Saturday, February 8, 2020

Angel of the Waters - Emma Stebbins


We just learned about the Forever Free - Edmonia Lewis.

Another famous American sculpture is Angel of the Waters by Emma Stebbins in 1873.

Emma was born in New York in 1815, where her parents helped get her into schools that would teach her to be an artist
When she was 41 years old, she moved to Italy to learn from famous sculptors.

She was the first woman who was paid to do art for New York City, when she made the Angel of the Waters statue, sometimes also called Bethesda Fountain.
This statue is in New York's famous Central Park, and has a big fountain around it, and a big area for people to walk around.

It is an 8 foot tall bronze satue of an angel that is touching the top of the fountain where water is spouting up and around.

There are four small cherubs called Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace.

This fountain is supposed to be about the story where Jesus healed a man who could not walk who was sitting by a fountain of healing.


(from: wikipedia - bethesda fountain)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ellora - Jain Caves

Friday, February 7, 2020

Russian - You are sad


We just learned that in Russian I am happy is Я счастлив (ya shastliv).

Now let's learn how to say You are sad.

Ты грустный

You - Ты (Ty) - sounds like too 文A
sad - грустный (grustnyy) - Sounds like g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee 文A

So all together Ты грустный (Ty grustnyy) sounds like Too g-dr-oo-ss-t-n-ee.


russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: du er lei deg.

Greek: Είσαι λυπημενος

ASL: You are sad

Italian: Sei triste

German: Sie sind traurig

Spanish: Estas triste

French: Vous êtes triste

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Servo


We just learned about the Valve Types.

Another part of machines is a Servo, also called a servomechanism.

This is something that uses special sensors to make a machine move or stop moving if it senses something bad.

When you go to a store and the automatic door is closing but senses you walking through it and stops, that is using a servo.
The servo has a motor that is closing the door, and then the sensor tells it that there is someone there, and it tells the motor to stop.

When it is clear, the servo tells it to close the door.

So a servo is really like a smart machine controller that automatically turns on or off when it needs to.


(from: wikipedia - servomechanism)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: PGM-11 Redstone

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Jaguar


We just learned about the Tigers.

Another type of wild cat is the Jaguar.

This is the third biggest kind of cat after the lion and tiger.
It can grow to be about 350 pounds, and six feet long, with a 2 foot tail.

They have spots all over their body, with different sizes and shapes.
On their head, feet and belly, their spots are mostly just all black.
Their bodies have things called rosettes, which sort of like rose shaped black marks that are darker brown in the middle, and sometimes have a dot in the middle.
Other than their spots they have brown heads, backs and legs, and their belly area has white fur.

Jaguars live in Central and South America, but don't usually come as far north as the United States.

Just like a tiger, jaguars usually live by themselves.
Baby jaguars will live with only their mother for about 2 years and then they go live by themselves.
They can live to be around 12 years in the wild, and if they are taken care of in a zoo they can live over 20 years.

Jaguars are strong swimmers, and can even hunt things like Caimans that live in the water and are like an alligator.




(from: wikipedia - jaguar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Upside Down Jellyfish

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Peripheral Vision


We just learned about the Field of View.

Another part of the eye is Peripheral Vision.

When you are looking straight ahead at something, you can still see things a little bit that are on the left and right sides of your head.

The word "peripheral" means on the outside or on the edge of something.
So peripheral vision is looking at things that are on the outside edge of what you are seeing.


(from: wikipedia - peripheral vision)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Taste Buds

Monday, February 3, 2020

Ross Sea


We just learned about the Weddel Sea.

Another part of Antarctica is the Ross Sea.

This sea is on the other side of Antarctica from the Weddel sea, and it is about 246,000 square miles.
Because it is further away from other land, many scientists see this place as the last place on earth that has not been hurt by pollution.

There are many scientists who go to the Ross sea to try and study the animals and ice there, without making any changes to the Ross Sea just so we can study what the earth was like a long time ago.

A lot of animals live in this area too, like penguins, whales and seals.
Because this place has not really been touched by humans, there are a lot of people trying to keep it safe and make sure it does not get polluted or ruined.


(from: wikipedia - ross sea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kilkenny Castle

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Vikings and Christians


We just learned about the King Charlemagne.

Another part of early Christianity is Vikings and Christians and how they lived together.

Sometimes vikings would go do a raid, and attack another group of people.
They would steal food and things, but they would also sometimes steal people.

The people they brought back were either made to be slaves or taken as wives for the vikings.
A lot of the people they took were Christian, so just by doing these raids more and more vikings would get to live around Christians.

Just by being with Christians and living with them, many vikings became Christian, and that helped Christianity grow in countries like Denmark, Sweden and Norway.


(from: wikipedia - vikings)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Muratorian Fragment