Fun Fact Monday Dec 20

 Ice Castles

image from Deseret News

image from Bangor Daily News

Ice castles were first created by a man named  Brent Christensen.  He created ice creations in his backyard to entertain his children during the long winter months.  People began driving by to see his icy sculptures, and Brent decided to make the attraction known as Ice Castles.  Ice Castles can be found in four locations throughout the US and Canada.

photo from Christopher Lough

 

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/building-frozen-castles-with-the-master-of-ice

spaghetti

Fun Fact Monday Dec 13

 

Gingerbread!

image from Easy Food

Gingerbread is a traditional food during the holidays.

Here are some interesting facts about gingerbread according to the website "Easy Food":

1. Gingerbread men were first created at the request of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

 2.  Swedish tradition says that if you put a piece of gingerbread in the palm of one hand and make a wish and then break the gingerbread with the other hand into 3 pieces, your wish will come true.

3.  The largest gingerbread house is listed in the 2013 Guiness  World Records as being in Texas.  The gingerbread house can hold a family of five.

image from www.today.com

 

You can find the article at https://easyfood.ie/articles/5-fun-facts-you-didnt-know-about-gingerbread/

Here are videos of how to create fun gingerbread houses:

Fun Gingerbread houses

More Gingerbread Houses

Fun Fact Monday Dec 6

 

Fun Scratch Jr Facts

      

This is the original Scratch cat created in 2002.

Scratch Jr was created in 2014 to appeal to younger students.  Scratch Jr has several friends including:

• 

  Tic

 
• 

  Tac

 
• 

  Toc

"Scratch takes its name from a technique used by disk jockeys called "scratching", where vinyl records are clipped together and manipulated on a turntable to produce different sound effects and music. Like scratching, the website lets users mix together different media (including graphics, sound, and other programs) in creative ways by creating and remixing projects, like video games and animations."    -  Kids Encyclopedia Facts

https://kids.kiddle.co/Scratch_(programming_language)

Fun Fact Monday Nov 29

 

Avenue of the Baobabs

image from The Amazing World

These amazing trees are Baobabs, and this Avenue of the Baobabs is found on the island of Madagascar.  The fruits, seeds, and leaves of the baobab tree are all edible.  The baobab is the national symbol of Madagascar.

Folklore says that the trees were uprooted and turned upside down to explain their unusual appearance. 

image from Travel + Leisure

Here is an interesting video about the baobab tree:

Baobab Tree

Fun Fact Monday Nov 22

 

Is this true?

image from Youtube

Between October 20th and November 14th, of the year 1930, the Indiana Bell Telephone Company  hoisted up its Indianapolis headquarters building and turned it 90 degrees.  The eight-story building was made of steel frame and brick and weighed 11,000 tons.  It was a feat unlike any other, and business continued as usual during the move.  600 workers continued to report to work each day, and customers entered the building with no delays or service outages.

You can discover more by watching these videos:

Moving the building

Moving the building 2

Fun Fact Monday Nov 15

 

Lucy the Spacecraft

image from Thespaceshop.com

Lucy is a spacecraft launched on October 16, 2021.  Her mission is to explore the "fossils of planet formation":  the Trojan asteroids.   These asteroids are time capsules of the birth of our solar system from over 4 billion years ago.

image from SciTechDaily

Lucy is named for the 3.2 million-year-old fossil.  Here is a video to 

 watch about the Lucy mission:

Lucy Spacecraft

Fun Fact Monday Nov 8

Hamsters

image from Treehugger

I remember having a hamster for a pet when I was growing up.  My daughter also had a hamster when she was little.  Hamsters are popular pets!  Here are some interesting facts about hamsters:

Hamsters are nocturnal animals.  This means that they are awake and alert at night instead of during the day.  Try not to wake a hamster when it is sleeping.  A hamster needs its rest.

Hamsters have cheek pouches to store food in.  If your hamster fills up his cheeks and moves around his habitat, he is likely hiding food in various places for later snacking.

image from Hamsterauthority.com

Hamster like to stay clean.  You will often see them licking their fur.

It is illegal to own pet hamsters in Hawaii. Hamsters are banned in that state because the weather there is very similar to a hamster's natural desert habitat.  People worry that hamsters could multiply quickly and damage crops and other animals.

 

image from Pinterest

Hamsters are intelligent creatures and need activity.  You can create a maze like the one in this video to keep your hamster active and happy:

Hamster Minecraft Maze

Fun Fact Monday Nov 1

Bunny Jumping!

image from Daily Mail

Horse shows feature horses jumping over gates and walls, and these shows have been popular for many years.

In the 1970s, another kind of jumping competitions became popular:  rabbit jumping!

image from Wikipedia

Rabbits can jump nearly 40 inches high and 120 inches long. In rabbit show jumping, also known as Kaninhop, rabbits make their way around a course of various sized jumps and gates.

You can watch more bunny jumping here:

Bunny Jumping Contest

Fun Fact Monday Oct 25

Whooooo Is This?

image from The Atlantic 

It's a Burrowing Owl! 

image from Treehugger

This is a Great Horned Owl

Owls cannot roll their eyes around, so they have to move their entire head to get a look around.  Owls can rotate their heads 270 degrees in either direction.

A group of owls is called a parliament.

Lovely Owl

Owl head control

Fun Fact Monday Oct 18

 

Pumpkins!

image from Getty Images

Each pumpkin has about 500 seeds.  You can roast and eat the seeds, and the flowers are edible too!

image from Creative Connections for Kids

Here is a video called "A Pumpkin's Life" that shows how pumpkins grow:

A Pumpkin's Life

video courtesy of The Kid Should See This

See you next Monday!

Fun Fact Monday Oct 11

Beautiful Bagpipes

image from Musical Instrument Pro

A bagpipe is a woodwind instrument that uses reeds and air from a bag to make sounds.  Bagpipe instruments are very old, going back possibly to Roman times.

Shepherds used bagpipes to signal animals, and armies used the sound of a bagpipe to frighten their enemy.

Bagpipes - CBS Sunday Morning

Fun Fact Monday Oct 4

I wonder . . . .

This is a great website to learn something new! It can be found on the Student Resources page of the Shepard website.

image from Pinterest

This is a piragua.  A piragua is a shaved ice treat from Puerto Rico that looks very similar to a snow cone.  However, a piragua has a distinctive cone shape - thus the name:  "piramide" is Spanish for "pyramid", and "agua" means "water" 

Most common flavors are cherry, coconut, and lemon.

Fun Fact Monday Sept 27

 Hungry for a Snack?

image from The Boston Globe

Try a Fluffernutter sandwich!

Fluffernutter sandwich is made with bread, peanut butter, and Marshmallow Fluff.   Marshmallow Fluff has been around for 100 years, and is made of corn syrup, sugar syrup, dried egg white and vanillin.

Commercials for Fluffernutters can be found here:

https://marshmallowfluff.com/the-fluffernutter/

Fun Fact Monday Sept 20

Welcome Back!!

image from Depositphotos

It has been some time since I last posted a fun fact, but a new school year has begun, and this blog is ready for information!

 Raining Poetry

"If you're walking through Boston during a downpour, make sure to keep your eyes on the pavement. You might just see a poem appear before your eyes." 

"Raining Poetry," is an art installation resulting from a collaboration between the nonprofit Mass Poetry and the city of Boston.  The poems were created using stencils and a water-repellant spray.

 "The poems are invisible during dry, sunny weather. But they appear like magic once raindrops start falling from the sky. "

- from SmithsonianMag.com  found on Student Resources Tween Tribune

Here is an interesting video about the creator of Rainworks, the company that produces the water-repellant spray:

Story of Rainworks

Rainworks

image from Rainworks

image from Pinterest

Jokes from Shepard Students!

From Emily B in Hagerty's 4th grade:

Question:  How does the moon cut its hair?

Answer:  Eclipse it!

From Alex W in Roper's 5th grade: 

Question:  What do you call a bear with no teeth?

Answer:  A gummi bear!!

See you next Monday!

Friday Fun Fact April 30

 

Butterflies

image from NSTA

Butterflies are such delicate and colorful creatures. They can bring feelings of happiness and joy as we watch them float above the flowers.

Facts:

Butterflies taste with their feet.

A group of butterflies is known as a "flutter"

Butterflies can see beyond the ultraviolet spectrum.

The wings of a butterfly move in a figure 8 motion.

image from Dreamstime.com

Shepard Students Share Jokes!

 image from Business-Insider

Samantha in Ms Davis class:

"Does February March?"

"No, but April May!"

Genni in Ms Davis class:

 "Why did the banana cross the road?"

"Because he needed to get peeled."

"

More jokes and facts from Shepard students next Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Update 9/19/21:  I apologize for not keeping up with the Fun Facts Blog over the summer, but with the start of the 2021-22 school year, we are back in business!

Friday Fun Fact April 23

 

Apples

image from Mental Floss

Aiyanna in Ms Bender's class shared a fun fact:

"Apples have wax on them to keep them fresh and not rot."

Apples produce a natural wax, like pears and plums.  This wax helps the apple to retain its moisture and stay firm.  It also slows down the rotting process of the apple, just as Aiyanna reported.

The wax is perfectly safe to eat, and it is the reason why an apple shines.  This wax has also been found to stop various cancer cells, so further research is being made on apple wax.

You can learn more about the wax on apples by going to this website:

https://www.bestfoodfacts.org/wax-on-apples/

Just for Fun:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/smart-x-conductive-thread-kandenko-japanese-commercial

More about this video next week!

Have a great weekend!

Friday Fun Fact April 16

 

Bubble Gum Brocolli?

image from AndNowUKnow

In 2014, McDonalds was looking for ways to make their Happy Meals healthier.  One of the ideas was to sweeten the taste of brocolli by making it taste more like bubble gum.  The children that were asked to taste test the brocolli were confused by the flavor and did not care for it, so the company decided to abandon the idea.  They did decide to offer a smaller portion of fries and add an option of fruit and yogurt, and that is what we see today.

Congratulations to McDonalds on trying something new, and a big BIG THANK YOU to Scarlett in Ms DeClerk's class who brought this fun fact to me!

image from The Conversation

My next fun fact is from Chance in Ms Davis's class:  all mammals produce milk. Even elephants!  Even lions!

Shepard Students Share Jokes!

image from iStock

Lila in Ms Davis's class:  

"A guy once told me that I would never learn how to tie a tie. So i told him it's KNOT going to happen!"

LOL!  Thanks, Lila!  

Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone!!

Friday Fun Fact April 9

 

The Sound of Music

Some of you may be learning Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do with Mr. Thomas these days!  Here is the song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhLE3UDAnGw

This song is from the musical "The Sound of Music" by Rodgers and Hammerstein.  The musical "The Sound of Music" is based on the true story of the Trapp Family Singers - an Austrian family who sang and sought freedom from World War II in Europe.

                image from Biography

The real family Von Trapp

image from Getty Images

The Von Trapp actors from "The Sound of Music"

The Von Trapp family has an amazing story!

See you next Friday!

Monday Fun Fact Mar 29

 

Paper Lanterns

image from Getty Images

They are beautifully painted and delicately crafted - the paper lantern.

Floating, flying, or set in place, these lights can symbolize joy, celebration, good fortune, and many other ideas.

image from Japan Rail Pass

image from TravelSmart Woman

The paper lantern is recorded to have been created sometime in 230 BC - these glowing beauties have been around for a long, long time!  The peace and symbolism that these lanterns remind us of will ensure that we will continue to create them for many more  years to come.

Here is a video of how Japanese paper lanterns are made:

https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/how-japanese-paper-lanterns-are-made

Look here to learn how to make your own paper lantern:

https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/paper-lantern.html

image from Pinterest

We are going back to school five days a week next week!!  Yippee!!

I may not have time to post two fun facts a week, so I will concentrate on creating one every Friday instead.  I welcome any suggestions that you have!

See you in class!

Monday Fun Fact Mar 22

 

Grasshopper Mouse

image from The Parady Wiki - Fandom 

This is the Grasshopper Mouse.  It looks so cute!!

But don't let its cute looks fool you - it is unlike other mice!!

The Grasshopper mouse mainly lives in the Sonoran Desert.

image from Shutterstock

The Grasshopper Mouse eats insects like centipedes and grasshoppers, but it can also attack and eat venomous scorpions!   

image from Wired

While stalking its prey, the Grasshopper Mouse will stand on its hind legs and howl!

If you would like to know more about this amazing mouse, you can go to this website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5zDVkCVFKMm8mG1NsjZ4WdC/grasshopper-mouse

Many thanks to Sharon Salmons for sharing her idea for this fun fact!