I need a name!
February 27, 2007
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Archive for February, 2007
Dr. Seuss
February 27, 2007
New Tomb?
February 21, 2007
Egypt Discovers more Tombs… |
The Associated Press THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006 |
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CAIRO American archaeologists have made the first discovery of a new tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings since King Tutankhamen’s was uncovered in 1922, Egypt’s antiquities chief has announced. The 18th Dynasty tomb included five mummies in intact sarcophagi with colored funerary masks, along with more than 20 large storage jars, sealed with pharaonic seals, Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a statement. Still unknown is who the tomb belonged to. The U.S. archeologist Kent Weeks, who was not involved in the discovery but has seen photographs of the tomb’s interior, said its appearance suggested it did not belong to a king. “It could be the tomb of a king’s wife or son, or of a priest or court official,” he said Thursday. No matter who is in the new tomb, its discovery shatters the nearly century-old perception that there was nothing left to discover in the Valley of the Kings, where it was long thought that the 62 previously known tombs were all there was, said Weeks, who made the last major discovery in the valley. “It clearly proves that the Valley of the Kings is still not exhausted,” he said. “There are probably more tombs to be found in it.” Weeks made the last major discovery in the valley. In 1995, he opened a previously known tomb and found it was far larger than expected: more than 120 chambers, which he determined were tombs for sons of the pharaoh Ramses II. The new tomb is a single chamber, meaning it was probably intended for a single mummy, he said. Other sarcophagi - or even all of them - may have been put in at a later time. “The objects in the tomb don’t necessarily date to the original tomb. It is not unknown for a tomb to be used as a storeroom for other materials,” Weeks said. “The objects could be 200 to 400 years later than the original cutting of the tomb. Some could be original, some may have been introduced later.” It is known that in later dynasties, high priests fearing grave robbers took mummies from their original sites and stashed them in other tombs or locations - or even after the pharaonic area, mummies were moved either to protect them or to hide them for later theft, he said. Hawass did not specify who was believed buried in the tomb. The antiquities chief was scheduled to visit the site Friday to announce more details. A University of Memphis team of archaeologists led by Otto Schaden found the tomb 4 meters, or 13 feet, below the ground, buried under rubble and stones 5 meters away from Tut’s tomb, the statement by Hawass said. Inside the rectangular tomb, the five wooden sarcophagi were surrounded by the jars, which appeared placed haphazardly, suggesting the burial was completed quickly, the statement by Hawass said. The 18th Dynasty, from around 1500 B.C. to 1300 B.C., was the first dynasty of the New Kingdom, the pharaonic empire than lasted until around 1000 B.C. and made its capital in Thebes - the present day city of Luxor, 500 kilometers, or 300 miles, south of Cairo. The Valley of the Kings was used as a burial ground throughout the New Kingdom, though contrary to its name not all the tombs are of kings. The new tomb will be called KV63 by archaeologists, adding to the previously known sites labeled from KV1 to KV62, which is the tomb of Tutankhamen, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922. KV5 is the tomb of Ramses II’s sons. “It’s ironic,” Weeks said. “A century ago, people said the Valley of the Kings is exhausted, there’s nothing left to find. Suddenly Carter found Tutankhamen. So then they said, now there’s nothing to find. Then we found KV5. Now we have KV63. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find more.” |
New Tombs.. <~~~~~~~~~~~Read
ThinkQuest Library Brain Power
February 17, 2007
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The ThinkQuest Library provides innovative learning resources for students of all ages on a wide range of educational topics. Featuring over 6,000 websites, the library is created by students from around the world. | |
Amazing Americans Webquest
February 14, 2007
AmazingReading Tutor!
February 13, 2007
Mission Impossible Web Quest!
February 13, 2007
Healthy Heart
February 11, 2007
Did you give your friends valentines and little heart-shaped candies on Valentine’s Day? Do you ever cross your heart when making a promise that you really, really mean? Or turn on the radio to hear a guy singing about his broken heart?We see and hear about hearts everywhere. A long time ago, people even thought that their emotions came from their hearts, maybe because the heart beats faster when a person is scared or excited. Now we know that emotions come from the brain, and that the brain tells the heart what to do. So what’s the heart up to, then? How does it keep busy? What does it look like? Let’s find out.
Working That MuscleYour heart is really a muscle. It’s located a little to the left of the middle of your chest, and it’s about the size of your fist. There are lots of muscles all over your body - in your arms, in your legs, in your back, even in your behind. But the heart muscle is special because of what it does. The heart sends blood around your body. The blood provides your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. It also carries away waste. Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart receives blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart does the exact opposite: It receives blood from the lungs and pumps it out to the body. We Got the BeatHow does the heart beat? Before each beat, your heart fills with blood. Then its muscle contracts to squirt the blood along. When the heart contracts, it squeezes - try squeezing your hand into a fist. That’s sort of like what your heart does so it can squirt out the blood. Your heart does this all day and all night, all the time. The heart is one hard worker! Heart PartsThe heart is made up of four different blood-filled areas, and each of these areas is called a chamber. There are two chambers on each side of the heart. One chamber is on the top and one chamber is on the bottom. The two chambers on top are called the atria (say: ay-tree-uh). If you’re talking only about one, call it an atrium. The atria are the chambers that fill with the blood returning to the heart from the body and lungs. The heart has a left atrium and a right atrium. The two chambers on the bottom are called the ventricles (say: ven-trih-kulz). The heart has a left ventricle and a right ventricle. Their job is to squirt out the blood to the body and lungs. Running down the middle of the heart is a thick wall of muscle called the septum (say: sep-tum). The septum’s job is to separate the left side and the right side of the heart. The atria and ventricles work as a team - the atria fill with blood, then dump it into the ventricles. The ventricles then squeeze, pumping blood out of the heart. While the ventricles are squeezing, the atria refill and get ready for the next contraction. So when the blood gets pumped, how does it know which way to go? Well, your blood relies on four special valves inside the heart. A valve lets something in and keeps it there by closing - think of walking through a door. The door shuts behind you and keeps you from going backward. Two of the heart valves are the mitral (say: my-trul) valve and the tricuspid (say: try-kus-pid) valve. They let blood flow from the atria to the ventricles. The other two are called the aortic (say: ay-or-tik) valve and pulmonary (say: pul-muh-ner-ee) valve, and they’re in charge of controlling the flow as the blood leaves the heart. These valves all work to keep the blood flowing forward. They open up to let the blood move ahead, then they close quickly to keep the blood from flowing backward. It’s Great to CirculateYou probably guessed that the blood just doesn’t slosh around your body, once it leaves the heart. It moves through many tubes called arteries and veins, which together are called blood vessels. These blood vessels are attached to the heart. The blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called arteries. The ones that carry blood back to the heart are called veins. The movement of the blood through the heart and around the body is called circulation (say: sur-kyoo-lay-shun), and your heart is really good at it. It’s so good at it that it takes less than 60 seconds to pump blood to every cell in your body. Your body needs this steady supply of blood to keep it working right. Blood delivers oxygen to all the body’s cells. To stay alive, a person needs healthy, living cells. Without oxygen, these cells would die. If that oxygen-rich blood doesn’t circulate as it should, a person could die. The left side of your heart sends that oxygen-rich blood out to the body. The body takes the oxygen out of the blood and uses it in your body’s cells. When the cells use the oxygen, they make carbon dioxide and other stuff that gets carried away by the blood. It’s like the blood delivers lunch to the cells and then has to pick up the trash! Kidneys Are FiltersEach time the blood circulates from the heart out to the body, about 20% (one fifth) of it goes through the kidneys. The kidneys filter out some of the waste before the blood heads back to the heart. The returning blood enters the right side of the heart. It takes the blood to the lungs for a little freshening up. Carbon dioxide is left in the lungs to be removed when we exhale. What’s next? An inhale, of course, and a fresh breath of oxygen that can enter the blood to start the process again. And remember, it all happens in about a minute! Listen to the Lub-DubWhen you go for a checkup, your doctor uses a stethoscope to listen carefully to your heart. A healthy heart makes a lub-dub sound with each beat. This sound comes from the valves shutting on the blood inside the heart. The first sound (the lub) happens when the mitral and tricuspid valves close. The next sound (the dub) happens when the aortic and pulmonary valves close after the blood has been squeezed out of the heart. Next time you go to the doctor, ask if you can listen to the lub-dub, too. Pretty Cool - It’s My Pulse!Even though your heart is inside you, there is a cool way to know it’s working from the outside. It’s your pulse. You can find your pulse by lightly pressing on the skin anywhere there’s a large artery running just beneath your skin. Two good places to find it are on the side of your neck and the inside of your wrist, just below the thumb. You’ll know that you’ve found your pulse when you can feel a small beat under your skin. Each beat is caused by the contraction (squeezing) of your heart. If you want to find out what your heart rate is, use a watch with a second hand and count how many beats you feel in 1 minute. When you are resting, you will probably feel between 70 and 100 beats per minute. When you run around a lot, your body needs a lot more oxygen-filled blood. Your heart pumps faster to supply the oxygen-filled blood that your body needs. You may even feel your heart pounding in your chest. Try running in place or jumping rope for a few minutes and taking your pulse again - now how many beats do you count in 1 minute? Keep Your Heart HappyMost kids are born with a healthy heart and it’s important to keep yours in good shape. Here are some things that you can do to help keep your heart happy:
So now you know that your heart doesn’t look like a valentine, but it sure deserves to be loved for all the work it does. It started pumping blood before you were born and will continue pumping throughout your whole life. Updated and reviewed by: Gina Baffa, MD |
Author Susan Klopfer invites us to view her Emmett Till blog…
February 11, 2007
Miss Klopfer has found our website and commented on our Emmett Till blog. She invites us to visit her website where we can find more information about the Civil Rights Movement, Emmett Till and others.
Read Miss Klopfer’s comment’s below:
http://missroche127.wordpress.com/2007/01/25/who-is-emmett-till/
Visit Author Susan Klopfer’s website here:
Chinese New Year
February 8, 2007
Mardi Gras
February 8, 2007
What is Mardi Gras?Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday”. The name comes from the ancient custom of parading a fat ox through Paris on this day. The ox was to remind the people that they were not allowed to eat meat during Lent. Lent runs from Ash Wednesday thru Easter Sunday.
Mardi Gras moves. It can be anywhere between February 3rd and March 9th. The date depends on when Easter falls.
French people who came to the United States brought the custom of Mardi Gras with them. The most famous festival in the US (and perhaps the world) is at New Orleans in Louisiana *wistful sigh*– I’ve always wanted to go, not necessarily for Mardi Gras, but just to see it.
But Mardi Gras parades happen throughout the world. Biloxi in Mississipi, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Nice in France, Binche in Belgiun and Viareggio in Italy are just a few examples.
The Tuesday that Mardi Gras falls on is also known as Shrove Tuesday. The name comes from the custom of confessing on the day before lent. Shrove means “to be forgiven one’s sins.”
Mardi Gras Customs:
In Southern Italy, people dress up in costumes and put on an ancient play during Mardi Gras
In Rio de Jeneiro, people dance in the streets.
In Nice, France people wear giant masks in the Mardi Gras parade (it looks like a bunch of walking heads with tiny bodies).
In Binche, Belgium people dress in colorful clown costumes (the clowns are called gilles)The clowns wear bunches of ostrich feathers on their heads and dance in the streets. They carry baskets of oranges which they throw to the watching crowds.
For most of you, Mardi Gras customs are likely of the New Orleans variety. During the parade, everyone dresses up in costumes. Trinkets, especially beads and doubloons, are tossed to the crowds from the parade floats. The Mardi Gras colors are purple, green and gold.
Lynn contributed the following info:
The modern incarnation of Mardi Gras in the U.S. begin in Mobile, AL in 1830, with Michael Krafft and the Cowbellion de Rakin Society. Their Mardi Gras celebrations continued until the Civil War. New Orleans’ claims to be the origin of American Mardi Gras come from the fact that it is likely that the French & Spanish upper crust of the Louisiana celebrated Mardi Gras as part of their French Catholic heritage long before the first parade in New Orleans in 1857. Mardi Gras resumed in Mobile after the Civil War in 1866 with Joseph Stillwell Cain, the “Tea Drinkers”, and the Order of Myths, and has continued to the present times. In general, Mobile has a more “family-oriented” Mardi Gras than New Orleans, but both can get risque. Check out http://www.maf.mobile.al.us/recreation/mardi_gras.html http://www.gumbopages.com/carnival-faq.html and
http://travel.roughguides.com/content/883/25046.htm for more information
Miss C’s Challenge
February 6, 2007This month is Black History Month. Miss C wants us to also find out about other famous people of other heritages. Below are some links to help you. Let’s surprise Miss C with research.
Hispanic American Biographies, A-Z
Infoplease Search: famous native americans
Print out this form to use for your research.
Symbols of the United States
February 6, 2007
Today we read about The White House and how it symbolizes what our country stands for.
Can you give other examples of symbols that represent?
Make a list. See how many symbols you can come up with. HINT: sports
