The Bahamas

We just learned about the country of El Salvador

Let's learn a little about the country of The Bahamas!

This country is in the Caribbean Sea, south east of the state of Florida.
It is made up of about 700 islands, and about 3,800 square miles of land.
About 385,000 people live there, and the people speak English.


(from: wikipedia - the bahamas)

The flag of The Bahamas has a black triangle on the left, and then three sideways stripes of blue, yellow and blue.
Blue is for the water around the country, yellow is for the sunshine, and black is for strength.


(from: wikipedia - flag of the bahamas)

To eat in this country you might have conch chowder which is soup made from the animal called a conch that lives in a shell.


(from: wikipedia - conch soup)

Visiting this country you might go see Blue Lagoon Island
This is a small island that was used for many different things through the years like a zoo, or a place for pirates to stop and rest, or a place for soldiers during world war 2 to practice swimming.

(from: wikipedia - blue lagoon island)

In the Bahamas there is a lighthouse called Great Isaac Lighthouse built in 1859, that is about 151 feet tall.
In 1969 the people who were supposed to be working at the lighthouse disappeared, and some people believe it was part of the Bermuda Triangle where people disappear for no reason.

(from: wikipedia - great isaac lighthouse)


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Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

We just learned about the Christmas song Carol of the Bells.

Another famous Christmas song is Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

In 1939 Robert May wrote a book about Rudolph for the Montgomery Ward shopping store.
The book was so popular that May's brother Johnny Marks wrote a song about it, and then famous singer Gen Autry sang it in 1949 and it became very popular.


(from: wikipedia - rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (song))



Gene Autry with The Pinafores - Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Christmas Songs - Yule Log) - Christmas Songs


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Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - The Great Flood

We just learned about Michelangelo's painting of the Sistine Chapel - The Sacrifice of Noah.

Another part of the Sistine chapel's ceiling is The Great Flood.

Right next to the painting of Noah's sacrifice is the painting of the ark, showing Noah and his family safe on the ark, while the rest of the world is flooded.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


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Hindi Alphabet

We just learned how to Count to ten in Hindi.

The Hindi alphabet looks very different from the English one, and it is called "Devanagari".
The vowels look like this: अ, अं1, ॲ / ऍ, इ, उ, ऋ, ऌ4, ए, ओ, प, पं, पि, पु, पृ, पॢ, पॅ, पे, पो
and the consonants look like this: क, ख, ग, घ, ङ, च, छ, ज, झ, ञ, ट, ठ, ड, ढ, ण, त, थ, द, ध, न, प, फ, ब, भ, म, य, र, ल, व, श, ष, स, ह
There are 33 consonants and 14 vowels.

All of the letters have a bar at the top of them, and when the letters make up a word the lines at the top connect for that word, like the word namaste: नमस्ते



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

The Swahili alphabet: a, b, ch, d, dh, e, f, g, gh, i, j, k, kh, l, m, n, ng', ny, o, p, r, s, sh, t, th, ts, u, v, w, y, z

The Russian alphabet: Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Фф, Хх, Цц, Чч, Шш, Щщ, Ыы, Ээ, Юю, Яя

The Norwegian alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Æ, Ø, Å The Greek alphabet: Α, Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, Κ, Λ, Μ, Ν, Ξ, Ο, Π, Ρ, Σ, Τ, Υ, Φ, Χ, Ψ, Ω

ASL alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

The Italian alphabet looks the same as the English alphabet.

The German alphabet has the letters ä, ö, ü, ß

The Spanish alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G H, I, J, K, L, LL, M, N, Ñ O, P, Q, R, RR, S, T, U V, W, X, Y, Z

The French alphabet:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G H, I, J, K, L, M, N O, P, Q, R, S, T, U V, W, X, Y, Z

Memory

We just learned about the Processor.

Another part of a computer is Memory.

When a processor is doing the work for a computer, sometimes it needs to a place to keep information while it is doing some work.
Kind of like if you are working on a big math problem, you might need to write down some of the parts of the problem before you are finished with the whole problem.

If you had the problem 10 + 20 + 30 + 40, you might right down the answer for 10 + 20 = 30, and then the answer for 30 + 40 = 60, and then 30 + 60 = 90.
Those middle steps where you have to write down the 30 and the 60 are not part of the math problem and not part of the answer, so they are sort of like middle steps where you need to write down or remember something.

Computer memory kind of works like that, where the processor will have the memory remember some things while it is working on doing something for you.
Memory is sometimes called RAM, and usually looks like rectangular shaped boards with black things stuck on them, that are then plugged into the motherboard.
The computer talks to the memory through the motherboard and gives it the information to save.


(from: wikipedia - computer memory)


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Aye-aye

We just learned about the Gerp's Mouse Lemur.

Another type of primate is the Aye-aye, also called the long fingered lemur or daubentonia madagascariensis.

This kind of lemur lives at night, grows to about 3 feet long and weighs about 4 pounds.
They have silver colored fur a stripe down their back, and big eyes so it can see at night.

Aye-ayes also have very different fingers that they use to get their food.
When they are hunting for grubs to eat, they will tap one of their fingers on a tree to feel where a grub might be living.
If they hear or feel one, then they chew into the tree bark, then use one of their long fingers to pull out the grub and eat it!

No one is really sure where they got their name. Some people think it might have come from the Malagasy word for "I don't know" and other people think maybe it was someone yelling aye aye because they were scared of it.


(from: wikipedia - aye-aye)


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Eustachian Tube

We just learned about the Tensor Tympani.

Another part of the ears is the Eustachian Tube.

This is a part of the ear that goes toward the nose.
The middle ear is kind of like a balloon that is filled with air.
When you go on an airplane, the air pressure makes the balloon swell up bigger, and makes it hard to hear.
The eustachian tube is a way for your body to let out a little bit of air so the balloon of your middle ear goes back to normal.
Usually chewing gum or swallowing helps your ears open the eustachain tube, and because it sometimes makes a popping sound, some people call it making your ears pop.

The middle ear can also get some bad liquids in it that need to be drained out, so the eustachian tube helps drain those, and they would come out the nose.


(from: wikipedia - eustachian tube)


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