Hail

We just learned that rain happens when enough water vapor collects in a cloud and it falls to the ground as water.

If there is a thunderstorm cloud and the air in the sky is cold enough, this can cause hail.

The water in the clouds freezes and turns to very small bits of ice.
In a cumulonimbus cloud with a lot of strong wind blowing up, the small bits of ice will keep getting blown back up into the sky and then falling down, getting more and more ice on them until they are too big and heavy to get blown back up and they fall down to the ground.

Hail can be as small as tiny pebble or larger than a golf ball!


(from: wikipedia - hail)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Minerals

Basenji

We just learned about the type of dog called Chow Chow.

Another type of dog is called the Basenji.
Basenji's are from Africa, and they are a very old type of dog going all the way back to the ancient pharoahs. There are paintings of these dogs sitting at the feet of pharoahs from over a thousand years ago.

The basenji's bark is different, and sounds more like a yodel or is sometimes called a barroo.

(from: wikipedia - basenji)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dolphin

Femoral Artery

After the oxygenated blood comes through the abdominal aorta it splits into 10 smaller arteries.

One of those is called the iliac artery which then continues to the femoral artery.
This is a big artery that runs right down the inside of your thigh.


(from: wikipedia - femoral artery)

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Pharynx

Nevada

We just learned about the US state of Nebraska.

Nevada is a state on the west side of the US, right next to California.
It's state nicknames are Silver State because of the silver discovered there, Sagebrush State because of the sage brush that grows there, and the Battle Born State because it became a state during the civil war.
It's state motto is All for Our Country
The state name comes from the Spanish word for snow covered, because of the snow on the mountains in the winter.

(from: wikipedia - nevada)

The Nevada flag has a blue background with a silver star, a yellow scroll with the words Battle Born, and some green sage brush plants. These are for the three state nicknames.

(from: wikipedia - flag of nevada)

The seal of Nevada has a silver miner, a quartz mill, a train, telegraph poles, a sheaf of wheat, a sickle, a plow, the sin rising over snowy mountains, the state motto "All for Our Country" and 36 stars because it was the 36th state added to the US.

(from: wikipedia - seal of nevada)

In the 1950s there was a place in Nevada called the Nevada Test Site where people would test nuclear bombs out in the desert.

(from: wikipedia - nevada test site)

In the 1920s there was a large dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona called the Hoover Dam.
It gets power from the water called hydroelectric power and gives the electricity to the cities.

(from: wikipedia - hoover dam)

In the city of Las Vegas, there are many casinos where people can go gambling. Many of the casinos are very fancy like pirate ships, huge fountains, pyramids or even made to look like the cities of New York, Paris or Venice.

One of the streets called Fremont Street has a giant TV screen above it for four city blocks.

(from: wikipedia - fremont street)

There is a colorful water spouting geyser in Nevada called the Fly Geyser

(from: wikipedia - fly geyser)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Egypt

Jesus Empty Tomb

After Jesus was buried, the two women named Mary went to Jesus' tomb to put some nice smelling spices on his body in the tomb.

When they got to where his tomb was, the guards that were supposed to be keeping people away from the tomb were gone, and so was the stone blocking the tomb!

The women ran off to tell the disciples what they saw, but the disciples did not believe them.


(from: wikipedia - Empty Tomb)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jesus' Miracles - Calming the storm

A Bar at the Folies-Bergère - Manet

We just learned about The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio.

Another famous work of art is a painting called A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by French painter Édouard Manet in 1882.

The painting is of a woman who is serving people at a bar, and she is standing in front of a mirror.
Many people talked about the reflection of people in the mirror, and that the reflection of the serving barmaid is off to the right instead of right behind her where it should be if the person is standing right in front of her.

There are green feet hanging down from the top left part of the painting, because in the restaurant there was someone on a trapeze above the restaurant as a performer.

Manet was a part of what was called the Realism movement, which meant his paintings looked like normal real people in real situations, and nothing was made up.


(from: wikipedia - a bar at the folies-bergère)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Last Quarter Moon

German - Our table is short

We just learned in German their car is tall is Ihr Auto ist groß.

To say our table is short you would say Unser Tisch ist kurz.
We can break it up into four words:
Our - Unser - sounds like oo-n-zah /?/
table - Tisch - sounds like tish /?/
is - ist - Sounds like isst /?/
short - kurz - Sounds like koo-ats /?/


So all together Unser Tisch ist kurz sounds like mine oo-n-zah tish isst koo-ats.


(from: wikipedia - Goethe Institute)

Do you remember how to say it in Spanish?
Nuestra mesa es bajo

Do you remember how to say it in French?
Notre table est courte