Akan Goldweights

We just learned about the Burkina Faso Masks.

Another work of African sculpture is the Akan Goldweights, made around 1400 AD in West Africa.

These are sculptures that were used as weights to measure how much gold someone was trading.
Each sculpture had a different weight, so if someone had found some gold and wanted to trade it in, they would use different weights to figure out how much money it was all worth.

The weights were made as different shapes to tell stories about the Akan people of West Africa.
Each shape had different meanings, like a shield might tell a story about bravery, or swords with two sharp edges might mean that two people were working together for peace.

There are many of these old gold weights in the world in museums, and people even today make them as souvenirs or gifts to keep as a reminder of the past.


(from: wikipedia - akan goldweights)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Flying Horse of Gansu

Norwegian - Counting to Twenty

We counted to 15 in Norwegian, let's keep going!

16 seksten - sounds like sah-ee-s-t-n
17 sytten - sounds like suh-t-n
18 atten - sounds like ah-t-n
19 nitten - sounds like nee-t-n
20 tjue - sounds like shoo-ah


(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: δεκαέξι (dekaéxi), δεκαεπτά (dekaeptá), δεκαοχτώ (dekaochtó), δεκαεννέα (dekaennéa), είκοσι (eíkosi)

ASL: sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty

Italian: sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti

German: sechzehn, siebzehn, achtzehn, neunzehn, zwanzig

Spanish: dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte

French: seize, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, vingt

Motor

We just started learning about Machines.

One of the most important things about a machine is the Motor, also sometimes called the engine.

The motor is the thing that takes some type of energy and turns it into movement.
Like a car's engine takes in gas, and then the engine burns the gas to turn it into movement that makes the car go.

Electrical motors can take electricity from a plug or a battery and use that to move something like a toy or a fan.

There are even types of motors that use steam, air, liquids or coils like toys that you wind up and they walk around.

Anything that takes in energy and then makes something move is a motor.
Really you can even think of our human bodies like engines that take in food and make our muscles move!


(from: wikipedia - steam engine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Accelerometer

Blue Button

We just learned about the Bahtrocyroe Fosteri jellyfish.

Another type of sea animal is a Blue Button, also called a Porpita porpita.

Even though this animal looks like a jellyfish, it is in a different family, called hydrozoans.

They live in the ocean in the warm waters by the equator.

The middle part of the blue button is called the float, and it is about one inch wide.
Around the edge are floating arms that look like tentacles, but each one of them is actually it's own animal called a hydroid.
You can almost think of it like a floating colony of ants, all hanging on to a raft.

These blue buttons just float along the ocean and eats on things even smaller than itself that are just floating around.
They do have a sting like a jellyfish, but it is only a little painful.



(from: wikipedia - porpita porpita)


Jellyfish - Blue Button Jellyfish in Bangladesh [Jellyfish] - নীল বোতাম প্রাণীটি বাংলাদেশের সাগরে - MOK'S TUBE

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Armhook Squid

Labial Commissure of the Mouth

We just learned about the Frenulum of the Lower Lip.

Another part of the mouth is the Labial Commissure of the Mouth.

This is a big long name that really just means the corner of your mouth where your upper and lower lips meet.

The word labial means lips, and commissure means joining.


(from: wikipedia - labial commissure of mouth)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Maxillary Second Molar

Roundel

We just learned about the Palisade fence in front of a castle.

Another part of a castle is a Roundel.

This is a rounded end of a castle wall where people could stand and defend their castle.


(from: wikipedia - roundel (fortification))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bran Castle

The Golden Legend

We just learned about the Holy Tunic.

Another part of early Christianity is The Golden Legend.

One of the things about early history, is that many people would tell stories, and it was very hard to tell what was true and what was not.
After Saint Helen was said to have found the Holy Cross, there was a story that was told about the history of the cross.
It said that a seed from the apple that Adam and Eve ate from in the garden of Eden was planted in the ground and buried with Adam.
Then a tree grew from that seed, and the wood from that tree was used to make the Holy Cross.

Most people think this was just a story, and it is not a part of the Bible.
It's a good example of how hard it can be sometimes for Christians to make sure they are keeping the right history and teaching people the truth about Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - golden legend)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Amplias - Bishop of Odyssus