Curaçao

We just learned about the country of Turks and Caicos Islands

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

This country is in the Caribbean Sea, just north of South America.
It is about 444 square kilometers, and about 155,000 people live there.
The people in this country speak either Dutch, Papiamentu, or English.
Papiamentu is a language made up of a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch.
The country is a land owned by the Netherlands, and it is made up of one main island and then a smaller one called Klein Curaçao.


(from: wikipedia - curaçao)

The flag of Curaçao is blue with a yellow stripe and two white stars.
The blue is for the sea nand the sky, the yellow is for the sun, and the stars are for the two islands that make up this country.


(from: wikipedia - flag of curaçao)

To eat in this country you might have oliebol, which are like donuts!


(from: wikipedia - oliebol)

Visiting this country you might go to one of the country's many beaches, like Kliene Knip

(from: wikipedia - kliene knip)

One of the bridges in this country is called Queen Emma Bridge. It is a movable bridge called a swing bridge.
The bridge is on floating pontoons, and it will split in the middle and swing out to make room for boats that need to go through.

(from: wikipedia - queen emma bridge)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Monaco

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

We just learned about the Up on the Housetop.

Another famous Christmas song is Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.

This song was wrirten by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, in 1934.
Many different people have performed this song, but the first recording of it was 1934 by Harry Reser.
Over 200 different musicians have recorded this song, like Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, The Temptations, and Michael Buble.

There are a few lines only in the original song where the singer says he went to visit Santa's workshop and saw his plans.


(from: wikipedia - santa claus is comin' to town)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: First Great Awakening

Judith and Holofernes - Sistine Chapel - Michelangelo

We've learned about three of the corner stories from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel paintings: David Slaying Goliath, The Brazen Serpent, and The Punishment of Haman.

The painting in the fourth corner is Judith and Holofernes.

In the book of Judith, the story is that Israel was in trouble with a powerful army.
So a woman named Judith went to see one of the generals that liked her.
She tricked him into thinking she liked him too, and then when he was asleep she killed him and saved Israel from being attacked.


(from: wikipedia - sistine chapel ceiling)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Stegosaurus - Jim Gary

Hindi - My drink is cold

We just learned that in Hindi:
This house is big: यह घर बड़ा है (yah ghar bada hai)
This chair is small: कुर्सी छोटी है (kursee chhotee hai)

Let's learn about more things we see every day.

To say My drink is cold, we say मेरा पेय ठंडा है (mera pey thanda hai).

Here's how to say it:

My - मेर (mera) - sounds like mee-drah - 文A

Drink - पेय (pey) - sounds like pay - 文A

cold - ठंड (thanda) - sounds like tah-n-dah - 文A

is - है (hai) - sounds like hay - 文A


So all together मेरा पेय ठंडा है (mera pey thanda hai) sounds like mee-drah pay tah-n-dah hay.


(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Kinywaji changu ni baridi

Russian: Мой напиток холодный (Moy napitok kholodnyy)

Norwegian: Min drikke er kald

Greek: Το ποτό μου είναι κρύο (To potó mou eínai krýo)

ASL: My drink is cold

Italian: La mia bevanda è freddo

German: Mein Getränk ist kalt

Spanish: Mi bebida es fría

French: Ma boisson est froid

Microsoft Windows

We just learned about the Operating System.

One type of Operating System is called Microsoft Windows.

This is a program made by a company called Microsoft, that has their headquarters building in Redmond Seattle.
If you have a windows computer, when you turn it on it will start up Windows and let you do things like go to the internet on your web browser, work on spreadsheets, watch videos or listen to music.
The idea of "Windows" is that each of those different programs is in it's own little window space, and you can open or close as many windows as you want.

Windows first came out in 1985 with Windows 1.0.
Every year or two they make changes to Windows to try and make it faster or better, and come out with another Windows with a new name.
Sometimes they call it Windows and then a number that keeps going up, like Windows 1, Windows 2, Windows 3.11.
Other times they name it after the year it comes out, like Windows 95 because it came out in the year 1995.
And then some other times they give it a special name like Windows NT, Windows XP, or Windows Vista.

Whatever the name is, every time they came out with a new Windows they would give it a new name and add some new things it could do.





(from: wikipedia - microsoft windows)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Tappet

Chinese Ferret-Badger

We just learned about the European Badger.

Another type of animal in the same family is the Chinese Ferret-Badger, also called the small-toothed ferret-badger or Melogale moschata.

This animal lives mostly in India and China, and grows to be about 40 centimeters long and weigh around 2 kilograms. Just like other badgers they have a face mask, and strong sharp claws, but they have a fuzzy tail.

These badgers are usually calm and quiet around humans and will sometimes live in wood or rock piles near houses, but if they get scared or feel threatened they will let out a very bad smell, almost like a skunk!


(from: wikipedia - chinese ferret-badger)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Patas Monkey

Choana

We just learned about the Vomeronasal Cartilage.

Another part of the nose is the Choana, also called the posterior nasal apertures or internal nostrils.

This is the part of the nose that is behind the nostrils, where the nose meets the throat.
You can breath through either your nose or your mouth, meaning that your throat or trachea is connected to both your nose and mouth.

The spot where the throat meets the nose area is the choana.


(from: wikipedia - choana)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Chronic Myeloid Leukemia