Saturday, February 27, 2021

Untitled - Donald Judd


We just learned about the Four Squares in Square Arrangement by George Rickey.

Another famous American sculpture is Untitled by Donald Judd, made in 1991 in New York.

Judd was born in 1928 in Missouri, and went to art school in New York.

He was famous for making art that was called Minimalism.
The sculptures that he made were very simple, with straight lines and edges and simple colors.
One big difference for his art is that he sometimes used machines to cut and shape his art, instead of making it using hand held tools.

His art "Untitled" is about 25 feet long, 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide.
It is made out of aluminum that is then painted.

Some of his art looks like a piece of furniture, and he even worked later on to make some tables and chairs for furniture companies.


(from: wikipedia - donald judd)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Standing Lincoln - Augustus Saint Gaudens

Friday, February 26, 2021

Swahili - We are surprised


We just learned that in Swahili I am happy is Nina furaha,
you are sad is Una huzuni,
he is angry is Ana hasira,
and they are excited is Wanafurahi.

Let's learn how to say We are surprised.

Tunashangaa - Sounds like too-nah-shah-n-gah - 文A



swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Мы удивлены (My udivleny)

Norwegian: Vi er overrasket

Greek: Είναι έκπληκτοι (Eínai ékpliktoi)

ASL: We are surprised

German: Wir sind begeistert

Spanish: Estamos sorprendido

French: Nous sommes surpris

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Camshaft


We just learned about the Oil Galleries.

Another part of a car engine is the Camshaft.

We learned a long time ago that a Cam is a disc with a bump on it that spins around and pushes down to open up valves for the engine.

The camshaft is the long metal pole that cams are attached to.
The shaft spins around, and the cams take turns pushing down with their bumps at different times.



(from: wikipedia - camshaft)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hydraulics

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Nomascus Gibbon


We just learned about the Siamang type of Gibbon Primate.

Another type of Primate is the Nomascus Gibbon.

This type of gibbon lives in southern China and Vietnam.
There are 7 types of these gibbons: Black crested gibbon, Eastern black crested gibbon, Hainan black crested gibbon, Northern white-cheeked gibbon, Southern white-cheeked gibbon, Yellow-cheeked gibbon, Northern buffed-cheeked gibbon.

Each of these types of Nomascus gibbons looks a little different and usually lives in a different part of China or Vietnam.
Some of them like the Northern White Cheeked Gibbon have some white fur on their cheeks, the Southern White-Cheeked Gibbon has a white mouth, and the Yellow-Cheeked Gibbon has yellow fur on it's cheeks.

They all have very long arms that help them live in the trees, and most of them start out brown and then the male Gibbons fur turns black when they get older.

Northern White Cheeked Gibbon:

(from: wikipedia - northern white-cheeked gibbon)

Southern White-Cheeked Gibbon:

(from: wikipedia - southern white-cheeked gibbon)

Yellow Cheeked-Gibbon:

(from: wikipedia - yellow cheeked-gibbon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snow Leopard

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia


We've learned about the different types of Leukemia, whether it is Acute or Chronic, and whether it is Lymphoblastic or Myelogenous.

If the Leukemia is Acute and Lymphoblastic, it is called Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia or ALL for short.

We know lymphocyte white blood cells are made in the bone marrow.

They start as stem cells, then turn into something called lymphoblasts, then later turn into lymphocytes, and then later turn into B-Cells, T-Cells or NK Cells.

The human body is only supposed to have so many B, T or NK cells, and only so many lymphoblasts.

With ALL, the body makes too many lymphoblasts over and over, they don't turn into B, T or NK cells, and the lymphoblasts cause problems in the human body like tiredness, pale skin, fever, bleeding, bruising, enlarged lymph nodes, or bone pain.

Chemotherapy is one of the ways to try and beat this cancer, which is a type of radiation that tries to kill the bad cells.


(from: wikipedia - acute lymphoblastic leukemia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rapid Eye Movement

Monday, February 22, 2021

Luxembourg


We just learned about the country of Lithuania

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

Luxembourg is a small country in Europe, bordering Belgium, Germany and France.
People in this country speak either French, German or Luxembourgish.
It is less than 1,000 square miles, and has less than 1 million people living there.


(from: wikipedia - luxembourg)

The flag of Luxembourg is sideways stripes of red, white, and blue.
It's colors come from the royal family of Grand Duke Henry IV who was a rule back in the 1300s.


(from: wikipedia - flag of luxembourg)

To eat in Luxembourg you might have bouneschlupp, which is a soup with potatoes, bacon and onions.


(from: wikipedia - bouneschlupp)

Visiting Luxembourg you might go see the castle called Bourscheid Castle, built around the year 1000 AD.


(from: wikipedia - bourscheid castle)

The Court of Justice for the European Union is in Luxembourg City.


(from: wikipedia - court of justice of the european union)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Adrien de Gerlache

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Thirty Years' War


We just learned about Puritanism.

Another part of early Christianity was the Thirty Years' War.

We've learned that some people started becoming Protestants and worshipping God in different churches like Lutheran or Anglican instead of Catholic churches.

Sometimes leaders of countries like kings or queens would disagree with this.
The Thirty Years War was from 1618 AD to 1648 AD, where some countries in Europe went to war over whether people should be Protestants or Catholics.
Even though they all believed in God, they fought for 30 years and over 8 million people died in this war.


(from: wikipedia - thirty years' war)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Christianity in Bulgaria