The Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata - Donatello

We just learned about the famous artwork Whistler's Mother.

Another famous piece of art is a sculpture called The Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata made by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, also known as Donatello in Padua Italy in 1453.

The statue is made of bronze, which is copper mixed with some other metals.

To make a bronze statue back then, people had to do something called Lost Wax Casting.
First they had to carve a statue out of wax, then cover it with a lot of a type of sand.
Then they took the sand and heated it up until it was a hard ceramic shell, almost like a pottery vase.
When they did that, the wax melted and poured out.
After that they heated up the metal until it was liquid and poured it into the ceramic shell.
They let the metal cool down, and then broke off the pottery.
Underneath was a metal copy of the wax sculpture!
They polished it up and they were all done.

The statue that he made was of a man named Erasmo of Narni, but his nickname was Gattamelata, which means sweet cat.
He was a powerful warrior in Italy a long time ago.

The horse has his foot on a globe which is supposed to mean that Gattamelata could control the world, and he sat on his horse standing up holding a staff and wearing a sword showing that he was powerful.

The big box underneath the horse statue has sculptures on it of some angels, and gates for where he might go when he died.

(from: wikipedia - equestrian statue of gattamelata)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lunar Lava Tube

German - Green, Blue, Purple, Pink

We just learned that red, yellow, orange in German is rot, orange, gelb.

Let's learn some more colors!

green - grün - sounds like guh-oon /?/

blue - blau - sounds like blah-oh /?/

purple - lila - sounds like lee-lah /?/

pink - rosa - sounds like uh-oza /?/


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
verde, azul, morado, rosa

Do you remember how to say it in French?
vert, bleu, violet, rose

Cirrus Clouds

We know now that water vapor in the air that rises up to collect with more water vapor and cool down is what makes clouds.

There are many different types of clouds!
One type is called a cirrus cloud..

They look like thin wispy strands like white string or hair in the sky.
Cirrus clouds are higher up in the sky than most other cloud types.

When you see cirrus clouds, it usually means that a weather front is on it's way soon.
(from: wikipedia - cirrus cloud)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Volcanic Crater

Spider silk - cribellum

We just learned a little about the Spider Silk Webs.

Some spiders have something called a cribellum instead of just normal spinnerets.
When they make silk, it comes out as very tiny string which gets all wrapped around itself and looks almost like it is made of wool.

Because the silk is so tiny and all bunched up, insects get tangled up in it and the spiders can go capture them.


(from: wikipedia - cribellum)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blue Jay

Common Carotid Artery

We've learned how the oxygenated blood goes up the ascending aorta and then turns at the aortic arch.

Right at the arch there are two tubes that go up your neck, called common carotid arteries.
The one on the left is called the left common carotid artery and of course the one on the right is the right common carotid artery.
They go up the side of your neck to bring oxygenated blood to your brain and all the parts of your head like mouth, eyes and nose.


(from: wikipedia - common carotid artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Eyebrow Muscles

Illinois

We just learned about the US state of Idaho.

Illinois is a state in the midwest area in the US. It borders Lake Michigan on it's north east side, and the Mississippi river on the west side.
It's nicknames are Land of Lincoln because president Abraham Lincoln grew up there, and The "Prairie State" because it was a land covered in prairie grass.

The state motto is: State sovereignty, national union

(from: wikipedia - illinois)

The flag of Illinois has the state seal on it, which shows an eagle holding a shield with USA stars and stripes on it.
In it's beak the eagle is holding a banner that has the state motto in it, state sovereignty, national union.

When Illinois first made their motto they were trying to say that the states should have the rights to do whatever they wanted without the rest of the USA's permission.
So state sovereignty meant the state was the boss, and national union meant they still wanted the USA to be connected as a bunch of states.
That was one of the things that the civil war was fought over. The states on the north union side thought the USA should be the boss over the states, and the south confederates thought the states should be the boss over USA.

Illinois fought in the civil war on the north union side, so later when the flag was redesigned, one of the people who didn't think it was right to have state sovereignty like that had the flag redesigned to have the word sovereignty printed upside down because the south confederacy lost the war.


(from: wikipedia - flag and seal of illinois)

The west border of the state is the Mississippi river, one of the longest rivers in the whole world.


(from: wikipedia - quincy, illinois)

The city of Chicago which is the third biggest city in the US is right on Lake Michigan.

(from: wikipedia - chicago)

There is a large statue honoring the Black Hawk War of Native Americans in Illinois.

(from: wikipedia - black hawk statue)

One of the tallest buildings in the world is called the Willis or Sears Tower.

(from: wikipedia - willis tower)

The 40th president of the US Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois.

(from: wikipedia - ronald reagan)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Philippines

Arrest of Jesus - Jesus' Prayer

After Jesus had eaten the Last Supper with his disciples, they went out to a place called Gethsemene.

There Jesus went for a walk by himself to pray.
He prayed to God the Father and said "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

He wasn't talking about an actual cup, but the job that he had to do that was very difficult.
Jesus knew that very soon he was going to die on the cross for the sins of the whole world, and this was a very hard thing to do.
He asked God for help, and said that he would do whatever God commanded.
When he got done praying he want back to his disciples who had all fallen asleep!
He told them to wake up and pray so that they would be strong.


(from: wikipedia - arrest of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Apostles and Disciples