Ammonoidea

We just learned about the Flapjack Octopus.

Another type of cephalopod is the Ammonoidea, also called ammonite.

These cephalopods look a lot like a nautilus in their spiraled shell, but because of the way their body parts are inside of the shell, they are actually a lot like a squid, octopus or cuttlefish.

The spiral shaped ammonoidea get their name from a scientist a long time ago that thought the shells looked like ram's horns.
In Egyptian mythology, Ammon was shown in artwork wearing ram's horns, so the scientist Pliny the Elder named these cephalopods "ammonis cornua" which means "horns of Ammon".

Ammonites can come in many different shapes, like having sharp points on the outside of it's shell, or even shaped more like a corkscrew.

The ammonites are not around anymore, they all went extinct many years ago.






(from: wikipedia - ammonoidea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bumblebee Toad

Supernumerary Teeth

We just learned about the Wisdom Tooth.

Another set of teeth in the mouth are the Supernumerary Teeth or hyperdontia.

Usually grown up humans get up to 32 teeth.
Sometimes people don't get their last set of 4 molars, so they only have 28 teeth.
But sometimes people get even more teeth in places where they are not supposed to!

These are the supernumerary teeth, and they can show up as extra teeth anywhere in the mouth.
The most common place for them to show up is right by the maxillary central incisors, but sometimes they come up by the molars or somewhere else.


(from: wikipedia - hyperdontia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eponychium and Cuticle

Mehrangarh

We just learned about the Blarney Castle.

Another famous castle is Mehrangarh, also called Mehran Fort, built around 1460 AD in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

This castle is built up over 400 feet above the city of Jodhpur, and there are large walls around it.
It was a military fort that survived many battles, and there are marks on the walls from many cannonballs that were fired at the fort.

Inside the walls are several palaces with very fancy carvings and courtyards, and there is a winding road that leads to the fort from the city.
Some of the palaces are the Moti Mahal Pearl Palace, Phool Mahal Flower Palace, Sheesha Mahal Mirror Palace, and the Sileh Khana and Daulat Khana.
There are also museums with old palanquins which were seats for kings to sit on and be carried on by people, and howdahs, which were seats for kings to sit on and be carried by elephants.

The castle has seven gates that were built for seven battles that the ruler at the time called Maharaja Man Singh had won.





(from: wikipedia - mehrangarh)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Newfoundland and Labrador

Stachys - bishop of Byzantium

We just learned about the Urban Bishop of Macedonia one of the seventy disciples.

Another of the seventy was Stachys - bishop of Byzantium.

Stachys was a friend of Saint Andrew and Saint Paul, and was set up as a church leader in the Byzantine area, which is in Turkey.
This place would eventually become the home of the emperor Constantine.


(from: wikipedia - stachys the apostle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Proverbs 18

Li gui

We just learned about the Flying Horse of Gansu.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Li gui, a small bronze bowl about 11 inches tall, made some time around 1,000 BC.

This sculpture is very important in China, because long ago they did not save records of all of their history, so people are not sure what happened or when it happened.

The Li gui is the oldest bronze sculpture from the time in Chinese history called the Zhou dynasty that lasted about 800 years.

There is some writing on the inside of the bowl that has helped people figure out important dates in history, thousands of years ago.
The writing mostly talks about King Wu winning a battle over the Shang dynasty, the people that ruled before the Zhou dynasty took over.



(from: wikipedia - li gui)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Madonna and Child - Laurana

Greek - Counting to Twenty Nine

We counted to 20 in Greek, let's keep going!

21 είκοσι ένα (eíkosi éna) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see AY-nah
22 είκοσι δύο (eíkosi dýo) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see DEE-y-oh
23 είκοσι τρεις (eíkosi treis) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see t-day-ss
24 είκοσι τέσσερις (eíkosi tésseris) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see TAY-say-dee-ss
25 είκοσι πέντε (eíkosi pénte) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see PAY-n-tay
26 είκοσι έξι (eíkosi éxi) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see AY-k-see
27 είκοσι επτά (eíkosi eptá) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see ay-p-TAH
28 είκοσι οκτώ (eíkosi októ) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see oh-k-TOH
29 είκοσι εννέα (eíkosi ennéa) - sounds like ay-EE-koh-see eh-NEE-y-ah


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine

Italian: ventuno, ventidue, ventitré, ventiquattro, venticinque, ventisei, ventisette, ventotto, ventinove

German: einundzwanzig, zweiundzwanzig, dreiundzwanzig, vierundzwanzig, fünfundzwanzig, sechsundzwanzig, siebenundzwanzig, achtundzwanzig, neunundzwanzig

Spanish: veintiún, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro, veinticinco, veintiséis, veintisiete, veintiocho, veintinueve

French: vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois, vingt-quatre, vingt-cinc, vingt-six, vingt-sept, vingt-huit, vingt-neuf

Star Tracker

We just learned about the Accelerometer.

Another guidance system that rockets can use is the Star Tracker.

When a rocket is way up in the sky, it might not be able to talk to any of the computers on the ground to find out where it is, especially if there are a lot of clouds or bad weather.

But if the rocket is up above the clouds and it is dark, the rocket can use cameras to look up into space and see the stars.
These stars can be compared to a star chart that says where each star is, and it can use this chart to keep itself on course, whether it's going to the moon, outer space, or even another planet!


(from: wikipedia - star tracker)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Numerical Control - CNC