Berkner Island

We just learned about the largest island in Antarctica, Alexander Island.

The second largest island is Berkner Island.

This island is about 200 miles by 100 miles, and 17,000 square miles, bigger than the US state of Maryland.

Even though it is an island, the rock part of the island is below the water, and on top of the rock is a big bunch of ice that makes up the island.
If all of the ice melted, the island would be under water.

During the cold parts of the year the island is surrounded by ice, so it doesn't always look like an island.



(from: wikipedia - berkner island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Witch Tower

Joan of Arc

We just learned about the Avignon Papacy.

Another part of early Christianity is the famous French person Joan of Arc.

She was born in France in 1412, while there was a war going on between France and England.

When she was 13 she said that she had a vision of some Christian saints, who told her she needed to go help King Charles VII of France to win the war.

At first no one believed her, but she begged over and over again to go see the king.

When she was 17 she finally got to see the king, and he let her go to some of the battles and try to help out.
Wherever she was at the French won their battles easily, so people started believing that she was a sign from God that they could win the war.

She wasn't really a fighter who carried a sword, she usually had a banner that she waved around to try and help get all the French soldiers excited about winning.

When she was 19 she was captured by the English soldiers, and they had a trial where they said she was bad and wasn't talking to Christian saints but was working for the devil, and they had her killed.

Years later the French people said that trial was not fair and said she was innocent, and the church leaders agreed so she became a Christian hero Saint Joan of Arc.

Her story is very famous in France and people have even found the house where she grew up and turned it into a museum.


(from: wikipedia - joan of arc)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mariology

Georgia O'Keefe - Gaston Lachaise

We just learned about the sculpture of Richard Yates by Albin Polasek .

Another famous work of American art is the sculpture of Georgia O'Keefe made by Gaston Lachaise in 1927.

Lachaise was born in 1882 in France, where he grew up learning how to be a sculptor.
He met an American woman named Isabel and fell in love with her, so when he was about 20 years old he moved to America with her and they got married.

He was mostly famous for making sculptures of women that looked very big and powerful, like a force of nature.
Most people made sculptures of women that were very small and delicate, so this different way of making sculptures of women was seen as a way to give power to women who were seen by some people as weak.

He also made sculptures of famous people like Georgia O'Keefe.
She was a famous American artist, who some people called the Mother of American modernism.


(from: wikipedia - gaston lachaise)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Teocalli of Sacred War

Russian - Vegetables

We just learned how to say some fruits to drink in Russian.

Let's learn how to say some vegetables.

carrot морковь (morkov') - sounds like moh-dr-koh-v 文A

corn кукуруза (kukuruza) - sounds like koo-koo-roo-zah 文A

pea горох (gorokh) - sounds like goh-droh-k 文A



(from: wikipedia - russian academy of sciences)

Norwegian: gulrot, mais, erter

Greek: καρότο (karóto), καλαμπόκι (kalampóki), μπιζέλι (bizéli)

ASL: carrot, corn, pea

Italian: carote, mais, piselli

German: Karotte, Mais, Erbse

Spanish: zanahoria, maíz, guisante

French: carotte, maïs, pois

Connecting Rod

We just learned about the Coupling Rod that hooks all the wheels together.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Connecting Rod.

Remember that we learned about how steam pressure works with a steam cylinder to push and pull a piece of metal in a tube called a piston.

The piston is hooked up to the connecting rod, which takes that forward and back pushing an pulling and makes it into a circular push and pull to spin the locomotive's wheel around.


(from: wikipedia - connecting rod)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rack and Pinion

Calico Cat

We just learned about the Napoleon Cat.

Another type of cat is the Calico Cat.

This type of cat has fur with three different colors, usually white, orange, and black.

There are a bunch of different types of cats that sometimes have this type of fur, like the American Shorthair, the Persian Cat, or the Japanese Bobtail.

Calico is just a way to describe the type of fur a cat has, it is not an actual type of cat like Napoleon Cat.

One interesting thing about these types of cats, is that they are almost always girl cats!
It is very rare for boy cats to have calico three color patched fur.


(from: wikipedia - calico cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Manubrium

Lymphocyte

We just learned that there are three types of blood cells, white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets.

Let's learn a little more about the white blood cells.
There are 5 different types of white blood cells!

One of the types of white blood cells is called a Lymphocyte.

Remember we learned that lymph is a white liquid carried in the lymph capillaries and then the lymphatic vessels, and the lymph nodes help clean out all the bad stuff in the lymph.

Lymphocytes are types of white blood cells that help fight off bad diseases, and in the white lymph liquid there is more of this type of cell than any of the other ones.

There are 3 different types of lymphocytes: T cells, B cells and NK (natural killer) cells and they each have a different job to help fight the bad diseases that attack the body.


(from: wikipedia - lymphocyte)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vitreous Body