Antarctic Sea Ice

We just learned about the South Pole.

Another part of Antarctica is the Antarctic Sea Ice.

We've learned before about the big Antarctic Ice Sheet that covers the continent.
And we've learned about the Ice Shelves that stick out from the Ice Sheet above the water.

The ice shelves are very thick, sometimes 1 kilometer deep.
Sea ice is a lot thinner, and is usually only a few meters thick.
Sometimes it is touching the shelf ice, and sometimes it's just floating out in the ocean close to Antarctica.

During the winters in Antarctica, the frozen sea ice goes out very far from the main land of Antarctica, and then in the summer most of it melts back to the ice shelves.



(from: wikipedia - antarctic sea ice)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Barbican

Teutonic Order

We just learned about the Knights Templar.

Another military group in the Catholic church was the Teutonic Order, also called the Order of the Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem.

Just like the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar, these were soldiers who wore armor and worked for the church.

The job of the Teutonic Order was mostly to protect Christians that were traveling to the Holy Land of Jerusalem, and to also help set up some hospitals.

This group is actually still around but the people are not soldiers anymore, they are just a group of people who try to do good things for the world.


(from: wikipedia - teutonic order)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Church of Holy Sepulchre

Johns Hopkins - Hans Schuler

We just learned about the Civil War Memorial by Martin Milmore.

Another famous American work of art is the statue of Johns Hopkins, made in 1935 in Baltimore Maryland by Hans Schuler.

Schuler was born in Germany in 1874, and then came to American when he was young.
He went to art school in Maryland, and then later moved to France to work with some famous sculptors there.

When he was 32, he moved back to Maryland and stayed there for the rest of his life.
He was famous for making public monuments in Baltimore, and was called "Baltimore's Monument Maker".
There are a few cemeteries in town that he made a lot of sculptures for.

When he was 61 he made the statue of Johns Hopkins.
Johns Hopkins was famous for helping build hospitals and schools, and also was famous for fighting against slavery.
This statue of him was placed at Johns Hopkins University.


(from: wikipedia - hans schuler)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mask for King Obalufon II

Russian - May, June

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

We already learned that January, February is Январь (Yanvar'), Февраль (Fevral'), and March, April is Март (Mart), Апрель (Aprel').

Let's keep going!

May - Май (May) - sounds like mah-ee 文A

June - Июнь (Iyun') - sounds like ee-oon 文A



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Mai, Juni

Greek: Μάιος (Máios), Ιούνιος (Ioúnios)

ASL: May, June

Italian: Maggio, Giugno

German: Mai Juni

Spanish: Mayo, Junio

French: Mai, Juin

North River Steamboat

We just learned about the Sun and Planet Gear.

Another part of early machines was the North River Steamboat, also called the Clermont.

After all the pieces were invented to make a working steam engine, people started to try and use them to move things around.

In 1807 in New York, the North River Steamboat was built to take people along the Hudson River from New York City to Albany.

The boat was 142 feet long, and went about 5 miles per hour on the river.
It went about 150 miles, and took about 30 hours to make the trip!
Today in a car that takes about 2 hours, but back then it was a big deal.



(from: wikipedia - north river steamboat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Epidemiology

Marbled Cat

We just learned about the Oncilla.

Another type of wild cat is the Marbled Cat.

This cat lives in Asia, in the forest mountains near places like the Himalayas.
They are about the same size as a normal house cat, but they have more rounded ears and a really long tail.
Their fur is brown or grey, and they have stripes on their head neck and back.

Marbled cats weigh about 11 pounds, and are around 2 feet long with a 2 foot furry tail.
That means their tail is about as long as their whole body!
The extra long tail works kind of like a squirrel's tail and helps them balance when they are running around in the trees.


(from: wikipedia - marbled cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Diplulmaris Antarctica

Rheum

We just learned about the Eyelash.

Another part of the eye is Rheum.

This is what some people call sleep, sleepy seeds, sleepy bunds, sleepy sand, eye goop, sleep dust or sleepy dirt.

Sometimes when you wake up in the morning there is some hard crusty thing by the inside corner of your eye.
It is hard almost like a piece of sand, and you can wipe it away.

This is called rheum, and it is just the oils that come from your glands building up and drying by your eye.
These oils are coming out all day long, but when you blink they get spread out on your eye or they dry up.
When you sleep you aren't blinking so it dries up and gets crusty.

In the old days people made up a person called the Sandman that comes around and sprinkles sand on the eyes of kids to bring them good dreams.
When you wake up in the morning, that's the leftover sand from the sandman.


(from: wikipedia - sandman)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cupid's Bow