Appendix

We've now learned about the cecum, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon and sigmoid colon.

One interesting part of the large intestine is called the vermiform appendix, or sometimes just the appendix.

It's a small tube connected right below the cecum.
The used up food goes to your ascending colon, and your appendix is hanging below that.

Scientists aren't really sure what the appendix is for. Some think it is part of our body that we used to need long ago when we mostly just ate plants and not meat.
Others think it has to do with helping some of the things called bacteria that live in our colons and help us digest food.

Sometimes the appendix can get sick and cause problems in our bodies.
Since we don't really need the appendix, doctors can do a surgery called an appendectomy to cut it off.


(from: wikipedia - vermiform appendix)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hypothenar

Alaska

We just learned about the US state of Alabama.

Alaska is the biggest state in the whole US.
It is way up North, you have to drive up through Canada to get to it.
It's nicknames are: The Last Frontier and the Land of the Midnight Sun.
The name land of the midnight sun comes from the summer nights in Alaska. During the summer solstice the sun is out for a whole day and night!
Alaska is so far North that in the middle of the summer the days are very very long, and in the middle of the winter the nights are very very long.

It's state motto is North to the Future.

Since Canada is between Alaska and the rest of the US, it is not part of what we call the contiguous 48 states or sometimes the lower 48 states.
Contiguous means next to each other or touching.


(from: wikipedia - alaska)

The flag of Alaska is a blue background with the Big Dipper star constellation, and the North Star.
The blue is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower.
The North Star is because Alaska is the state furthest in the North.
The Big Dipper is for the Great Bear which stands for strength.

(from: wikipedia - flag of alaska)

The state seal of Alaska shows mountains and the northern lights. There is a building that stands for mining, a train for the railroads, and ships for all of the traffic in the sea. The trees are for the many forests in Alaska, and the farmer with his horse are all for the farming in the state. A fish and a seal on are for the fishing and seal hunting.
Alaska is the only state that has a seal on its seal.

(from: wikipedia - seal of alaska)

Sometimes when people think of Alaska they think of the Inuit or Native people (sometimes called Eskimos) igloos and polar bears.
The Alaska Natives are the people who were living in Alaska for a very long time in the snow and ice.

(from: wikipedia - alaska natives)

Mount McKinley in Alaska is the highest peak in all of North America at over 20,000 feet.

(from: wikipedia - mount mckinley)

For many years Alaska was a part of the country of Russia.
In 1867 the US bought Alaska from Russia, which many people thought was a silly move.
They even called it "Seward's Folly" named after the person who bought it.
Then one day they found a lot of oil under the ground in Alaska, which was worth a lot of money!
They built an 800 mile long giant metal pipe to carry all the oil to the rest of the country, and it is called the Alaskan Pipeline.

(from: wikipedia - trans-alaska pipeline system)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vatican City

Parable of the Good Samaritan

We've learned about Jesus' teaching stories called the Parable of the Sower,
the Parable of the Weeds
the Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl,
the Parable of the Wandering Sheep,
the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant,
the Parable of the Wedding Banquet,
the Parable of the Bags of Gold,
and the Parable of the Two Sons.

Another Parable Jesus told is called the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jesus' told his followers that it is very important to love your neighbor.
Some of his followers asked what he meant by neighbor, so Jesus told a story about a man going on a trip.

In the story he told them that a man was traveling along a dangerous road, and robbers came and attacked him and beat him up.
He was laying in the road hurt very badly.

As he was laying there, a priest of the church came by and saw the Samaritan hurt in the road.
He did not help the hurt man, he kept walking.

Next came another person from the church, called a Levite.
He saw the hurt man and walked by too without helping.

Next came a man who was from the town of Samaria, called a Samaritan.
In Jesus' time his followers did not like the Samaritans, and the Samaritans did not like the people that were Jesus' followers.
They fought, argued and did everything they could to stay away from each other.

The Samaritan saw the man lying hurt in the road, a man that he normally would not like and may even have a fight with.
He went over to the hurt man and put bandages and medicine on him to help him heal.
Then he put the man on his donkey for the long journey to the next town and brought him to an inn.
At the inn he gave some of his own money to the person who owned the inn and asked him to please watch over the hurt man until he got better.
He even said that if the innkeeper had to spend money to help the hurt man, he would pay the innkeeper back.

Jesus said that even though the Samaritan was normally an enemy to the hurt man, he was his neighbor.

His people were very surprised that Jesus was telling them they had to be nice to people they didn't like!

His message for people was that we have to treat everyone in the world like our neighbor and love them and take care of them, even if we don't like the person or if they are our enemies.


(from: wikipedia - parable of the good samaritan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: After Jesus' Birth

Neptune - Voyager 2

We've learned about space exploration of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus.

Next up is Neptune.

Neptune is the last planet in our Solar System.
We used to consider Pluto a planet, but it is so far away we've never reached it with a spacecraft.

Voyager 2 is the only space craft to visit Neptune.
It took 9 years to get to Uranus, and 12 years to get to Neptune in 1989!

When Voyager 2 made it to Neptune, it studied the atmosphere, rings and moons.
It discovered something called the Great Dark Spot, and many geysers on one of the moons called Triton.

It found four rings and six moons.


(from: wikipedia - neptune)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Black Hole

Spanish - Counting to 900

We just learned how to count to 100 in Spanish! Wow!

What about 200 to 900?

In Spanish for the hundreds, they mostly use the first number and then cientos for hundred.
So 200 in Spanish is doscientos.

200 doscientos - sounds like dose-see-en-tohs /?/
300 trescientos - sounds like t-dayse-see-en-tohs /?/
400 cuatrocientos - sounds like koo-ah-t-doh-see-en-tohs /?/
500 quinientos - sounds like keen-ee-en-tohs /?/
600 seiscientos - sounds like say-see-en-tohs /?/
700 sietecientos - sounds like see-et-ay-see-en-tohs /?/
800 ochocientos - sounds like oh-cho-see-en-tohs /?/
900 novecientos - sounds like no-vay-see-en-tohs /?/


(from: wikipedia - Association of Spanish Language Academies)

Do you remember how to say it in French?
French - deux cent, trois cent, quatre cent, cinq cent, six cent, sept cent, huit cent, neuf cent

Troposphere

The clouds in the sky are floating around in what is called Earth's troposphere.

All of the sky around the earth until you get to outer space is called the atmosphere, but the troposphere is the part closest to earth where all the clouds and air we breathe are.

(from: wikipedia - troposphere)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: ʻAʻā Lava

Spider Legs

Let's keep learning about spider bodies.

Spider legs can be long and fuzzy or short and shiny, but they have leg bones just like we do.

Our human legs mostly consist of 6 parts:
The femur or thigh bone, the patella or knee cap, the tibia and fibula for our lower leg bones, and the foot bones tarsus and metatarsus.

Just like us spiders have a femur, patella, tibia, metatarsus and tarsus.
They don't have a tibula, but they do have two other bones.
The coxa and trochanter are right before the femur, and the coxa is attached to the spider's body.

Spiders don't have any muscles in their legs, the muscles are all in their body.
So if a spider dies, the legs will curl up because the muscles aren't holding the legs out anymore.

When spiders are walking or running, they keep at least four of their eight legs on the ground.


(from: wikipedia - spider)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Echidna