Thurston Island

We just learned about Berkner Island.

Another island in Antarctica is Thurston Island.

This is the third smallest Antarctic island after Alexander Island and Berkner Island.

It is 134 miles long and 56 miles wide.

Up until 1960 people thought this island was actually connected to the main part of Antarctica, which would make it a peninsula, but they later discovered it was actually an island, just surrounded by ice.



(from: wikipedia - thurston island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dragon's Teeth

Fall of Constantinople

We just learned about Joan of Arc.

Another part of early Christianity was the Fall of Constantinople.

Back in the year 313 the emperor Constantine made himself a home city of Constantinople, in eastern Europe.
For a long time it was the strongest city in the area, and was the head of the Roman empire.

Later on the eastern and western parts of Europe started arguing over how the church should be run, and about whether the head of the church should be in Rome, Paris or Constaninople.

When that happened, and Constantinople had other problems like fighting off plagues, it was not the strongest city anymore.

In the middle eastern countries the Ottoman Empire was getting very strong, and so they started a war to take over Constantinople.
The western European countries did not come to help Constantinople, so the Ottomans took over Constantinople easily, and also because they were using gunpowder and cannons.


(from: wikipedia - fall of constaninople)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Patrick

Vision of Peace - Carl Milles

We just learned about the statue of Georgia O'Keefe by Gaston Lachaise.

Another famous American sculpture is the Vision of Peace by Carl Milles made in Minnesota in 1936.

This statue was made to remember the people from Minnesota who died in World War I.

At the bottom of the statue are 5 Native Americans sitting around a fire, and in the middle in the smoke coming up from the fire is a Native American God of Peace.
It wasn't made just for Native Americans, but for the whole world.

The statue is 38 feet high, and made of onyx.
It is on top of a moving base at the bottom that slowly spins the statue around about 1 time every few hours.

Carl Milles was born in Sweden in 1875, and became a famous artist working there until he was 56.
In 1931 he moved to Michigan to be part of the Cranbrook school, and made many sculptures for the school grounds.
He made many other sculptures in Michigan and other parts of the midwest like Minnesota and Wisconsin.


(from: wikipedia - carl milles)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Montezuma's Headdress

Swahili - Hello and Goodbye

We've now learned a whole year of Russian!
Wow!

Let's try another language now, how about Swahili?

This is the language millions of people speak in different countries across the continent of Africa, like Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Let's learn how to say hello and goodbye in Swahili!
There are a few ways to say Hello, Hi or What's up.

These words aren't used much anymore, but they mean Hello:
Jambo - Sounds like jah-m-boh 文A
Hujambo - Sounds like hoo-jah-m-boh 文A

Just like in English a lot of times we say things like What's Up to say Hi, Swahili has the same kind of things.
What's News? - Habari - Sounds like hah-bah-ree 文A
How's it going? - Mambo - Sounds like mah-m-boh 文A

If you are going to say hello to an older person or someone who is in charge like a teacher or a police officer, you use this word which means something like Greetings.
Shikamoo - Sounds like sh-ih-kah-moo 文A




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: Привет (privet), Здравствуй (Zdravstvuy), Пока (poka), до свидания (do svidaniya)

Norwegian: Hei, Hallo, Ha det, Ha det brah

Greek: Γειά σου (Geiá sou), Χαίρετε (Chairete), Αντίο (Antío)

ASL: Hello and Goodbye

Italian: Ciao, arrivederci

German: Hallo, Auf Wiedersehen

Spanish: Hola! Adiós!

French: Bonjour! Au Revoir!

Piston Rod

We just learned about the Connecting Rod.

Another part of a steam locomotive is the Piston Rod.

This is the big straight metal rod that is connected to the piston that goes up and down with the steam and vaccuum.

The piston rod is connected to other metal rods that help turn wheels and make the engine go, but the piston just goes straight back and forth and does not turn around at all.


(from: wikipedia - piston rod)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Linear Actuator

Tabby Cat

We just learned about the Calico Cat.

Another type of cat is a Tabby Cat.

Just like the calico, tabby isn't a type of cat breed, it is just a type of fur style that can be on just about any breed of domestic cat.

A tabby cat is any cat that has an M shaped mark on their forehead, and stripes on its body.


(from: wikipedia - tabby cat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Oral Arms

NK Cells

We just learned about the type of white blood cell called a Lymphocyte.

There are a few types of lymphocytes, like the NK Cells, also called Natural Killer Cells or large granular lymphocytes (LGL).

These cells float around in the body, and if they find a cell that doesn't look like it's supposed to be part of the body then it lets out some chemicals called cytokines that will destroy the bad cell.

The bad cells might be like a tumor, an infection or a virus, and when the NK Cell releases it's cytokins and the bad cell will be destroyed.
Because these LGLs kill other bad cells they are called natural killers.


(from: wikipedia - natural killer cell)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Aqueous Humour