Rocket Propellant

Let's learn a little more about Rockets!

One thing that all rockets need is something called propellant.

This is the fuel used to push a rocket through the air.
Propellants can be solid like gunpowder, liquid like water, gasoline or liquid oxygen, or they can be a gas, like compressed nitrogen, or just pressurized air.

When the rocket is started, the propellant shoots out of the rocket at a super fast speed, pushing it along.
So this could be just a long skinny water balloon that shoots out it's water, or it could be a fireworks bottle rocket that burns up it's powder and shoots fire out the back.

The propellant is the stuff inside the rocket that makes the rocket go.


(from: wikipedia - ammonium perchlorate composite propellant)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hobbing

Firefly Squid

We just learned about the Cirroteuthis.

Another type of cephalopod is the Firefly Squid also known as watasenia scintillans.
They are usually about 3 inches long, and live in the Pacific Ocean.

This type of squid is bioluminescent.
That means parts of its body light up, kind of like a firefly.

There are tiny little dots all over the squid's body with organs called photophores.
The squid uses these photophores to light up, which makes small fish swim toward them, and they eat them up!

It also uses its body lights to make its top bright and bottom dark so it can hide from other predators.

When it is looking around for another firefly squid it will light up it's whole body as a signal.


(from: wikipedia - firefly squid)



Firefly squid / Shine blue beach in Toyama Bay - SuiTube5


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Goliath Frog

Talocrural and ankle ligaments

We just learned about the Inferior Tibiofibular Joint connecting the tibia to the fibula.

Another set of ligaments are the Talocrural and ankle ligaments.
These connect the tibia and fibula of the lower leg to the talus, navicular and calcaneus bones of the foot.

There are a bunch of ligaments in this area to make sure your ankle works right, and all the bones are tied together.

They all have big names, but they make sense based on the two bones they are connecting:

tibiotalar (anterior/posterior) - connects the tibia (shin bone) to the talus (middle foot bone)
tibiocalcaneal - connects the tibia to the calcaneus (heel bone)
tibionavicular - connects the tibia to the navicular (foot bone)
talofibular (anterior/posterior) - connects the fibula (inside lower leg bone) to the talus
calcaneofibular - connects the fibula to the calcaneus


(from: wikipedia - calcaneofibular ligament)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Skin

Campeche

We just learned about the Mexico state of Nayarit.

Another Mexico state is Campeche.
This state is on the southeast part of Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico.
It borders Belize and Guatemala to the south.


(from: wikipedia - campeche)

Campeche's coat of arms has pictures of castle towers for the strength of the Campecheans, and sailing ships for the people who were sailing on the ocean.


(from: wikipedia - campeche)

Just like many other states in Mexico, there are ancient pyramids in Campeche.


(from: wikipedia - calakmul)

There are many ancient places in this state where they have found sculptures from over a thousand years ago, like in a small island called Jaina Island.


(from: wikipedia - jaina island)

The Fort of San Miguel in San Francisco de Campeche was built hundreds of years ago to fight against pirates.


(from: wikipedia - campeche city)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Brooks Range

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