Students Aspire - Elizabeth Catlett

We just learned about the sculpture of Booker T. Washington by Richmond Barthé.

Another famous American sculpture is Students Aspire by Elizabeth Catlett made in 1978 in Washington D.C.

This is a sculpture of an African American man and woman holding each other and raising their hands toward a circle with a picture of an equals sign in it. There are 4 other circles for some of the different types of science and engineering in the world, like gears for a mechanical engineer, a protractor for a civil engineer, a glass bottle for chemistry, and a circuit picture for electrical.
At the bottom is a tree trunk, and the two students are holding each other and reaching out like branches of the tree.

The sculptor Elizabeth Catlett was born in 1915 in Washington D.C.
Her grandparents had been slaves, so growing up she knew that life had been hard for African Americans.
She tried to go to college at one university, but they would not let her in because she was black.
So she ended up going to Howard University, which was a college where they let black people in.

She spent many years making art and teaching, and later moved to Mexico to be a teacher and artist.


(from: wikipedia - students aspire)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Benjamin Franklin - Hiram Powers

Swahili - Dog, Cat

We just learned that to ask if someone speaks Swahili you say Unazungumza kiswahili?.

To say dog in Swahili, you say mbwa and it sounds like mm-bwah 文A

To say cat in Swahili, you say paka and it sounds like pah-kah 文A

, Also in Swahili, cats say meow meow and dogs say bow wow


(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: собака (sobaka), кошка (koshka)

Norwegian: hund, katt

Greek: σκύλος (skýlos), γάτα (gáta)

ASL: dog, cat

Italian: cane, gatto

German: Hunt, Katze

Spanish: perro, gato

French: chien, chat

Headlight

We just learned about the Chimney.

Another part of a locomotive is the Headlight or headlamp.

The headlight isn't really for the people driving the train, because they are going too fast to be able to stop if they saw something.
It's really meant to warn everyone to get off the tracks and to stay out of the way.
There are also workers at stations who need to know the train is coming, and they can see the light from very far away.


(from: wikipedia - steam locomotive components)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Handle

Bengal Cat

We just learned about the Savannah Cat.

Another type of cat is the Bengal Cat.

This cat came from the wild Leopard Cat mixed with a house cat that was more calm and would be a good pet.

They have golden fur, with dark spots on them just like a leopard.
Because they came from a wild cat, they have lots of energy and need a lot of attention.


(from: wikipedia - bengal cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rhopalium

Basophil

We just learned about the type of white blood cell called the Eosinophil.

Another type of white blood cell is the Basophil.

We've learned about 4 other types of white blood cells (WBC):
- lymphocytes - that help kill off bad diseases using T, B or NK cells.
- monocytes - that help fight off infections and clean up garbage in the body.
- neutrophils - most common WBC that is the first line of defense for fighting infections.
- eosinophils - that live in tissues and help fight off allergic responses

The Basophil is the 5th and last type of WBC.

This type of white blood cell is one of the things that makes your body react when it is allergic to something. So this could be swelling up or getting itchy spots on your body.
It does this by letting out something called "histamines".

The eosinophils puts out "antihistamines" so when your body is trying to calm down from being allergic to something, these antihistamines work against the histamines.

Basophils also let out a chemical called heparin, which keeps your blood a liquid.
When your blood dries up and turns to a clot it can cause problems, so the heparin makes sure it doesn't dry up.


(from: wikipedia - basophil)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rod Cells

Belarus

We just learned about the country of Azerbaijan.

Let's learn about the country of Belarus

This country is in eastern Europe next to Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia.
It's about 80,000 square miles, and about 10 million people live there.
The people there speak both the Belarusian and Russian languages.

(from: wikipedia - belarus)

The Belarusian flag has a large red stripe above a smaller green stripe, and on the left side there is a red and white pattern.
The red stripe is for freedom, the green stripe is for life, and the red-white pattern is one that is used a lot in Belarusian art and clothing.


(from: wikipedia - flag of belarus)

To eat in Belarus you might have Kalduny, which is dumplings made of dough, and filled with something like ham and mushrooms.

(from: wikipedia - kalduny)

Almost half of Belarus is a forest. Long ago most of Europe used to be a forest, but after people have made buildings and cities a lot of it is gone. The Białowieża Forest in Belarus is one of the last big forests left in Europe.
The forest is part of both Poland and Belarus.

(from: wikipedia - białowieża forest)

There is a big old castle in Belarus called the Mir Castle, made in 1568 AD.

(from: wikipedia - mir castle complex)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: East Antarctica

Spanish Inquisition

We just learned about the Italian Renaissance.

Another part of early Christianity is the Spanish Inquisition.

We learned before about the Medieval Inquisition that the churches started to try and help make sure people were following the right laws from God.

During the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 AD, the rulers of Spain wanted everyone in Spain to be Catholic.

So they said if someone wasn't Catholic they had to either leave Spain or become Catholic.
And if they found out someone was not following the rules, they would put them in jail and ask them questions to try and make them prove they were good or bad.

Later on things got very bad and the inquisition would hurt or kill people if they thought they were not following the rules from the Bible or from the King.

The inquisition went on for hundreds of years and wasn't over until the year 1834 AD.


(from: wikipedia - spanish inquisition)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anno Domini