Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Far Sightedness


We just learned about the Near Sightedness.

Another type of refractive error that people can have is called Far Sightedness, also called hypermetropia.

If someone is far-sighted that means they can see far away very well, but they can't see up close very well.
An easy way to remember that is that if you are "far-sighted" you are good at seeing far away.

A lot of people become far sighted when they get older, and they can not see up close as well as they used to.
This is one of the reasons that old people will hold something out in their hand with their arm stretched out as far as it can go, because they can see far but not up close.

Older people will also get what are called "reading glasses" meaning that they only wear them when they need to look at something up close like when reading a book.

If someone is young and far sighted then it usually means there is a problem with the shape of their eyeball, or their lens or cornea are not the right shape.
This makes the light coming into the eye not focus on the retina, but focus past it, so it doesn't send the right signals to the brain.

For old people it is because the eye muscles are weaker and can't focus the lens as well as they used to.


(from: wikipedia - far-sightedness)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Frenulum of Lower Lip

Monday, June 29, 2020

Subglacial Lakes


We just learned about the Meltwater.

Another part of Antarctica is the Subglacial Lakes.

We know that sometimes the ice and snow melts and turns into ponds, rivers or lakes.
And sometimes these lakes are way deep down underneath the ice.

Antarctica has hundreds of lakes deep down underneath the glaciers, called "subglacial lakes".

The biggest one that has been discovered is Lake Vostok.
This is down underneath Vostok Station, and the water is over 2 miles below the ice.
Lake Vostok is 160 miles long, 30 miles wide, and 3,000 feet deep.
It has as much water in it as Lake Michigan.



(from: wikipedia - lake vostok)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Palisade

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Basilica of Saint-Denis


We just learned about the Notre-Dame de Paris.

Another part of early Christianity is the building of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, built in 1144 AD in France.

One of the church leaders in France named Abbot Suger was upset that the churches were not big enough to handle all of the people coming to worship, and he also believed that having a beautiful church filled with light and color was a way to show worship to God.

The church that he had people make was the first one that was later called "Gothic" style.
This type of building had 5 special things that made it gothic:

Pointed Arches - The ceilings, windows or roofs would have an arch shape that was pointy at the top.

Ribbed Vaults - The tall hallways in the churches had large supporting beams going back and forth along the ceiling that looked kind of like ribs.

Flying Buttresses - The outside supports that helped hold the building up are called buttresses. For these buildings, they had long buttresses that stuck way out from the church, so they called them flying buttresses.

Tracery - The windows or doors used stone or metal to make shapes.

Stained Glass Windows - Glass that was colored and then framed into windows for artwork and light.


(from: wikipedia - basilica of saint-denis)



(from: wikipedia - basilica of saint-denis)



(from: wikipedia - flying buttress)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Holy Tunic

Saturday, June 27, 2020

George Washington as President - Alexander Stirling Calder


We just learned about the statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made by Charles Keck.

Another famous statue is George Washington as President, Accompanied by Wisdom and Justice made in New York in 1918 by Alexander Stirling Calder.

Calder's father was a sculptor, and as he grew up he studied art and helped his father with some of his projects.
He went to school in Pennsylvania, and then went to Paris when he was 20 to learn more about sculpture.
After he came back to the United States he became well known for making statues of important people.

In New York City they wanted to make a large arch for the 100th anniversary of George Washington becoming president.
They made it like the other famous arches in Paris and Rome.
Calder was asked to make a marble statue for this arch of Washington as President, and another artist made Washington as Commander in Chief of the military.
Sometimes they call these two statues Washington at Peace and Washington at War.



(from: wikipedia - alexander stirling calder)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gabon Mask

Friday, June 26, 2020

Russian - November, December


We already learned that January, February is Январь (Yanvar'), Февраль (Fevral'), March, April is Март (Mart), Апрель (Aprel'),
May, June is Май (May), Июнь (Iyun'),
July, August is Июль (Iyul'), Август (Avgust),
and September, October is Сентябрь (Sentyabr'), Октябрь (Oktyabr').

Let's keep going!

November - ноябрь (noyabr') - sounds like noh-yah-b-d 文A

December - декабрь (dekabr') - sounds like deh-kah-b-d 文A


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


Norwegian: November, December

Greek: Νοέμβριος (Noémvrios), Δεκέμβριος (Dekémvrios)

ASL: November, December

Italian: Novembre, Dicembre

German: November, Dezember

Spanish: Noviembre, Diciembre

French: Novembre, Décembre

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Salamanca


We just learned about the Pen-y-Darren Locomotive.

Another part of the history of locomotives is the Salamanca steam locomotive, built in 1812 by Matthew Murray from England.

Even though people were figuring out how to make steam engines and hook them up to boats and wheels, it took a while for anyone to make one that worked really well on a train track.

Even before there were locomotives, people made metal tracks for carts that would be pulled by horses.
It wasn't until Murray made the Salamanca in 1812, that someone would make a locomotive that was actually used for people to haul big heavy loads around and do some work.

The Pen-y-Darren locomotive was built in 1802, so for 10 years people mostly just saw these steam engines as an interesting invention, but did not put the engines to work yet.

The Salamanca ran on a rack and pinion track, which means the wheels were gears that worked on a track with teeth that it would go along.


(from: wikipedia - salamanca (locomotive))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fire Investigation

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Serval


We just learned about the Bay Cat.

Another type of wild cat is the Serval.

The serval lives in Africa, mostly in the southern part of the continent.
It is about 2 feet tall, and can weigh up to 40 pounds.
This cat has a head that is smaller than some of its other cat cousins.

Serval's have big ears, and yellow fur with black spots and stripes, and a black tipped tail.
The ears of a serval are probably the thing that makes them stand out the most.
They have black ears, with a white stripe right across the middle.
When they move their ears they can spin them all the way around from front to back.
Some people think that the colored ears that can move so well are one of the ways that servals can talk to each other, like giving signals about whether they are happy, sad or mad.

These cats have very long legs compared to their bodies, and they use them for jumping when they hunt.
They can jump over 6 feet in the air, and then pounce onto their pray like a mouse.




(from: wikipedia - serval)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Warty Comb Jelly