Minnesota

We just learned about the state of Michigan.

Minnesota is a state in the midwest part of the US, that borders Canada to the north and Lake Superior on the northeast.
It's name comes from Native American words meaning blue water.

It's nicknames are the Land of 10,000 Lakes, North Star State and The Gopher State.
It's motto is L'Étoile du Nord, which is French for The Star of the North.

(from: wikipedia - minnesota)

The state flag of Minnesota has the state seal on it, which shows a Native American riding a horse and a pioneer using a plow on his field.
The Mississippi river and a waterfall called St. Anthony falls are shown, and three pine trees.

(from: wikipedia - flag of minnesota)

The shopping mall with the most stores in the US is in Minnesota, called the mall of America.
It has over 500 stores inside, and even an amusement park in the middle!

(from: wikipedia - mall of america)

There are two cities right next to each other in Minnesota, divided by the Mississippi river and people call them the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

(from: wikipedia - minneapolis-saint paul)

The Mississippi river starts in Minnesota, coming from Lake Itasca, and then turning into a river at Saint Anthony Falls, where the twin cities use the waterfall to make power for the city.

(from: wikipedia - lake itasca)


(from: wikipedia - saint anthony falls)

Every year in Saint Paul they have a big winter carnival, and sometimes they even build a giant ice palace.

(from: wikipedia - saint paul winter carnival)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lebanon

Jesus Crucifixion - Father forgive them

We just learned about Jesus being crucified next to criminals.

When Jesus was being put up on the cross, he said Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

God sent Jesus into the world to die on the cross for everyone's sins.
It was all part of God's plan, and the people who were crucifying Jesus were just soldiers and workers and didn't know he was the son of God.

With all of the power that Jesus had he could have walked down off the cross but didn't, instead he asked God the Father to not destroy the world for what they were doing because it was all part of his plan.

In that way it showed us how much he loved the world because he went through the suffering to save us.

(from: wikipedia - crucifixion of jesus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus Miracles - Raising the dead

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years - Edgar Degas

We just learned about the work of art The Snail - By Henri Matisse.

Another famous work of art is a sculpture called Little Dancer of Fourteen Years made by French Edgar Degas in 1881 in Paris.

Degas was famous for making paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings.
Many of his paintings were about ballet dancers, and this statue is of a young girl who was a ballet student in Paris.

The statue is made of wax, and has a real shirt, tutu and slippers, and even has a wig made of real hair.
When he made the statue, he started off with some lead pipes all connected together to act like a skeleton so he could make the wax body and it wouldn't fall apart.
A metal skeleton like the one he made is called an armature.

Some people looked at the little girl and thought she was uncomfortable trying to put her body in the right ballet pose, and others thought she looked beautiful because she was a young girl trying to be the best dancer she could.


(from: wikipedia - Little Dancer of Fourteen Years)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: New Moon

German - This house is big

Let's learn about some of the things we see every day.

To say this house is big in German you say Das Haus ist groß.


We can break it up into four words:
This - Das - sounds like dah-ss /?/
house - Haus - sounds like house /?/
is - ist - Sounds like isst /?/
big - groß - Sounds like gross /?/


So all together Das Haus ist groß sounds like Zee zint ow-f-guh-raykt.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Esta casa es grande

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Cette maison est grande

Stratocumulus Clouds

We've learned about many types of clouds already, like the Altocumulus Clouds!

Another type of cloud is called the stratocumulus cloud.

Stratocumulus clouds are large dark and round, usually in groups or waves, and they are lower in the sky.

In the cold polar oceans there are many very large stratocumulus clouds.
They look very similar to altocumulus, but much larger sized groups.

(from: wikipedia - stratocumulus cloud)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Basalt

Siberian Husky

We just learned about the Basset Hound.

Another type of dog is the Siberian Husky.
The husky was a dog used by the Inuit people who live in Alaska and Siberia, who were once called Eskimos.
Some people think the name husky came from esky which was a nickname for eskimos.

Huskies were used as sled dogs in Alaska when people were looking there for gold.
The dogs have lots of energy and can survive temperatures colder than -70 degrees!
Unlike most dogs, some huskies have blue eyes!

Huskies have two types of fur, they have a short coat of fur that stays close to their body, and a longer coat of fur that goes on top of the first one. This is like wearing two fur coats so it keeps them nice and warm.

(from: wikipedia - siberian husky)


Huskies have a curved tail, and when they lay down they can curl their nose right into their tail to keep warm. Some people call this the "Siberian Swirl".

(from: wikipedia - siberian husky)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Suni

Radial & Ulnar arteries

We know that the subclavian artery in the chest goes to the axillary artery in the armpit and then the brachial artery in the upper arm.

After that it goes further down the arm, and splits into two arteries: the ulnar and radial arteries.

These arteries go right along the radius and ulna bones in the forearm.

The radial artery is the one that ends up at your wrist right by your thumb, where you can feel your pulse.

(from: wikipedia - radial artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Bronchioles