Saturday, May 31, 2014

Solar Core - Density


Let's keep learning about the sun's solar core. We've learned about it's size and heat.

Remember before we learned about mass and how a marble and marshmallow may be the same size but one of them is thicker and heavier? That is called density.

The density of the sun is 150 times thicker than water.

marbles
(from: wikipedia - water)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Constellations - Gemini

Friday, May 30, 2014

Spanish - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday


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

Monday - Lunes - sounds like loo-nay-ss /?/

Tuesday - Martes - sounds like mah-d-tay-ss /?/

Wednesday - Miercoles - sounds like me-ay-d-coh-lay-ss /?/


association of spanish language academies
(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Graphite


Graphite is a dark shiny black rock.
One interesting thing about graphite is that if you look at what it's made of, it's the exact same as a diamond.

Both are made from the chemical element called Carbon.

The difference is that the diamond was squished and heated up for a long long time.

graphite
(from: wikipedia - graphite)

Graphite also comes off if you rub the rock on something.
The dark part of the pencils that you write with is graphite.
graphite pencil
(from: wikipedia - graphite)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Molecules

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Wolf Spider


Wolf spiders are furry little spiders that live mostly on the ground by themselves in the woods.

They might look a little scary, but they are very helpful as they eat lots of bugs like flies and mosquitos.
They are very good at hiding, and they hunt at night because of their good eyesight, so you really almost never will see them.

They have two big eyes, right above four smaller eyes.
wolf spider eyes
(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)

When wolf spiders lay eggs, they are very small and fragile. The mother wolf spider will user her spider silk to wrap all the eggs up in a sac, and carry them around to keep them safe.
wolf spider egg sac
(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)

Once the spider eggs hatch, the spider babies are still very tiny and fragile, so they climb up onto their mother's back, and the mother keeps them safe there while they are growing.
wolf spider babies
(from: wikipedia - wolf spider)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vultures

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Stomach - Cardia


The esophagus opens into the stomach, and the first part of the stomach is the cardia.

At the top of the cardia is a place that opens and closes, that keeps the food and drink in the stomach from coming back up into the esophagus.

stomach cardia
(from: wikipedia - stomach)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palatine Bones

Monday, May 26, 2014

Morocco


We just learned about the country of Sudan.

Morocco is a country in Africa on the Northwest part of the continent, right on the Atlantic Ocean.
morocco
(from: wikipedia - morocco)

To eat in Morocco you might have couscous, which is a type of steamed wheat with meat and vegetables.
couscous
(from: wikipedia - moroccan cuisine)

A famous author named Leo Africanus was from Morocco. He wrote an important book about the geography of Northern Africa.
leo africanus
(from: wikipedia - leo africanus)

On the North part of Morocco, there is an area of land that comes very close to the South part of the country of Spain.
It is so close that on a clear day you can see across the water to the other country on the continent of Europe.
This water passage is called the Strait of Gibraltar, and it connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
strait of gibraltar
(from: wikipedia - strait of gibraltar)

The highest mountain peak in North Africa is Toubkal in the Atlas Mountains.

(from: wikipedia - toubkal)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spain

Sunday, May 25, 2014