Persian Cat

We just learned about the Scottish Fold Cat.

Another type of cat is the Persian Cat.

This type of cat has long fur, and a flat face that makes it look grumpy.
The villan cat Mr. Tinkles from the movie Cats and Dogs was a Persian Cat.

Persian cats can have just about any type of fur color, from orange to grey to all white.


(from: wikipedia - persian cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Stomach

Monocyte

We just learned about the kind of white blood cell called a lymphocyte, and the kind of lymphocyte called the B Cell.

There are other kinds of white blood cells, like one called the Monocyte.

These white blood cells are bigger than their cousins the lymphocytes, and their job is to go around cleaning up dirty things like infections in the body.

When they see something like dirt or infection they turn into something else called a macrophage and they wrap themselves around the bad stuff, almost like they are eating it, and they destroy the unhealthy bad stuff.

They are different from the lymphocytes because lymphocytes are really for targeting specific diseases or viruses, and monocytes are really more like cleaning up all the dirty garbage and fighting off infections.

So if your skin gets cut and you don't wash it off and keep it clean, you can get dirt and germs in your body.
The monocytes help fight off the bad stuff that comes from the dirt and germs if it gets infected.


(from: wikipedia - monocyte)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Choroid

Andorra

We just learned about the country of Albania.
Let's learn a little about the country of Andorra!

This is a very small country right in between France and Spain.
It is only 180 square miles, and only about 77,000 people live there.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

The flag of Andorra has vertical blue, yellow, red stripes, with the coat of arms of Andorra in the middle.
The coat of arms has four parts, made up from the banners of old royal families who first founded the country.

(from: wikipedia - flag of andorra)

There is a spa in Andorra called "Caldea" that is the largest spa in Europe, that is 18 floors and 6,000 square meters

(from: wikipedia - andorra)

A lot of the country of Andorra is mountains, so there is a big ski resort called Soldeu that has over a hundred miles of ski slopes.

(from: wikipedia - andorra)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caltrop

Gutenberg Bible

We just learned about the Devshirme.

Another part of early Christianity was the Gutenberg Bible.

Long ago when people wanted to make a copy of the Bible they had to write it out by hand.
It was not very easy to make paper, ink or pens, so it took a long time, and each copy looked very different depending on who was writing it and what the paper or pen looked like.

Around 1450 people were using something called a Printing Press that was like a big stamp with a roller of paper that could print a lot of copies quickly.

In Germany a man named Johannes Gutenberg used the printing press to make about 150 copies of the Bible, and send them around Germany.
This started a big change in the world of Christianity because a lot more people could read the actual words in the Bible and learn for themselves about God and Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - gutenberg bible)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Baptism of Clovis I

Dream Lady - Edward McCartan

We just learned about the statue of Prometheus by Paul Manship.

Another famous American sculpture is Dream Lady by Edward McCartan made in Chicago in 1922.

This statue was made to honor Eugene Field, who was a famous writer who wrote some very famous poems like Wynken, Blinken and Nod.

The sculptor McCartan was born in 1879 in New York where he grew up studying art.
He went to Paris for a few years to study art, and usually made things in the old Classical style which meant everything looked very realistic.


(from: wikipedia - edward mccartan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: San Martín Pajapan Monument 1

Swahili - How are you?

We just learned some greetings in Swahili, like Habari, Mambo, Shikamoo and Habari za asubuhi, Habari za mchana, Habari za jioni, Habari za usiku.

There are also a few ways to say How are you? in Swahili:

Hujambo? - sounds like hoo-jah-m-boh 文A

Unakuwaje? - sounds like oo-nah-koo-wah-jay 文A


To respond and say Very good thanks, you would say one of the following:

Sijambo, asante (responding to Hujambo) - sounds like see-jah-m-boh ah-sah-n-tay. 文A

Safi, asante (responding to Unakuwaje) - sounds like sah-fee ah-sah-n-tay. 文A




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Как дела? (kak dela), Спасибо Хорошо (Spasibo khorosho)

Norwegian: Hvordan har du det? Veldig bra takk.

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío), Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα - (Kalinychta)

ASL: How are you?

Italian: Come va? Molto bene, grazie.

German: Wie geht es Ihnen? Sehr gut, danke.

Spanish: ¿Cómo estás? Muy bien, gracias.

French: Comment allez-vous? Très bien, merci.

Firebox

We just learned about the Locomotive Piston.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Firebox.

Remember we learned about the Tender Coal Car where all the coal is stored, and the Fireman who is the person in the Cab that shovels the coal from the Coal Car.

The Fireman shovels the coal into the Firebox where it burns up really hot, which heats up the water to make steam.


(from: wikipedia - firebox (steam engine))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve