Abram and Sarai

We just learned about the Tower of Babel.

Let's learn about the story of Abram and Sarai.

We learned before about Noah, and one of the descendants of Noah was Abram.
In Genesis 12, Abram was told by God to go travel the world and he would take care of him.

Abram got married to a beautiful woman named Sarai.
When he was traveling he was going to Egypt, but was worried that people would see his wife Sarai, then attack him and steal her.
So he told everyone she was his sister.

The Pharaoh thought he was beautiful, and took Sarai for his wife, but then got sick because God wasn't happy about this.
Pharaoh let Sarai go and told everyone to leave Abram alone and then sent Abram on his way.


(from: wikipedia - sarah)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: O Come All Ye Faithful

Van Gogh - Portrait of Dr. Felix Rey

We just learned about Van Gogh's painting Garden of the Hospital in Arles.

Another one of Van Gogh's famous paintings is the Portrait of Dr. Felix Rey.

While he was in the hospital with his injured ear, there was a nice doctor who helped take care of Van Gogh.
He wrote about this doctor to his brother Theo and said he was "brave, hardworking, and always helping people".

So as a thank you to the doctor, Van Gogh made a portrait of Dr. Felix Rey and gave it to him.
The doctor's mother didn't like the portrait, and she used it to cover a hole in a chicken coop!

Later on the painting was sold to an art dealer, and today is worth over $50 million.


(from: wikipedia - hospital in arles)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Michelangelo - Bacchus

Arabic - Good Morning

We just learned a few ways to say hello and goodbye in Arabic, like مرحبًا (mrhaban) and مع السلامة! mae alsalamati.
Sometimes you might want to say good morning, good afternoon, or good night.

Good Morning - صباح الخير (sabah alkhayr) - sounds like sah-bah hoo-l-hay-ree 文A

Good Day - يوم جيد (yawm jahid) - sounds like yaw-m jay-ee-d 文A

Good Evening - مساء الخير (masa' alkhayr) - sounds like mah-sah al-hay-ree 文A

Good Night - طاب مساؤك (taba masawuk) - sounds like tah-bah mah-sah-oo-kah 文A


(from: wikipedia - lebanese academy of sciences)

Hindi: शुभ प्रभात (shubh prabhaat), नमस्कार (namaskaar), सुसंध्या (susandhya), शुभ रात्रि (shubh raatri)

Swahili: Habari za asubuhi, Habari za mchana, Habari za jioni, Habari za usiku

Russian: Доброе утро (Dobroye utro), Добрый день (Dobryy den), Добрый вечер (Dobryy vecher), Доброй ночи (Dobroy nochi)

Norwegian: God morgen, God dag, God ettermiddag, God kveld, God natt

Greek: Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), Καλησπέρα (Kalispéra), Καληνυχτα (Kalinychta)

ASL: Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Good Night

Italian: buongiorno, buon pomeriggio, buonasera, buona notte

German: Guten Morgen, Guten Tag, Guten Abend, Gute Nacht

Spanish: Buenos días, buenos tardes, buenas noches

French: bonjour, bonsoir, bonne nuit

Beta Flag

We just learned about the Alpha Flag.

Another of the maritime flags is the Beta Flag, used for the letter B.

This flag also means "I am taking in or discharging or carrying dangerous goods."

This flag is swallowtail shaped, and the red color is called gules.


(from: wikipedia - international maritime signal flags)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Display Resolution

Necklace Starfish

We just learned about the Antarctic Sun Starfish.

Another type of starfish is the Necklace Starfish, also called the Fromia Monilis or Tiled Starfish.

This starfish lives in the Indian or Pacific oceans, near Australia and Japan.
They can grow to be around 12 inches wide, they have a red circle in the middle, their arm tips are red, and the rest of their arms are white.

These starfish are sometimes used in aquariums, but they have to actually keep them dirty for the starfish to eat the algea or the starfish will starve to death.
In the wild they can eat on other things like sponges or very small sea creatures.


(from: wikipedia - fromia monilis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: White Faced Saki

Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

We just learned about the Circadian Clock.

Another part of sleep is Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep.

We learned before about Rapid Eye Movement Sleep that happens when you are in deep sleep.
Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep is also called NREM, or quiescent sleep, and this is the part where you are falling asleep but aren't in deep sleep yet.


(from: wikipedia - non-rapid eye movement sleep)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Organ of Corti

Shanghai, China

We just learned about the Chinese city of Chongqing.

Let's learn a little about the city of Shanghai!

This city is in China.
It is about 6,341 square kilometers, and about 24 million people live there.
The people in this city speak Shanghainese, or Mandarin.


(from: wikipedia - shanghai)

Shanghai has a lot of sports teams, like the soccer teams Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Port, basketball team Shanghai Sharks, and baseball team Shanghai Golden Eagles.

(from: wikipedia - shanghai sports)

To eat in this city you might have xiaolongbao which are steamed buns or dumplings.

(from: wikipedia - xialongbao)

Visiting this city you might go see the city of Lujiazui, which has a beautiful group of huge skyscrapers.

(from: wikipedia - Lujiazui)

Another interesting place is the Yu Garden, built first in 1559 AD.
This garden has six large areas with ponds, statues, bridges and plants, and each area is separated by a "dragon wall"


(from: wikipedia - yu garden)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Yemen