Author Archives: Cris

Badminton

By | |
1 Comment
Badminton

Back and forth, back and forth.

  • Badminton is a sport that involves hitting a shuttlecock back and forth over a net using a racquet.
  • Badminton requires some special lightweight shoes with good grip; specially designed lightweight and stringed racquets; and a shuttlecock, made from cork, leather and feathers, or synthetic materials.
  • Badminton competitions are normally played indoors so that there is no wind interference, although for recreational purposes, it is usually played outdoors.
  • Badminton has been included in the Olympic games since 1992.
  • Badminton has its origins in the once popular battledore and shuttlecock game which probably originated in Ancient Greece, just prior to, or early in the first century.

Badminto, Family, Doubles, Outside, Action, Hit, Flickr, Ten Random Facts, Sport, Park

Badminton
Image courtesy of Skrobotic/Flickr
  • Badminton was established in the mid 1800s, when a net was added to the battledore and shuttlecock game, which only used a shuttlecock and a battledore – a small wooden racquet, and became popular in England, and then spread to Denmark, USA and Canada, and is now played in 169 countries.
  • The Badminton World Federation was founded in 1934, originally known as the International Badminton Federation, which now governs the sport of badminton throughout the world.
  • The badminton court is 13.4 meters (44 feet) in length and 5.18 to 6.1 meters (17 feet to 20 feet) in width, depending if the game is played singles or doubles.
  • Badminton can be played one versus one (singles), or a two versus two (doubles), and to win the game, a team will need to score two rounds of 21 points.
  • The name ‘badminton’ comes from the Duke of Beaufort’s residence, Badminton House, in Gloucestershire, England, where the game was played before the 1860s.
Bibliography:
Badminton, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badminton>

Tangram

By | |
3 Comments
Tangram

A thinking puzzle.

  • The tangram is a flat puzzle with seven shaped pieces, which when put together correctly, create a large square.
  • Tangrams can be arranged into many different shapes, such as a person or dog, and can be put together in an infinite number of combinations, and since the 1800s, there has been over 6500 documented, different tangram puzzle arrangements.
  • The tangram rules are that you must use all seven shapes (‘tans’); they must all touch; and they are not to overlap.
  • It is believed that tangrams were most likely invented in China between 960-1279 AD.
  • Tangrams were brought home to America and Europe by various merchants in the early 1800s, as gifts and souvenirs from their business trips to Canton, China, and became very popular.

Tangrams, Full, square, B lue, Together, Magnetic, James Lyon, simon and schuster australia, Ten Random Facts

  • Tangrams also became popular in World War I, probably due to their portability and good entertainment value.
  • The origin of the word ‘tangram’ is uncertain, and there are a variety of theories about it, including that it comes from an old English word ‘tramgram’ meaning puzzle or trinket.
  • Tangrams were originally made from glass, wood, ivory or turtle shell, and are now commonly made from plastic.
  • The tangram shapes are two large right angled triangles; one medium right angle triangle; two small right angle triangles; one square; and one parallelogram.
  • Tangram shaped tables and condiment dishes have been produced during the past couple of hundred years, with the sets of condiment dishes, made from a variety of materials, being popular in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Bibliography:
Tangram, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangram>

Ghost shrimps

By | |
Leave a comment
Ghost shrimps

Dig, dig, dig. Dig, dig, dig…

  • Ghost shrimps are also called marine yabbies, pink nippers, burrowing shrimps, ghost nippers, nippers, yabbies and Australian ghost shrimps.
  • Ghost shrimps are often used as bait for fishing and are collected by using yabby pumps.
  • The ghost shrimp’s scientific name is Trypaea australiensis, and is also known as Callianassa australiensis, and they are from the family of crustaceans.
  • Ghost shrimps live in flat sandy or muddy areas which are covered by tidal salt waters.
  • Ghost shrimps eat very small organic matter and plankton.

 Ghost Shrimp, Marine yabby, slatwater, claw, big, sea, animal, creature, beach, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Ghost shrimps live approximately 60 cm (2 feet) below the surface and create tunnels underground which generally contain water.
  • Ghost shrimps grow up to 7.5cm (3 inches) long, and have soft, flexible bodies, that are almost transparent.
  • Ghost shrimps have a large claw that sometimes grows up to half the size of itself, and the male’s claw is often larger than the female’s.
  • One ghost shrimp may have multiple surface entrances to its main tunnel.
  • The Australian ghost shrimps are native to the eastern coast of Australia.
Bibliography:
Australian ghost shrimp (Callianassa australiensis), n.d, Marine Species Identification Portal, <http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=lobsters&menuentry=soorten&id=66&tab=beschrijving>
Cumming R, The Humble Saltwater Yabby, 2013, Dreamfish, <http://dreamfish.com.au/wordpress/how-to-articles/how-to-catch-nippers-saltwater-yabbies/>

Edible Mushroom

By | |
Leave a comment
Edible Mushroom

Eat edible mushrooms not poisonous ones!

  • Edible mushrooms are fleshy, edible food from the species macro-fungi.
  • Edible mushrooms are eaten by humans, and cultivated ones are often eaten raw in a salad, or cooked in stirfries, stews, sauces and other dishes.
  • Wild mushrooms need to be thoroughly inspected and identified to see if they are edible, as they can often be poisonous, even if they look edible.
  • Edible mushrooms have a long history in China and have been eaten in that country hundreds of years BC.
  • Edible mushrooms are cultivated in a least 60 countries.

Mushroom, white, edible, eat, five, lots, bunches, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • There are over 20 species of mushrooms that are edible.
  • Some mushrooms are used in traditional medicine, and are called medicinal mushrooms, although they are not necessarily considered edible.
  • Some species of mushrooms are poisonous when raw, and when cooked the toxins are eliminated, and are then edible.
  • China is the biggest producer of mushrooms in the world, harvesting over 45% of the world’s mushrooms, and producing 1,458,952 tonnes (1,608,219 tons) of edible mushrooms in 2008, followed by the United States with 329,816 tonnes (363,560 tons) in 2008.
  • Edible mushrooms contain very large quantities of vitamin D2 if they have been exposed to UV light, even for a short time, and a serve of mushrooms can easily give a person more than their recommended daily requirements of vitamin D.
Bibliography:
Edible Mushroom, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_mushroom>

Julie Andrews

By | |
Leave a comment
Julie Andrews

She is a legend.

  • Julie Andrews’ full name is Dame Julie Elizabeth Andrews.
  • Julie Andrews is an actress, singer, director, dancer and author.
  • Julie Andrews was born on the 1 October, 1935, in Surrey, England.
  • Julie Andrews was named a dame, by Queen Elizabeth II, in 2000, for services to the performing arts.
  • Julie Andrews’ voice was damaged in 1997 due to a throat operation, and she never regained her incredible four octave singing voice, and as a result, she has participated in very few singing performances ever since.

 

Julie Andrews, autograph, bLACK and White, Grayscale, Young, Old, Print, Flickr, Ten Random Facts

 

Julie Andrews
Image courtesy of A Currell/Flickr

 

  • Julie Andrews married Tony Walton, and later Blake Edwards, and had five children, two of them orphans adopted from Vietnam, and two of them step children from Edwards’ previous marriage.
  • Julie Andrews started performing on stage with her parents in 1945, and within two years she was singing solo.
  • Julie Andrews is best known for her work as an actress in the musical Disney film ‘Mary Poppins’ (1964), portraying the main character, Mary Poppins; and as Maria von Trapp, in the 20th Century Fox film, the ‘Sound of Music’ (1965).
  • Julie Andrews has won over 25 awards, and been nominated for many, including 16 for Best Actress.
  • Julie Andrews has written many children’s books, some of which have become  New York Times bestsellers.
Bibliography:
Julie Andrews, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Andrews>

Parthenon

By | |
Leave a comment
Parthenon

Ancient structure from ancient times.

  • The Parthenon is a temple located in the Acropolis of Athens, above the city of Athens, in Greece.
  • The people of the city of Athens believed that the Greek goddess Athena, was the city’s patron, and so they built the Parthenon and dedicated to her.
  • The Parthenon was built in 447BC and completed in 438BC, while decoration was finished in 432BC.
  • In the 5th or 6th century AD, the Parthenon was turned into a church and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and later became a mosque, after Athens was invaded by Turkey in the 15th century.
  • The Parthenon is 13.72 metres (45 feet) in height, and was built with 81 Doric style columns and 4 Ionic columns, a total of 85 columns, made from white marble.

Parthenon, side, real, old, Greek, Greece, famous, structure, temple, Ten Random Facts, Flickr

Parthenon
Image courtesy of Jack Guilliams/Flickr
  • The word ‘Parthenon’ in Greek actually means ‘place of the virgin’ or ‘unmarried women’s apartments’.
  • In 1687 part of the Parthenon was destroyed by an explosion in the temple.
  • Originally, there were life-size marble sculptures in the Parthenon, many of which are now exhibited in museums.
  • Since 1975, the Parthenon has undergone various stages of reconstruction and restoration, directed by the Greek government.
  • The building of the Parthenon was supervised by the sculptor, Phidias, and the architects were Iktinos and Kallikrates.
Bibliography:
Parthenon, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon>
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...