Thursday, January 16, 2020

Ball Valve


We just learned about the Valve Trim.

There are a lot of different kinds of valves.
One type of valve that is used a lot is the Ball Valve.

It's called a ball valve because inside the valve there is a ball.
The ball has a hole in the middle of it, and the valve handle turns the ball.
When the ball is turned one way, the water or gas can go through the hole in the ball.
When the ball is turned the other way, the ball blocks the water or gas, and keeps the valve closed.



(from: wikipedia - ball valve)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: World War II Rocket Weapons

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Cats


We just learned about Jellyfish Ephyra, and a whole lot of other things about Jellyfish!

Let's learn a little about Cats, like the big tigers, lions and cheetahs.

The big cats in the world all belong from the same family of animals called "Felidae"
All of the Felidae cats have retractile claws, which means they can pull their claws back into their paws or push them out to attack.

They all have whiskers on their cheeks and above their eyes.
Their tongues are all rough with little sharp spikes on them, so they can brush their fur with their tongue.
They can all meow, hiss, snarl, growl and of course purr. Even big tigers and lions!



(from: wikipedia - felidae)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jellyfish

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Central Retinal Artery


We just learned about the Optic Disc.

Another part of the eye is the Central Retinal Artery.

This is in the back of the eye at the retina, where the fresh oxygenated blood is brought to the eye for it to use.

(from: wikipedia - central retinal artery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lining Mucosa

Monday, January 13, 2020

Ross Ice Shelf


We just learned about the Larsen Ice Shelf.

Another ice shelf in Antarctica is the Ross Ice Shelf.

This is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica.
It is about 500 miles wide, and 600 miles long, almost as big as the country of France.

It sticks up above the water up to 160 feet high, but most of the shelf is actually underwater.
In some parts it os over 2,000 feet thick, which is about half a mile.

Just like the Larsen Ice Shelf, this shelf sometimes has icebergs break off.
In the year 2000, the largest iceberg ever measured in the world broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf.
It was called Iceberg B-15, and it was about 183 miles long and 23 miles wide, about the size of the island of Jamaica.



(from: wikipedia - ross ice shelf)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Royal Palace of Madrid

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Muslim Conflict


We just learned about the Church of the East in China.

Another part of early Christianity was the Muslim Conflict.

Around 610 AD, a man named Muhammad started a new religion called Islam, and the followers of Islam are called Muslims.

Christianity and Islam were both spreading around Europe, the Middle East and Africa all through the years 600 AD and 700 AD, and people fought over which one was true.

Most of the countries in the Middle East, northern Africa, and even Spain and Portugal became mostly Muslim.

Christianity was still spreading into Western Europe, but many countries that used to be Christian switched to Islam for hundreds of years.


(from: wikipedia - spread of islam)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Quartodecimanism

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Willing Captive - Chauncey Ives


We just learned about the Clasped Hands of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning by Harriet Hosmer.

Another The Willing Captive by Chauncey Ives in 1886.

Ives was born in Connecticut, and when he was a teenager he started learning how be a sculptor.
After a few jobs he moved to Italy to learn from other masters there.

In 1886 he made a sculpture of a young woman who was captured by Native Americans. After staying with the Natives for a while, her mother came to take her back, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to stay with the Natives or go back to her mother.

There are true stories like these where Natives would capture young girls and raise them as their own, and sometimes the girls would decide to stay with the Natives instead of going back home.


(from: wikipedia - chauncey ives)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Indus Valley Civilization

Friday, January 10, 2020

Russian - Black, white, brown, gray

We just learned that in Russian, red, orange and yellow are красный (krasnyy), оранжевый (oranzhevyy), желтый (zheltyy),
and green, blue, purple, pink are зеленый (zelenyy), синий (siniy), фиолетовый (fioletovyy), розовый (rozovyy).

Let's learn some more colors!

black - черный (chernyy) - sounds like choh-r-nee 文A

white - белый (belyy) - sounds like bee-ah-lee 文A

brown - коричневый (korichnevyy) - sounds like kah-dree-ch-nee-yeh-vee 文A

gray - серый (seryy) - sounds like see-ah-dree 文A


russian language
(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: svart, hvit, brun, grå

Greek: μαύρο, λευκό, καφέ, γκρι

ASL: black, white, brown, gray

Italian: nero, bianco, marrone, grigio

German: schwarz, weiß, braun, grau

Spanish: negro, blanco, marrón, gris

French: noir, blanc, brun, gris