Oil Refinery

We just learned about the Oil Platform.

Another part of how we use oil is an Oil Refinery.

When the oil is pumped out of the oil well in the ground, it needs to be cleaned up and made into something that can be used in engines or to make other things that need oil.
An oil refinery is the place the oil is brought to, and cleaned up in what is called refining.


(from: wikipedia - oil refinery)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Radiator

European Polecat

We just learned about the Stoat.

Another animal in the same family is the European Polecat.

This is a small animal about 400 milimeters long, weighing about 1,200 grams.
They have brown and black fur, and usually a white face.

Some people in Europe have been able to keep polecats as pets, and even teach them how to hunt things like rats.
Long ago polecats were hunted a lot for their fur, and there are many made up stories about polecats having powers to paralyze someone with just a bite to the neck!


(from: wikipedia - european polecat)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Red-Shanked Douc

Renal Corpuscle

We just learned about the Nephron.

Another part of the kidneys is the Renal Corpuscle.

The word renal has something to do with the kidneys, and the word corpuscle means something to do with cells.
The renal corpuscle works to help clean up the blood by filtering out bad stuff.

The kidneys take in blood from the body, clean it up and send it back around the body, and then any waste gets sent out of the body when you go to the bathroom.


(from: wikipedia - renal corpuscle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Antihhelix

Clipperton Island

We just learned about the country of Saba

Let's learn a little about the country of Clipperton Island!

This country is in the Pacific Ocean, west of Mexico.
It is about 6 square kilometers, and no one lives there.


(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)

This type of island is a coral atoll, which means it is a circle island with water in the middle called a lagoon.


(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)

Through the years different countries owned the island, like Mexico and Spain, but it was not a very good place to live so everyone left.
These days it is just a place that people sometimes visit to go fishing or scuba diving.
Because no one lives on the island, the wild animals like to visit the island, and some birds that were endangered have found a safe home there.

(from: wikipedia - clipperton island)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Kuwait

Issachar

We've now learned about Reuben, Simeon, Ephraim, and Judah.
from the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Another of the twelve was Issachar.

Issachar was the fifth son of Leah, and the ninth son of Jacob.


(from: wikipedia - issachar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Blessed Assurance

Vincent van Gogh

We just learned about Michelangelo's sculpture of The Deposition and a lot of other works of art by Michelangelo.

Another of the most famous artists in the world was Vincent van Gogh.

He was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and grew up going to a few different schools where he was not a very happy kid.
Later on he got a job helping to make and sell artwork, and that made him much happier.

Through his life he started making paintings in the impressionist style, and then later on he made his own special style.

Sadly Van Gogh was not very famous while he was alive.
He started to get a little famous right before he died, and then about 10 years after he was gone some people found out what a genius he was and since then he has become one of the most famous artists of all time.

A lot of artists are famous for making a few dozen paintings, or even a few hudred.
Van Gogh made over 2,000 works of art, and some of his most famous paintings have sold for over 100 million dollars.

Even though Van Gogh only lived to be 37 years old and didn't have much time to become a master, he is thought to be one of the best artists of all time.


(from: wikipedia - vincent van gogh)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Truncated Pyramid Room - Bruce Nauman

Hindi - November, December

Let's keep learning about the months of the year in Hindi!

We already learned that January, February is जनवरी (janavaree), फरवरी (pharavaree)
March, April is मार्च (maarch), अप्रैल (aprail), May, June is मई (maee), जून (joon), July, August is जुलाई (julaee), अगस्त (agast), and September, October is सितंबर (sitambar), अक्टूबर (aktoobar)

Let's keep going!

November - नवम्बर (navambar) - sounds like nah-vah-m-bah-r - 文A

December - दिसम्बर (disambar) - sounds like dis-ah-m-bah-r - 文A



(from: wikipedia - devanagari)

Swahili: Novemba, Desemba

Russian: ноябрь (noyabr'), декабрь (dekabr')

Norwegian: November, December

Greek: Νοέμβριος (Noémvrios), Δεκέμβριος (Dekémvrios)

ASL: November, December

Italian: Novembre, Dicembre

German: November, Dezember

Spanish: Noviembre, Diciembre

French: Novembre, Décembre