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!

Friday Fun Fact Mar 19

Checkmate!

image from Davis High News

The game of chess has been around for many, many years.  The word "checkmate" comes from the Arabic word "shah mat" which translates in English to "the king is helpless".

image from House of Staunton

One idea for the term "rookie" comes from the chess piece, rook.  The rook is in line in a chess game.

image from Smithsonian Magazine

Have a great weekend!  Play some chess :)

Monday Fun Fact Mar 15

 

QWERTY

image from Shutterstock

The keyboard that most people use these days is called the "Qwerty" keyboard. It is called the “QWERTY” because the letters that form the top left row of keys are:  Q W E R T Y.

Whey is the QWERTY keyboard arranged like this? According to the website How Stuff Works:

“This early typewriter used a mechanism with characters on the end of a bar. When a key was struck, a linkage would swing the bar into a tape coated with ink. When the character struck the tape, the impression of the character was transferred onto the paper, which was positioned behind the tape.”

A typist who was fast would get the bars jammed as they collided on their way to the paper.  Therefore , the typewriters had the letters rearranged with the most commonly used keys spread farther apart to slow typists down.

Another popular keyboard is the Dvorak:

image from www.dvorak-keyboard.com

 You can see that the letters are completely rearranged.  The keyboard tries to minimize the distance that the fingers need to move to type words.

Friday Fun Fact Mar 12

 

Lollipops

image from LissAngel

The childhood treat lollipop was trademarked in 1931 by George Smith, owner of the confectionary company Bradley Smith Company.  George said that he borrowed the name from a famous race horse at the time named Lolly Pop.

 The lollipop candy, Chupa Chups was first created in 1958. Enric Bernat started the candy when he saw that children were getting sticky hands from melting sweets. Artist Salvadore Dali designed the logo for the Chupa Chup candy, and he asked that the logo be placed on top of the lolly instead of on the side so that the logo would be intact. 

Have a great weekend!!  See you on Monday!

Monday Fun Fact Mar 8

Peanut Butter & Jelly!

image from Mashed

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have been found in many lunch boxes and on many kitchen tables for years.  Here are some interesting facts for you:

April 2 is Peanut Butter & Jelly day.

In 1901, the Boston Cooking School Magazine included peanut butter and jelly sandwich recipe - this is the first known recipe.

It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter.

George Washington Carver is known as the "grandfather of peanuts".  He discovered many ways to use peanuts, and he pioneered the farming methods of crop diversification and soil conservation.

You can watch peanut butter being made in this video:

How Peanut Butter is Made

image from 123RF

Have a Happy Monday!  See you on Friday!

Friday Fun Fact Mar 5

 

                                                       Hello Honey!!

                                                                                                                                                                                 image from Women's Health

Beautiful golden honey...mmmm!  

Honey is Winnie the Pooh's favorite food, and for good reason!  Here are some interesting facts about honey:

image from PNGitem

Honey never spoils! That's because honey is naturally acidic and has a low moisture content, making it not a good place for bacteria to grow.  If the honey is stored in an airtight container, it can stay in your pantry for a long, long time!

Honey was used as a medicine treatment many years ago.   Because bacteria does not grow in honey, it was used to as a natural bandage to protect cuts and burns.

 

Bees survive through the winter on the honey that they made in the summer. 

According to Mental Floss:

"A productive bee colony makes two to three times more honey than it needs to survive the winter. When harvesting honey from a beehive, beekeepers try not to take anything the bees will miss. If necessary, beekeepers will feed bees sugar syrup in the autumn to compensate for the honey they take." 

Watch this video to see how honey is "made" for us:

How Honey is Made

Have a great weekend!  See you on Monday!

Monday Fun Fact Mar 1

 

Cheetos!!

image from Insider

The crunchy Cheetos snack was invented in 1948 by the same company that produced Fritos.

Cheetos Puffs were introduced by that same company 23 years later in 1971.

image from Learn Methods.com 

The orange cheesy dust that coats your fingers after eating Cheetos is called "cheetle" 

Click on this link to see how Cheetos are made:

How Cheetos are Made

See you on Friday!!