Valve Spring

We just learned about the Gasket that helps keep a valve from leaking.

Another part of a valve is the Valve Spring.

Some valves use a spring to keep a valve closed, but if there is a lot of pressure they will squeeze and let the disc open and let some pressure out.
Once enough pressure is let out, the spring will push the disc closed again.


(from: wikipedia - relief valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Le Prieur Rocket

Jellyfish Polyps

We just learned about the Amebocyte that lives inside a jellyfish.

Another interesting thing about Jellyfish is the Jellyfish Polyps.

When Jellyfish have babies, they are usually like little tubes that just float in the water and try to find something to stick on to.

They look a lot like other hydrozoans and even coral when they are growing up.
These little baby jellyfish are called polyps.


(from: wikipedia - polyp)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Octopus - Three Hearts

Opthalmic Artery

We just learned about the Eye Movement.

Another part of the eye is the Opthalmic Artery.

This is what brings the blood up to all of the different parts of the eye.

There are a lot of other arteries that come out of this artery, like the central retinal artery, lacrimal artery, posterior ciliary arteries, muscular branches, supraorbital artery, ethmoidal arteries, medial palpebral arteries and terminal branches.

That's a lot of different arteries for such a small part of the body, but the eye has so many different things going on that there it needs blood in each different place!


(from: wikipedia - opthalmic artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Mucosa

Antarctic Ice Sheet

We just learned about Mount Erebus.

Another part of Antarctica is the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Antarctica is almost totally covered with ice.
About 98 percent is ice, which is close to the whole thing!
The huge chunk of ice covering it all is called the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

It is over 5 million square miles total, and it weighs over 26 million gigatons, which is over 58 quintillion pounds! A quintillion is a number with 18 zeroes, so that's 58,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds of ice!

The oceans are all made of salt water, but the ice is made of fresh water.
Over half of the fresh water in the world is stored in this huge ice sheet.

In East Antarctica, the ice is sitting on top of some other land like rocks.
But on the west side, the ice goes way down below the water, over 8,000 feet!


(from: wikipedia - antarctic ice sheet)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sonora

Christian nations in 600 AD

We just learned about the Saint David.

There were a lot of Christian nations in 600 AD.

Around 325 AD there had been a lot of people going around telling people about God and Jesus, but there were only some spots around the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

By 600 AD, Christianity was in Europe at Great Britain, France, Spain, Greece and more.
It was in the Middle East through Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and more.
And it was in Africa at parts of Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.


(from: wikipedia - christianity in the 7th century)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Didache - The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

Doctor John Witherspoon - Couper

We just learned about the Statue of Charles Sumner by Thomas Ball.

Another famous American sculpture is the statue of Doctor John Witherspoon by William Couper, at Washington DC in 1909 AD.

John Witherspoon was a minister in the Presbyterian church, and one of the people that signed the famous Declaration of Independence.

The sculptor William Couper grew up in Virginia, and then went to Munich Germany and Florence Italy to learn from some of the famous sculptors in Europe for 22 years.

He married Eliza Chickering Ball, who was the daughter of another famous American sculptor named Thomas Ball.


(from: wikipedia - doctor john witherspoon)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wooden Buddha - Enkū

Russian - Red, Orange, Yellow

We just learned about the alphabet in Russian.

Now let's learn some colors!

red - красный (krasnyy) - sounds like k-dah-ss-nee 文A

orange - оранжевый (oranzhevyy) - sounds like oh-dah-n-zh-ay-vee 文A

yellow - желтый (zheltyy) - sounds like zh-eh-l-tee 文A



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: rød, oransje, gul

Greek: κόκκινο, πορτοκαλί, κίτρινο

ASL: red, orange, yellow

Italian: rosso, arancione, giallo

German: rot, orange, gelb

Spanish: rojo, naranja, amarillo

French: rouge, orange, jaune