Saint Stephen

We just learned about Ananias of Damascus, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy is Saint Stephen.

After Jesus died on the cross, Stephen was telling people about him and some of the leaders who did not like Jesus were getting angry.
They told some people to tell lies about Stephen, which made other people very angry.
Stephen was put on trial in front of everyone where he told the truth and talked about Jesus.
This made the leaders who did not like Jesus even more angry, and they threw stones at him and killed him.

Because he was killed for believing in Jesus, he is called the first martyr.
A martyr is someone who is killed because of something they believe in.


(from: wikipedia - saint stephen)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Elijah

Terracotta Army

We just learned about the sculpture of The Buddha, flanked by Herakles and Tychee.

Another famous set of sculptures is the Terracotta Army made in China around 200 BC.

When the Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang died, he was put into a tomb with over 8,000 sculptures in it.
These were small sculptures of soldiers, chariots, horses, acrobats and musicians that were buried with him as they believed these soldiers would protect the Emperor in the afterlife.

These thousands of soldiers all had real weapons like spears, swords or arrows.
Many of these weapons have been stolen, but people believe there were over 40,000 weapons in the original sculpture.
The statues were all painted at first, but the paint has all worn off.

The place where these sculptures were buried with the emperor was part of a very large cemetery area that was about 38 square miles.
There were people that visited it long ago and wrote about it saying that there were miniature palaces, towers, 100 rivers of flowing mercury, and paintings on the ceiling of heaven.

Over the thousands of years, many things have been stolen or broken, but there are still thousands of sculptures there to see.


(from: wikipedia - terracotta army)



(from: wikipedia - terracotta army)



(from: wikipedia - terracotta army)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fontana Maggiore

Greek - My drink is cold

We just learned that in Greek to say this chair is small you say Η καρέκλα είναι μικρή (I karékla eínai mikrí).

Let's learn about more things we see every day.

To say My drink is cold, we say Το ποτό μου είναι κρύο (To potó mou eínai krýo).

Some languages say words in a different order, so in Greek you're really saying "The drink mine is cold".

Here's how to say it:

The - To (Το) - sounds like TOH

drink - ποτό (potó) - sounds like poh-TOH

mine - μου (mou) - sounds like MOO

is - είναι (eínai) - sounds like EE-nay

cold - κρύο (krýo) - sounds like KREE-oh


So all together Το ποτό μου είναι κρύο (To potó mou eínai krýo) sounds like TOH poh-TOH MOO EE-nay KREE-oh.


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: My drink is cold

Italian: La mia bevanda è freddo

German: Mein Getränk ist kalt

Spanish: Mi bebida es fría

French: Ma boisson est froid

Rockets

We've learned a whole lot about earthquakes.
Everything from tectonic plates, to faults, to aftershocks and the Richter scale!

Let's learn a little about rockets!

Usually when people are talking about rockets, they mean the ones that fly up into the air and go into outer space.
A rocket really just means something that uses fuel in an engine to push itself forward.
So this could be a rocket on the back of a car, a rocket pushing a train, or even a rocket jet backpack!
Even a water balloon filled with air or water that flies around when it is let go is a type of rocket.

Some people think the science of learning about rockets is so hard,
that there is a saying when you want to say something is easy:
"it's not rocket science!"


(from: wikipedia - rocket)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Milling Cutter

Cirroteuthis Octopus

We just learned about the Grimpoteuthis - Dumbo Octopus.

Another type of cephalopod is Cirroteuthis.

This is an octopus that has webbing in between its arms holding them together.
It almost looks like an octopus wearing a dress!

It can grow to be almost five feet long, and is usually white or purple.
Just like the dumbo octopus, this octopus has fins on its head that it can flap.

They live in the deep sea in cold water, like the Arctic ocean or the south pacific near Antarctica.
Scientists have not been able to find a lot of these, because they live over 6,000 feet deep in the ocean, where there is almost no light.


(from: wikipedia - cirroteuthis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Paedophryne Amauensis

Inferior Tibiofibular Joint

We just learned about the Superior Tibiofibular Ligaments.

Another piece of connective tissue is the Inferior Tibiofibular Joint.

This is down by the ankle, connecting the tibia and fibula together at the bottom.
There are 3 ligaments in total. Anterior for the front side, posterior for the back side, and an interosseous membrane in the middle.

(from: wikipedia - inferior tibiofibular joint)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Integumentary System

Nayarit

We just learned about the Mexico state of Tlaxcala.

Another Mexico state is Nayarit.
It is a smaller state on the west coast of Mexico on the Pacific ocean, and includes the islands of Marías and Marietas.


(from: wikipedia - nayarit)

The coat of arms of Nayarit has a corn plant on the top left. This is for the capital city of Tepic, which comes from the Aztec word for corn, "tepictu".
The top right has a picture of a bow and arrow. The Cora people in this state believed in a mythical being called Nayarit, who their legends say invented the bow and arrow.
The bottom has white mountains, for the Sierra Madre Occidental montains.
The middle has the symbol of Mexico, an eagle eating a snake on a cactus.


(from: wikipedia - nayarit)

One of the islands named Marías has a prison on it, built in 1905 that is supposed to be "escape proof".


(from: wikipedia - islas marías)

On the island of Marietas, there is a hidden beach called "love beach" that is a place people go to visit.


(from: wikipedia - islas marietas national park)

There is a place named Ahuacatlan, that means "place where there is a lot of avocado".
In the Nahuatl language, the word ahua means avocado, and the word tlan means place.


(from: wikipedia - ahuacatlán)

Like many other states in Mexico, in Ixtlán del Río there are ancient ruins from people who used to live there thousands of years ago.

(from: wikipedia - ixtlán del rio (archaeological site))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Laramide Belt