Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Paratope


We just learned about the Antibody that helps find and get rid of pathogen diseases.

Another part of the immune system is the Paratope.

We learned about how the antibody is like a detective with a lock looking for the antigen with the right key.

The paratope is the part of the antibody that is like the lock.
They are made up of chemicals in the body that the antibody uses to find diseases.


(from: wikipedia - paratope)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Central Retinal Artery

Monday, January 11, 2021

Georgia


We just learned about the country of Estonia

Let's learn a little about the country of Georgia!

Don't confuse this with the US state of Georgia, it's on the other side of the world!

This is a small country that borders Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, and Armenia and Turkey to the south. It also borders the Black Sea.

About 3 million people live there, and it is about 27,000 square miles.


(from: wikipedia - georgia (country))

Georgia's flag is from the old medieval Kingdom of Georgia that ruled the land in the middle ages.
It is a red cross on a white background, with smaller red crosses in the other four corners.


(from: wikipedia - flag of georgia)

To eat in Georgia you might have nigvziani badrijani. This is fried eggplant with walnuts and garlic.


(from: wikipedia - badrijani)

Visiting Georgia you might go see

(from: wikipedia - rabati castle)

Georgia is home to an ancient monastery in the town of Vardzia
It is built in a cave with over 400 rooms, with paintings and churches and bell towers.

(from: wikipedia - vardzia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ross Ice Shelf

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Protestant Reformation


We just learned about Sola Fide.

Another part of early Christianity is the Protestant Reformation.

Around the same time that Martin Luther was disagreeing with how the Catholic church told people to worship God, there were other people that also disagreed in other ways.

With so many people disagreeing with the Catholic church, there were people that started to get together in groups and worship the way they thought was right.

So before where people would have to go to the Catholic church, now they could go meet together and worship the way Luther thought was right, calling themselves Lutherans.
Others thought John Calvin was right, so they met together and called themselves Calvinists.
Some believed people should only be baptised as adults, so they called themselves Anabaptists.
There were even rulers like the King of England who thought he should be the head of the church so he started the Anglican church.

All of these groups together were called "protestants", meaning that they protested or disagreed with the rules of the Catholic church.

The protestant reformation was when a lot of Christians protested the rules of the Catholic church, and "reformed" or decided to worship in a different way.

A lot of times the leaders of the Catholic church did not like this, and tried to have people put in jail or even killed for trying to go against what they said.
Eventually many people left the Catholic church and started their own groups or religions.


(from: wikipedia - reformation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Muslim Conflict

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Birth of the Muses - Jacques Lipchitz


We just learned about the scuplture Clown Tight Rope Walker by Louise Nevelson.

Another famous American sculpture is the Birth of the Muses by Jacques Lipchitz, made in 1950 in Massachussetts.

This sculpture comes from the story of Pegasus landing on Mt. Helicon causing four springs of water to come up from the ground, which were the source for the muses.

It is an abstract art sculpture, so it is not just a nice sculpture of a horse with some water, it looks a little twisted and turned so the artist wanted people to use their imagination to see the real picture.


(from: wikipedia - birth of the muses)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Willing Captive - Captive Ives

Friday, January 8, 2021

Swahili - Black, white, brown, gray

We just learned that in Swahili, red, orange and yellow are nyekundu, machungwa, manjano,
and green, blue, purple, pink are kijani, bluu, zambarau, nyekundu.

nyeusi, nyeupe, kahawia, kijivu Let's learn some more colors!

black - nyeusi - sounds like n-yay-oo-see - 文A

white - nyeupe - sounds like n-yay-oo-pay - 文A

brown - kahawia - sounds like kah-hah-wee-ah - 文A

gray - kijivu - sounds like kee-jee-voo - 文A


swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: черный (chernyy), белый (belyy), коричневый (korichnevyy), серый (seryy)

Norwegian: svart, hvit, brun, grå

Greek: μαύρο, λευκό, καφέ, γκρι

ASL: black, white, brown, gray

Italian: nero, bianco, marrone, grigio

German: schwarz, weiß, braun, grau

Spanish: negro, blanco, marrón, gris

French: noir, blanc, brun, gris

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Coupling


We just learned about the Leading Wheel.

Another part of a steam locomotive is a Coupling, also called a coupler.

This is what connects the train cars to each other.
Some of the train couplings are loose with chains and bang into each other a lot.
Other types are very tightly linked together and don't move much.



(from: wikipedia - railway coupling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Valve Trim

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

Primates


We've learned a whole lot about Cats! From the wild tigers and lions to the tabby, calico and Ojos Azules house cats.

Let's learn about Primates!

There are a lot of animals that are primates, like gorillas, monkeys. Humans are also primates, which means gorillas and monkeys are like our cousins!
Obviously humans look and act different and are a lot smarter, but there are also a lot of things that humans have the same with other primates.

All primates have big brains, good eyes, can see in color, and can move around their arms and shoulders better than other animals.

Some are very big, like gorillas weighing over 400 pounds, and some are very small like small lemurs weighing less than a pound.

Primates are different than a lot of other animals, because they can walk on two legs, and can easily climb trees.
They like to live together with their families, so they do not like to live alone like a tiger.

Only humans can make enough sounds to make words like they do, but some chimpanzees and gorillas have learned to use some words in sign language!
Humans are the smartest living things on the planet, so it's no surprise that some other primates that have brains and bodies a lot like ours are pretty smart too.


(from: wikipedia - primate)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish Ephyra