Nose

We just learned about the Eustachain Tube,
and we've learned a lot about the Human Ear!.

Let's learn about how the Nose works!

Our nose sticks out from our face to help us smell, one of the five important senses.
People and animals use the sense of smell to tell when there is danger like fire, or if a food smells good or has gone rotten and shouldn't be eaten.
Animals use their nose to help them find food to eat.

Noses are used to breath, to smell, and even to help get rid of some waste like when you blow your nose.

Only humans and most mammals have noses that stick out from their face in a different spot than their mouth.
For animals like birds, snakes or fish their nose doesn't stick out.
Some animals like fish don't breath through their noses, and snake noses are actually inside their mouth.


(from: wikipedia - nose)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pathogen

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)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cyprus

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


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Ninety Five Theses

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)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Winged Man - Richard Hunt

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)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Leaf Spring

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)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aisan Semi-longhair