Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Incisive Papilla


We just learned about the ridges on the roof of the mouth called the Palatal Rugae.

Another part of the inside of the mouth is the Incisive Papilla.

Right behind the top two front teeth called incisors is a little bump of skin that sticks down.
A bump in mouth medical words is usually called a "papilla" and its right behind the incisors so it's called the incisive papilla.
It's usually right in the middle, and you can feel it with your tongue right behind the teeth.


(from: wikipedia - incisor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Teeth

Monday, May 13, 2019

Battlements


We just learned about the high part of a castle wall called the Merlon.

Another part of a castle is the Battlement.

Let's go over what we've learned about the things on top of a castle wall.
Wall Walk - The place to walk along the top of the wall
Parapet - Short wall that people can hide behind
Crenel or Embrasure - Open spaces in the parapet wall where people can throw things down on attackers
Merlon - High part of the parapet wall that people can hide behind. Opposite of a crenel.

All of these things together are called the battlements.

They were called that because people on top of the wall would be doing battle against people trying to attack the castle from the ground.


(from: wikipedia - battlement)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caerlaverock Castle

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Saint Helena


We just learned about the emperor Constantine the Great who became the first Christian Emperor.

Another person from early Christianity is Saint Helena.

Helena was the mother of Constantine.
She became a Christian, and her son Constantine told her she could go into where all the Roman treasure was kept and try to find old Christian things that were taken away when Christianity was illegal.

He also gave her the job to go out and build some churches that are still around today over a thousand years later.


(from: wikipedia - helena (empress))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Barnabas

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Borobudur


We just learned about the Bantey Srei Sculptures made of sandstone in Cambodia.

Another ancient sculpture in Southeast Asia is the Borobudur temple in Java, Indonesia built some time before 900 AD.

It is the biggest Buddhist temple in the world, with over 500 statues, and over 2,600 relief sculptures carved into the walls.
Remember we learned that a relief is where the sculpture sticks out from the background kind of like a 3D painting.

This big temple has a pathway that goes around and up the building.
Each level of the building is supposed to help guide people through knowledge and wisdom about the world.




(from: wikipedia - borobudur)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Six Ritual Jades - Cong

Friday, May 10, 2019

Norwegian - Thursday, Friday


We just learned that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in Norwegian is Mandag, Tirsdag, Onsdag.

Let's keep learning the days of the week!

Thursday - Torsdag - sounds like toh-dr-s-dah
Friday - Fredag - sounds like f-day-ah-dah

norwegian language
(from: wikipedia - norwegian language)

Greek: Πέμπτη (Pémpti), Παρασκευή (Paraskeví)

ASL: Thursday, Friday

Italian: Giovedì, Venerdì

German: Donnerstag, Freitag

Spanish: Viernes, Jueves

French: Jeudi, Vendredi

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Species Test


We just learned about Forensic Anthropology, the study of a body to see who it is after someone has died.

Another test in forensic science is the Uhlenhuth Test or Species Test.

Way back in 1901 a scientist named Paul Uhlenhuth figured out how to test blood to see if it belonged to a human, or a different type or "species" of animal.

This was important because if a detective found a stain of blood somewhere, people could just lie and say that it was from a cow or a chicken or another animal.

If the blood was from a human, then it was a big deal, especially if someone had been hurt!
Once detectives could use this Uhlenhuth test to see what type of blood they found, people couldn't hide out and lie if someone found a blood stain as evidence of a crime.

One of the most important things about forensic science is finding clues or evidence, and testing to see if people are telling the truth.


(from: wikipedia - blood test)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Combustion Chamber

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Darth Vader Jellyfish


We just learned about the Atolla Jellyfish that lives in the deep sea and flashes blue lights.

Another type of jelly is the Darth Vader Jellyfish, also called the bathykorus bouilloni.
It gets the long name from bathy which means "deep" and korus which means "helment", and the scientist Dr. Jean Bouillon who found it.

Because it looks kind of like Darth Vader's helmet, sometimes people call it the Darth Vader jellyfish instead!

This jelly lives very deep in the sea, at around 1,000 meters!
It is very small, only about 2 centimeters wide.
The bell is see through and pale blue, and it has eight tentacles for stinging.
They live mostly around Greenland and Canada.

Because these jellies live so deep, people can not swim down and see them, they can only be seen by robotic submarines that people send deep into the ocean with cameras on them to look around.


(from: wikipedia - bathykorus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Cuttlefish