which had never been done before.

This castle stayed strong for some very big battles, and one time the people inside lasted for five months while people outside tried to fight them.

It is one of the biggest castles in Germany, at over 375,000 square feet of space inside!



(from: wikipedia - veste coburg)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Quebec

Silas - Bishop of Corinth

We just learned about Luke the Evangelist, one of the seventy disciples.

Another of the seventy was Silas - Bishop of Corinth.

Silas was one of the people who went around with Paul and Timothy, helping to spread the word of God to people in other places.

The bible says that Silas was with Paul in the town of Philippi, after some people who didn't like Jesus had them throw into prison.
They were praying and singing hymns and an earthquake came and broke their chains and opened the door to the jail so they could get out.
When that happened the jailer thought they had escaped and thought he would be punished for it, but Paul and Silas did not leave the jail, but instead sat and talked with the jailer and helped him become a believer in Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - silas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Psalm 119 - Longest Psalm

Six Ritual Jades - Gui

We've learned about four of the ancient Chinese Six Ritual Jades:
Cong - earth, Bi - sky/heaven, Huang - North, and Hu - West.

Another of the Six Ritual Jades was the Gui.

This was a kind of blade, and it was used to mean "East".


(from: wikipedia - commons: jade gui in the western han dynasty)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Judith and Holofernes - Donatello

Greek - March, April

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Greek!

We already learned that January, February is Ιανουάριος (Ianouários), - Φεβρουάριος (Fevrouários)

Let's keep going!

March - Μάρτιος (Mártios) - sounds like MAH-d-tee-oh-ss
April - Απρίλιος (Aprílios) - sounds like ah-p-DEE-lee-oh-ss


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: March, April

Italian: Marzo, Aprile

German: März, April

Spanish: Marzo, Abril

French: Mars, Avril

Specific Impulse

We just learned about Rocket Engine Thrust.

Another part of rocket science is called the Specific Impulse.

This is a way for scientists to measure how fast a rocket moves along, combined with how fast it uses up it's fuel as the rocket engine is blasting off.

The rocket can only burn up so much fuel before it runs out, so the more thrust the rocket for every little drop of its fuel really matters!


(from: wikipedia - specific impulse)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Grinding

Giant Cuttlefish

We just learned about the Mimic Octopus.

Another type of cephalopod is the Giant Cuttlefish.

This is the largest cuttlefish in the world, and they live around the southern part of Australia.

They are very colorful and can change their whole body to white, red or yellow, and very bright or very dark to try and either get the attention of other cuttlefish, or to confuse the animals they are hunting.

They also can raise up little bumps on their skin to make themselves look either bumpy or smooth, so they can look like rocks, sand or seaweed.

The giant cuttlefish is so popular in Australia, that for a festival someone made a 42 foot long parade float shaped like a cuttlefish, named "Stobie the Disco Cuttlefish" that could move its arms, blink its eyes, and had flashing lights and dance music.




(from: wikipedia - sepia apama)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Waxy Monkey Tree Frog

Central Incisors

We just learned about the Baby Teeth.

Usually the first baby teeth that people get are the Central Incisors.

Most babies start with two front bottom teeth, and then later the two front top teeth come in.
These incisors are made to be sharp and bite through things like carrots.


(from: wikipedia - maxillary central incisor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hair Root Sheath