Ephraim

We've now learned about Reuben and Simeon from the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Another of the twelve was Ephraim.

Most of the other twelve were sons of Jacob, but Ephraim was actually the grandson of Jacob.
Because Jacob got mad at one of his other sons Reuben, he said that Ephraim would be brought up to be an equal to the other sons.


(from: wikipedia - ephraim)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: All Creatures of Our God and King

Risen Christ - Michelangelo

We just learned about Michael's artwork at St. Peter's Basilica.

Another famous sculpture by Michelangelo is called Risen Christ and was made in 1521 in Florence.

This sculpture is of Jesus after he rose from the dead standing and holding a cross.

When he was working on this sculpture, after Michelangelo started carving it he found a black mark inside the white marble block, so he put that one away and started over with a whole new block of white marble.
Even though the first sculpture was not finished, someone still wanted to have it because Michelangelo was so famous, and later on someone even finished up the sculpture.
So there are now two of the same sculpture, but one of them has a black mark on the back side.

A lot of sculptures at the time were just of people standing straight up, but Michelangelo made this one of Jesus with his leg bent and his head turned, and people really liked that it then looked different depending on where you were standing and looking at the statue.


(from: wikipedia - risen christ (michelangelo, santa maria sopra minerva))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Repetition Ninetee - Eva Hesse

Hindi - July, August

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Hindi!

We already learned that January, February is जनवरी (janavaree), फरवरी (pharavaree)
March, April is मार्च (maarch), अप्रैल (aprail), and May, June is मई (maee), जून (joon).

Let's keep going!

July - जुलाई (julaee) - sounds like joo-lah-ee - 文A

August - अगस्त (agast) - sounds like ah-gah-st - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Julai, Agosti

Russian: Июль (Iyul'), Август (Avgust)

Norwegian: Juli, August

Greek: Ιούλιος (Ioúlios), Αύγουστος (Ávgoustos)

ASL: July, August

Italian: Luglio, Agosto

German: Juli, August

Spanish: Julio, Agosto

French: Julliet, Août

Oil Derrick

We just learned about the Pumpjack.

Another part of how we get oil is the Oil Derrick.

A derrick is a really tall tower that helps out with all of the drilling.
It can be used to hold the pulleys, levers, drills or any other things that are used to drill into the ground and get the oil out.


(from: wikipedia - derrick)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Automatic Transmission

Smooth-Coated Otter

We just learned about the Spotted Necked Otter.

Another type of animal in the same family is the Smooth-Coated Otter, or lutrogale perspicillata.

These otters live in Asia, in countries like India.
They grow to be about 60 centimeters long and weigh about 10 kilograms.
Their fur is brown or grey, and it is short and smooth.

Just like other otters these animals love the water, but they can live anywhere from a river to a lake or a swamp.
They make their houses under tree roots or big rocks, and they sometimes will rest on the beach by the river to take a nap.

Smooth-Coated Otters are very good hunters, and they know how to chase and catch fish.
Some people have now trained otters to help them catch fish, by sending the otters in the water to chase fish right into a net to be caught.



(from: wikipedia - smooth-coated otter)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Northern Plains Gray Langur

Renal Cortex

We just learned about the Renal Capsule.

Another part of the kidneys is the Renal Cortex.

This is just inside of the renal capsule, and is where the kidneys start working on filtering out bad things from the blood.


(from: wikipedia - renal cortex)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Outer Ear

Sint Eustatius

We just learned about the country of Bermuda

Let's learn a little about the country of Sint Eustatius!

This country is in the Caribbean, north of South America, next to other Caribbean islands.
It is about 21 square kilometers, and about 3,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak either English or Dutch.


(from: wikipedia - sint eustatius)

The flag of Sint Eustatius is blue, with red lines and a white diamond in the middle, and on the white diamond is a yellow star and a green picture of the island.
Blue is for the ocean, red is for the delonix regia tree, the diamond is for a diamond waterfall on the island, and the yellow star is for unity.


(from: wikipedia - flag of sint eustatius)

Visiting this country you might go see the big volcano called The Quill.
It is 601 meters high, and the name comes from the Dutch word kuil which means hole, because it has a volcanic crater in the middle, with a rainforest full of tropical trees and plants.


(from: wikipedia - the quill (volcano))

There is a type of tree that grows in the area called the Delonix Regia that blooms in bright red colors.
When the slaves were freed on the island, they used this tree as a symbol of freedom.

(from: wikipedia - delonix regia)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cambodia