Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)

We just learned about the Airspeed Indicator.

Some of the tools we've talked about are things called Inertial Measurement Units or just IMU for short.

Inertia is the change in the rockets speed or direction, so the tools that we talked about like the gyroscope, magnetometer and accelerometer are all used to tell how the rocket is moving, so they are all IMUs.

IMUs all help measure things called Roll, Pitch and Yaw.

Roll is like when an airplane is still going forward in the air, but does a spin so it is flipped upside down, but still going forward.
Pitch is like when the airplane moves its nose to go down toward the ground or up toward the sky.
Yaw is like when the airplane isn't flying along and then turns left or right.

Different types of rockets use different IMUs depending on what kind of sensors they need, but they all are used to measure roll, pitch and yaw.



(from: wikipedia - inertial measurement unit)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tectonic plates.

Southern Sand Octopus

We just learned about the Joubin's Squid.

Another cephalopod is the Southern Sand Octopus, also called octopus kaurna.

This octopus lives around Australia, and grows up to about 20 inches long, with very thin arms.

This octopus can not change colors like a lot of others can, so it stays hidden by burying itself in the sand.
It goes down by the bottom of the sea, and spits out a big jet of water down into the sand, then use its arms to quickly dive down into the hole it made.


(from: wikipedia - octopus kaurna)


Octopus makes its own quicksand then vanishes inside - New Scientist

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Coqui

Dental Notation - ISO

We just learned about Dental Notation - Universal Numbering.

Another way of numbering teeth is the ISO System or the International Standards Organization System, also called the FDI system.

This way of numbering teeth puts teeth in four different sections by number:
1 - top right
2 - top left
3 - bottom left
4 - bottom right

The teeth in those areas are numbered starting from the front with 1, and the numbers go up as you get toward the back.
So the top right front tooth is 1-1, and the top left front tooth is 2-1.
The top right back tooth is 1-7, and the top left back tooth is 2-7.
The bottom teeth go from 3-1 to 3-7, and 4-1 to 4-7.

Some dentists like this way of numbering tooth because they can easily split the mouth up into 4 parts.




(from: wikipedia - dental notation)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Collagen

Citadel of Aleppo

We just learned about the Prague Castle.

Another ancient castle is the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria.

It is one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, built over 2000 years ago, around 300 AD.
The hill where this castle was is so old that people say Abraham from the Bible had his sheep up on this hill.
The conqueror Alexander the Great took over this castle, as did the Roman Empire, the Mongols from China, the Ottoman Empire and the French and Syrian people.

The Citadel is about 1,500 feet long and 1,000 feet wide, and over 150 feet tall.
It used to be covered with shiny blocks of limestone, and some of those blocks are still there.
There is a moat around it that is 72 feet deep and 98 feet wide, made over 800 years ago.

This castle was very hard to take over, because people coming in would have to take over six turns on a ramp that had machicolations above them where people could drop rocks or hot oil on them from above.
There are also secret passageways all over the citadel, and even underground passages going over 400 feet below the building.



(from: wikipedia - citadel of aleppo)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nunavut

Rufus - bishop of Thebes

We just learned about Agabus the prophet, one of the seventy disciples

Another of the seventy was Rufus - bishop of Thebes.

Rufus was one of the people that Paul talked about when he wrote a letter to the people of Rome.
After Paul and Luke went to the city of Thebes in Greece, Rufus stayed there as a bishop to help lead the church.


(from: wikipedia - rufus of thebes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Monks

Shi Qiang Pan

We just learned about the Qin Bronze Chariot.

Another ancient Chinese sculpture is the Shi Qiang Pan.

This is an ancient bronze bowl made around 900 BC.
There is writing inside the bowl, and some people believe this is the first time anyone tried to write about history in China.

The writing tells about all of the wonderful things the old and new rulers of China, did.
It also tells about the person named Qiang who made the bronze bowl.



(from: wikipedia - shi qiang pan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fontana Della Barcaccia - Pietro Bernini

Greek - Counting to Fifty Nine

We counted to 49 in Greek, let's keep going!

50 πενήντα (penínta) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah
51 πενήντα ένα (penínta éna) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah AY-nah
52 πενήντα δύο (penínta dýo) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah DEE-y-oh
53 πενήντα τρεις (penínta treis) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah t-day-ss
54 πενήντα τέσσερις (penínta tésseris) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah TAY-say-dee-ss
55 πενήντα πέντε (penínta pénte) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah PAY-n-tay
56 πενήντα έξι (penínta éxi) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah AY-k-see
57 πενήντα επτά (penínta eptá) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah ay-p-TAH
58 πενήντα οκτώ (penínta októ) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah oh-k-TOH
59 πενήντα εννέα (penínta ennéa) - sounds like pay-NEEN-tah eh-NEE-y-ah


(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: Fifty, fifty one, fifty two, fifty three, fifty four, fifty five, fifty six, fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine

Italian: cinquanta, cinquantuno, cinquanta due, cinquanta tre, cinquantaquattro, cinquantacinque, cinquantasei, cinquantasette, cinquantotto, cinquantanove

German: fünfzig, einundfünfzig, zweiundfünfzig, dreiundfünfzig, vierundfünfzig, fünfundfünfzig, sechsundfünfzig, siebenundfünfzig, achtundfünfzig, neunundfünfzig

Spanish: cincuenta, cincuenta y uno, cincuenta y dos, cincuenta y tres, cincuenta y cuatro, cincuenta y cinco, cincuenta y seis, cincuenta y siete, cincuenta y ocho, cincuenta y nueve

French: cinquante, cinquante et un, cinquante-deux, cinquante-trois, cinquante-quatre, cinquante-cinq, cinquante-six, cinquante-sept, cinquante-huit, cinquante-deux