Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Gelada


We just learned about the Olive Baboon.

Another type of old world monkey is the Gelada, also sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey.

This type of monkey is lives only in the mountains in Ethiopia.
They grow to be about 40 pounds and a little over 2 feet tall.

These monkeys have mostly black or brown fur, but they have an hourglass shaped place on their chest with no hair where their skin is bright red.
They usually sleep on the cliffs in the mountains and then go to the grassland areas to eat.



(from: wikipedia - gelada)



These Ethiopian Geladas Produce a Very Human-like Sound (4K) - Smithsonian Channel


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Margay

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Avoiding Apoptosis


We just learned about the Anti-Growth Signals of cancer, where the cells won't listen to the body telling them to stop.

Another part of cancer is Avoiding Apoptosis.

All of the cells in our body are created, live for a while and then go away.
Apoptosis is the part at the end of a cell's life where it would die and go away.

In a cancer cell, it doesn't listen to the body telling it that it's time to go away, and so they avoid apoptosis.
These cells that are not working right do not go away, and then the body can be flooded with the wrong types of cells.


(from: wikipedia - apoptosis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Canthus

Monday, May 3, 2021

Slovenia


We just learned about the country of Slovakia

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

This is a small country in eastern Europe, bordering Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia.
It is about 8,000 square miles and about 2 million people live there.

People in Slovenia usually speak Slovene, Italian or Hungarian.


(from: wikipedia - slovenia)

The flag of Slovenia is stripes of white, blue and red with the coat of arms of Slovenia.
On the coat of arms is a white mountain for Mount Triglav, wavy lines for the sea, and three golden stars for the old rulers of the land.


(from: wikipedia - flag of slovenia)

To eat in Slovenia you might have Potica which is a type of rolled pastry with ground up walnuts.


(from: wikipedia - slovenian potica)

Visiting Slovenia you might go see the mountain Triglav, which is about 10,000 feet high.


(from: wikipedia - triglav)

In Slovenia there are famous old stories from 1858 of a fairy tale hero named Martin Krpan, who was so strong he would do things like carry around his own horse.

(from: wikipedia - martin krpan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palmer Research Base

Sunday, May 2, 2021

How Great Thou Art - Carl Boberg


We just learned about the hymn Amazing Grace by John Newton.

Another famous hymn is How Great Thou Art by Carl Boberg, written in Sweden in 1885.

One day when Boberg was walking outside, a huge storm came along with dark clouds, thunder, and lightning.
The storm got over pretty quickly, and then right after there was a rainbow, and birds singing happily.

When he saw the power of the storm and then the beauty of nature after, it gave him the idea for the song.


(from: wikipedia - how great thou art)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: The Prince's Crusade

Saturday, May 1, 2021

Two Running Violet V Forms - Robert Irwin


We just learned about the land art Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson.

Another famous land art is Two Running Violet V Forms made by artist Robert Irwin in 1983 in San Diego.

Irwin liked the forest with eucalyptus trees in this area, how there were so many of them and how the light throughout the day changed and made them look different.

He put violet colored fences up high that would help reflect the light as it was changing through the day and shining through the trees.

Irwin was born in 1928 in California, and went to art school in California.
He started off as a painter, but as he went on to do more abstract art he started making things like these fences that were part of landscapes.


(from: wikipedia - robert irwin (artist))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Meat for Wild Men - Charles Marion Russell

Friday, April 30, 2021

Swahili - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday


We just learned in Swahili that to say his face is rough is Uso wake ni mkali

Let's learn the days of the week in Swahili!

Monday - Jumatatu - Sounds like joo-mah-tah-too 文A


Tuesday - Jumanne - Sounds like joo-mah-n-nay 文A


Wednesday - Jumatano - Sounds like joo-mah-tah-noh 文A



swahili
(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Понедельник (Ponedel'nik), Вторник (Vtornik), Среда (Sreda)

Norwegian: Mandag, Tirsdag, Onsdag

Greek: Δευτέρα (Deftéra), Τρίτη (Tríti), Τετάρτη (Tetárti)

ASL: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

Italian: Lunedi, Martedì, Mercoledì

German: Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch

Spanish: Lunes, Martes, Miercoles

French: Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Oil Pump


We just learned about the Motor Oil.

Another part of a car is the Oil Pump.

The oil that helps keep everything in the engine moving fast and slippery gets pushed through the car using an oil pump.

There are a few different types of oil pumps, but one of the most common is the gear pump.
For this type of pump, the gears spin around and help push the oil through the engine.
The gears are spun around using the power of the spinning crankshaft as it goes around.


(from: wikipedia - gear pump)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Steam Cylinder