Computer Monitor

Let's learn some more about Computers!

One part of a computer is the Computer Monitor.

This is the part of the computer that you look at, that shows all of the pictures and videos that your computer puts on it.
Through the years computer monitors have changed a lot.
Long ago they only had a black background with white or green text.
Then later monitors could display every color, and also draw pictures on the screen for things like video games or office work.

For a long time, computer monitors were very big, using what were called Cathode Ray Tubes or CRTs to show things on the monitor.
They were later replaced by flat screen monitors, usually called Liquid Crystal Displays or LCD.
LCDs are much thinner, lighter, and usually taller and wider than the old CRT displays.
Some old CRTs could weigh 50 pounds, compared to an LCD with the same screen size weighing only 10 pounds.
Because flat screen monitors could be made so thin and light, people could make computers so small they could fit on your lap, called laptops!



(from: wikipedia - computer monitor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Trailing Wheel

Azara's Night Monkey

We just learned about the Grey Bellied Night Monkey.

Another type of new world monkey is the Azara's Night Monkey also calledthe southern night monkey or aotus azarae.

This type of monkey lives in South America, and mostly lives in the trees.
They grow to be about 13 inches long and weigh a little over 2 pounds.

Just like their name says, these monkeys like to stay up at all night long, and they mostly eat things like leaves, flowers and bugs.


(from: wikipedia - azara's night monkey)


Azara's Night Monkey - Thug Hamster
Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Domestic Cat

Cochlea

We just learned about the Semicircular Canals.

Another part of the bony labryinth in the inner ear is the Cochlea.

This is a spiral that sounds go into, and there are little hairs inside the spiral that send signals to the brain telling it what sounds are being heard.
The different parts of the spiral help the ear listen to different types of sounds.
At the opening the spiral collects sounds that are high pitched like a whistle.
As the spiral goes in further the sounds get lower, more like a big drum beating.

All of these different sounds get sent to the brain to hear all the different highs and lows.

The name cochlea comes from the greek word for spiral snail shell.


(from: wikipedia - cochlea)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red Blood Cell

Turkmenistan

We just learned about the country of United Arab Emirates

Let's learn a little about the country of Turkmenistan!

This is a country in the middle east, bordring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Caspian Sea.
It is about 190,000 square miles, and about 6 million people live there.
People in this country speak the Turkmen language.


(from: wikipedia - turkmenistan)

The flag of Turkemnistan is green with a red stripe on the left with carpet designs on the red above olive branches.
On the right is a white crescent moon and five stars.
The moon is for hope, the stars are for the provinces in the country, the carpet is for the tribes of people who founded the country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of turkmenistan)

To eat in Turkmenistan, you might have melons!
This country was once famous for growing all kinds of melons, and they grow over 400 different kinds of melon.

(from: wikipedia - )

Visiting Turkmenistan you might go see the Darvasa gas crater.
This is a hole in the ground that is abotu 200 feet across and about 60 feet deep.
A long time ago people were drilling for oil in the area, and found a place where gas was leaking out from the ground.
They lit the ground on fire to help get rid of the gas leak, but it never stopped burning and the crater has now been burning for over 50 years.


(from: wikipedia - darvaza gas crater)

There is a national holiday in Turkmenistan called Melon Day, because there are so many melon farms in the country.
Every year the second Sunday in August the people get together in the city of Ashgabat and have music, dancing and lots of melons.


(from: wikipedia - melon day)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Piedmont Glacier

Away in a Manger

We just learned about the Christmas song We Three Kings.

Another famous Christmas song is Away in a Manger.

For a very long time, people thought that the words for this song were written in 1883 by Martin Luther, and it was even sometimes called Luther's Cradle Song.
But after going back and looking at the writing, people now think that the words were first written in English somewhere earlier in America, and then later translated to German.

There are two popular tunes that people sing this song to. The one that is most popular in America was wrriten by James R. Murray in 1887. The other one that is more popular in Britan was written by William J. Kirkpatrick.


(from: wikipedia - away in a manger)


#4 Away in a Manger - James Ramsey Murray - Ukulele - Amazing Uku


Away in a Manger (Kirkpatrick and Murray versions) - Easy Piano Video Sheet - HaoStaff Official

Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wycliffe's Bible

Leonardo's Robot

We just learned about Leonardo da Vinci's Paris Manuscripts.

Another one of his famous inventions was called Leonardo's Robot.

Some time around 1495, Leonardo da Vinci came up with the idea to make a mechanical knight, that could move around.
He made some sketches on how to make it using pulleys and cables that were inside metal armor.

He showed it off to some people in Milan, and by pulling on cables he could make it stand, sit, and move its arms and head.

His robot has been lost, but some people have followed his designs and made copies of what they think his looked like long ago.


(from: wikipedia - leonardo's robot)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Detroit Zoo Rackham Fountain - Parducci

Swahili - Nine Hundred

We counted to 100 in Swahili, let's keep going!

200 mia mbili - sounds like mee-ah m-bee-lee 文A

300 mia tatu - sounds like mee-ah tah-too 文A

400 mia nne - sounds like mee-ah n-nay 文A

500 mia tano - sounds like mee-ah tah-no 文A

600 mia sita - sounds like mee-ah see-tah 文A

700 mia saba - sounds like mee-ah sah-bah 文A

800 mia nane - sounds like mee-ah nah-nay 文A

900 mia tisa - sounds like mee-ah tee-sah 文A


And here are some of the even bigger numbers!

one thousand elfu moja - sounds like eh-l-foo moh-jah

one million milioni moja - sounds like mee-lee-oh-nee moh-jah

one billion bilioni moja - sounds like bee-lee-oh-nee moh-jah

one trillion trilioni moja - sounds like t-ree-lee-oh-nee moh-jah

one google google moja - sounds like goo-gah-l moh-jah




(from: wikipedia - swahili language)

Russian: двести (dvesti), триста (trista), четыреста (chetyresta), пятьсот (pyat'sot), Сшестьсотто (shest'sot), семьсот (sem'sot), восемьсот (vosem'sot), девятьсот (devyat'sot), тысяча (tysyacha), один миллион (odin million), один миллиард (odin milliard), один триллион (odin trillion), один гугл (odin gugl)

Norwegian: to hundre, tre hundre, fire hundre, fam hundre, seks hundre, syv hundre, åtte hundre, ni hundre

Greek: διακόσια (diakósia), τριακόσια (triakósia), τετρακόσια (tetrakósia), πεντακόσια (pentakósia), εξακόσια (exakósia), επτακόσια (eptakósia), οκτακόσια (oktakósia), εννιακόσια (enniakósia)

ASL: two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred

Italian: duecento, trecento, quattrocento, cinquecento, seicento, settecento, ottocento, novecento

German: zweihundert, dreihundert, vierhundert, fünfhundert, sechshundert, siebenhundert, achthundert, neunhundert

Spanish: doscientos, trescientos, cuatrocientos, quinientos, seiscientos, sietecientos, ochocientos, novecientos

French: deux cent, trois cent, quatre cent, cinq cent, six cent, sept cent, huit cent, neuf cent