God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

We just learned about the Christmas song Joy to the World.

Another famous Christmas song is God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, also called Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

This song is very old, and has been found in song books going back before the year 1700 AD.
No one is really sure who wrote the song, but it became very famous after Charles Dickens had it as part of his book A Christmas Carol, where Ebeneezer Scrooge hears carolers singing this and chases them away.

One interesting thing about this song is that the old meaning of "God rest ye merry gentlemen" really meant something like "May God give rest and happiness to the gentlemen", but now these days we think of it more like "May God give rest to the happy gentlemen".

The difference all came when someone moved the comma in the sentence:
Old: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
New: God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen


(from: wikipedia - god rest you merry, gentlemen)



Pentatonix - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Official Video) - Pentatonix


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Italian Renaissance

Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel - The Separation of Land and Water

We just learned about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel - The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants.

Another famous part of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel is The Separation of Land and Water.

This shows God flying along with his arms stretched out as he separates the land from the water and makes the oceans and continents.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Alice in Wonderland - Jose de Creeft

Hindi - Please, You're Welcome

Remember that to say thank you in Hindi, you say Asante.

To say please in Hindi is कृपया (krpaya) - Sounds like k-ree-pee-ah. 文A

To say you're welcome, you say आपका स्वागत है (aapaka svaagat hai) - Sounds like ah-p-kah s-wah-gah-t hay. 文A




(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: tafadhali, karibu

Russian: пожалуйста (pozhaluysta)

Norwegian: Vær så snill, Værsågod

Greek: Παρακαλώ (Parakaló)

ASL: Please, You're Welcome

German: bitte, bitte schön

Spanish: Por favor, de nada

French: s'il vous plait, de rien

Computer Keyboard - Special Keys

We just learned about the Computer Keyboard - Function Keys.

Another bunch of keys on the computer keyboard are the Special Keys.

We know the keyboard has all of the letters of the alphabet on it, but it also has some special keys that aren't used to type letters or numbers.
These special keys can do things like delete letters, move around the place on the monitor where you are typing, scroll up and down, or even do special things like save or quit.
A lot of the special keys have to do with moving the "cursor".
The cursor is the place on the screen that you are currently working at.
Sometimes it looks like this: | and sometimes it is just something highlighted a different color.
You move around your cursor to type words in different places, or to choose different parts of a program on the screen.

On most keyboards these are the special keys and what they can do:

Esc - This key can either leave or stop a program.
Tab - Can either put a big [   ] space in between a sentence, or it can be used to make different choices in other programs or switch programs.
Backspace - This will get rid of one letter to the left of where you were typing.
Insert - This can turn on "type over" meaning typing new letters will take the place of old ones.
Home - This moves the cursor to the beginning of a text line.
Page Up/Down - This scrolls the window up or down.
Delete - This will get rid of one letter to the right of where you were typing, or it can be used to get rid of files or emails or other things the cursor is selecting.
Shift - If you hold down Shift and type, the letters will be ALL CAPITALS.
Caps Lock - This is like using Shift, but you don't have to hold it down for the letters to BE ALL CAPITALS.
Print Screen - This can take a screenshot of what your monitor looks like that you can save in another program.
Scroll Lock - Some programs use this to change the way they scroll up or down.
Pause/Break - Some programs use this to pause.
Num Lock - If your computer has a number pad, turning this on uses numbers, off uses whatever special options are there.
Ctrl - This is a key used with others to do special tasks.
These special tasks work with most programs: Ctrl+A = Select all, Ctrl+B = bold, Ctrl+C = Copy, Ctrl+F = Find, Ctrl+I = italics Ctrl+N = New, Ctrl+O = Open, Ctrl+P = Print, Ctrl+S = Save, Ctrl+U = underline, Ctrl+V = Paste, Ctrl+X = Cut, Ctrl+Z = Undo.
Alt - Use the menus at the top of the program, like Alt+F usually opens the File menu.
[Windows] - The key that looks like 4 boxes is the windows key that opens the menu for programs.
Arrows - Arrow keys help move the cursor around on the page.


(from: wikipedia - computer keyboard)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Superheater

Red-Faced Spider Monkey

We just learned about the Black Howler.

Another type of new world monkey is the Red-Faced Spider Monkey, Guiana spider monkey, or ateles paniscus.

Just like their name says, these monkeys have a bright red face, with black fur on the rest of their bodies.
They live in South America, and spend most of their lives in the trees.

They grow to be about 2 feet long, and weigh about 20 pounds.


(from: wikipedia - red-faced spider monkey)



Baby Red Faced Spider Monkey - Jay the Ram


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sphynx Cat

Incus

We just learned about the Malleus.

Another part of the ear is the Incus.

Incus is a Latin word that means anvil.
This is the bone in the ear next to the malleus or hammer.
The hammer takes vibrations from the eardrum and passes them on to the anvil which also vibrates and shakes.


(from: wikipedia - incus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Neutrophil

Panama

We just learned about the country of Guatemala

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

This is a small country in North America that connects North America to South America.
It borders Costa Rica, Columbia, the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

It is about 29,000 square miles, and about 4.3 million people live there.


(from: wikipedia - panama)

The flag of Panama is four rectangles.
The top left is white with a blue star, the top right is red, the bottom left is blue, and the bottom right is white with a red star.
Blue and red are for the different groups in Panama that run the government.
The white is for peace and purity.
The blue star is for purity and honesty, and the red star is for the law.


(from: wikipedia - flag of panema)

To eat in Panama you might have bollo, which is corn, potatoes, or yuca which is kind of like a potato.
The ground up corn, pototato or yuca is then all mushed up together and served like a bun.


(from: wikipedia - bollo)

The most famous thing about Panama is the Panama Canal.
Long ago if someone was in a boat on the Pacific Ocean and they wanted to go to the Atlantic Ocean, they either had to go all the way north above North America, around Alaska and Canada close to the north pole, or all the way south below South America, close to the south pole.
Both of these ways were very dangerous and took a long time to travel.
Since the country of Panama is not very wide and it is right in between North and South America, people had the idea to dig a trench in the land, so that boats could cut through like a shortcut.
The US helped dig the canal, and it took about 10 years, and cost about 12 billion dollars.


(from: wikipedia - panama canal)

There is a type of folk dance called the cumbia in Panama where people wear fancy dresses and outfits.

(from: wikipedia - cumbia (panama))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Armenia