Vacuum Pump

We just learned about the Steam Turbine.

Let's learn a little about how steam engines work.
First we need to learn a few other things that people discovered before they could make a steam vacuum.

One thing people discovered was the Vacuum Pump.

A long time ago people didn't understand a long time ago was how a vacuum worked.
Not like the vacuum cleaner that sucks dirt up from the floor, but a vacuum like a ball or a tube that is so empty that it has suction holding itself closed.

You can think about this like a plastic pop bottle that you suck air out of.
As soon as you let go, it will suck the air in and fill itself up again.

Back in 1654 people didn't understand this, so a man named Otto von Guericke came up with an experiment to show them.
He took two half circles made of metal, called the magdeburg hemispheres, and put them together like a closed ball.
Then he used a pump to suck out all of the air from inside, creating what is called a vacuum.

A vacuum is a space that has no air, or very little air.
Because he used a pump to do this, it was called a vacuum pump.

After that he challenged people to try and pull the half circles apart, but not even teams of horses could do it.
This understanding of how a vacuum works was one of the things that helped people invent steam engines.


(from: wikipedia - magdeburg hemispheres)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Forensic Firearm Examination

Pampas Cat

We just learned about the Ocelot.

Another type of wild cat is the Pampas Cat also called the pantanal cat, colocolo, and Leopardus Colocolo.

This cat is only a little bigger than a house cat, and has a big bushy tail.

It is only a little over 2 feet long.
The Pampas Cats has a lot of different looks, and can be red, grey or brown, with stripes or spots on it.
They only live in parts of South America,

(from: wikipedia - pampas cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Irukandji Jellyfish

Epicanthic Fold

We just learned about the Eyelids.

Another part of the eye is the Epicanthic Fold.

The skin above the eyelid for some people is folded over and lays over the top of the eyelid.

This happens more for some people depending on where they come from.
Asian people from countries like China or Japan usually have a bigger epicanthic fold than people form North America or Europe.


(from: wikipedia - epicanthic fold)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hard Palate

ANSMET Station

We just learned about the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Station.

Another Antarctic station is ANSMET Station, which stands for Antarctic Search for Meteorites.

This is a station in the Transantarctic Mountains where 4 to 10 people live and collect meteorites.
They go out on snowmobiles and search in the snow for meteorites that are buried in the mountains.

ANSMET was built in the year 1976, and since then they have collected over 20,000 meteorites!
A few meteorites were from the moon, and a few were even from Mars!



(from: wikipedia - ansmet)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Parapet

The Crusades

We just learned about the East-West Schism.

Another part of early Christianity The Crusades.

During the time of the church's growth into Europe, the Christians sometimes would have battles against other groups of people that were not Christians.

Sometimes these people were in places like Jerusalem, and other times they were in countries like Germany.

The crusades went on for hundreds of years, and were like wars that people fought in the name of Christianity.
They fought them either to try and take back a land, or to try and force someone to be Christianity.


(from: wikipedia - crusades)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Edict of Milan

On the Prowl - Edward Kemeys

We just learned about the Great Spirit - Cyrus Edwin Dallin.

Another famous American sculpture is On the Prowl made by Edward Kemeys in 1893.

Kemeys was born in Georgia, and then later moved to New York.
He served in the civil war when he was 19 years old.

When he was in New York and Paris he learned to be a very good sculptor of animals.

He made two large bronze lions called "On the Prowl", and these sculptures are now in the front of the Art Institute of Chicago.


(from: wikipedia - lions (kemeys))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Jama Masjid

Russian - Her hands are soft

We just learned in Russian our table is short is наш стол короткий (nash stol korotkiy).

To say her hands are soft you would say Ее руки мягкие (Yeye ruki myagkiye).

Her - Ее (Yeye) - sounds like yeh-yeh 文A
hands - руки (ruki) - sounds like roh-kee 文A
soft - мягкие (myagkiye) - sounds like m-yah-g-kee-yeh 文A



So all together To say her hands are soft you would say yeh-yeh roh-kee m-yah-g-kee-yeh.


(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: Hennes hender er myke

Greek: Τα χέρια της είναι μαλακά (Ta chéria tis eínai malaká)

ASL: ASL: Her hands are soft

Italian: Le sue mani sono morbide

German: Ihre Hände sind weich

Spanish: Sus manos estan suaves

French: Ses mains sont douces