Author Archives: Cris

Freight Train

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Freight Train

They go on forever!

  • Freight trains are also known as goods trains and cargo trains.
  • Freight trains are locomotives that pull special freight cars.
  • Freight trains can be over 7 km (4.3 miles) long.
  • Freight trains are the most energy efficient type of transport for carting large and heavy quantities of goods long distances.`
  • Freight trains with over 100 cars are sometimes required to use more than two locomotives.

Frieght Train, Green, Yellow, Long, Full, Cargo, Goods, Coal, Australia, Copley from Leigh Creek, South Australia, Ten Random Facts

  • In 2001, the BHP Mt Goldsworthy in Western Australia, broke the record for the heaviest and longest freight train and weighed 99,732 tonnes and was over 7.3 kms (4.5 miles) long.
  • It is very important to track freight trains in case of emergency, so satellites are used for this purpose where communication is scarce.
  • Freight train cargo is often loaded into steel boxes for transport.
  • Even though it is illegal, some people purposely board freight trains to get a free ride or to avoid normal means of transport.
  • Freight trains generally pull coal, ore and grains as well as cars, food and other goods.
Bibliography:
 Freight Rail Transport 29 December 2012, Wikipedia, <Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freight_rail_transport>
Graham, 2006, On the Rails , QED Publishing, United Kingdom

Touch Football

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Touch Football

First training, now competition.

  • Touch football is also known as touch rugby and touch, and involves both boys and girls.
  • Touch football is like rugby, with a field, two teams and a ball,  except you don’t tackle, you tap.
  • Touch football is often played in schools since it teaches important sporting techniques and is safer than rugby.
  • Touch football requires a small amount of equipment – markers and a football (soccer ball in America).
  • Touch football began in Australia, in 1923, as a fun thing to do, and as a training game for rugby league.  It did not become an official sport until 1968.

Touch Football, rugby, passing, attacking, blue, red, Public Domain Photos, Ten Random Facts

Touch Football
Image courtesy of Photobucket
  • Over 40 countries around the world play touch football in major competitions.
  • Touch football is popular in the South Pacific, Europe and the United Kingdom.
  • Typically touch football games take 45 minutes – two 20 minute halves and a 5 minute half time break.
  • The Touch Football World Cup is held every four years.
  • In 2012 in Australia, there were approximately 400,000 registered players, 500,000 school children, and numerous others that played touch football, making it one of the most popular sports in the country.
Bibliography:
Touch Football (rugby league) 30 December 2012, Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_football_(rugby_league)>

Grapes

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Grapes

Grapes are a fruit but aren’t grapefruit.

  • Grapes are a berry like fruit from the vine family ‘vitis’.
  • Grapes are eaten raw or can be made into jam, juice, jelly, wine, extract, raisins, vinegar and oil.
  • Grapes grow in bunches of 15 to 300.
  • Grapes can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange or pink in colour.
  • 75, 866 square kilometres of land is used for grape production.

Green grapes, bunches, Stalk, Bowl, Ten Random Facts, Aldi,

  • Some cultivars of grapes have seeds in them and some from the group ‘vitis vinetera’ don’t.
  • Grapes are toxic to dogs since they give dogs kidney problems.
  • 71% of grape production is used for wine and 27% is eaten raw.
  • China produced 8,651,831 tonnes of grapes in 2010 and Italy produced 7,787,800 tonnes.
  • Grape juice is popularly used by Christians as part of the Lord’s Supper celebration.
Bibliography:
Grape 13 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape>

Playdough

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Playdough

What do you want to make?

  • Playdough is a popular modelling medium for children.
  • Home-made playdough is commonly made from flour, water, salt and oil and there are numerous recipes available including cooked, uncooked and edible playdough.
  • The first commercial version of playdough was invented by Noah McVicker and his nephew Joseph and was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America.
  • The McVicker’s playdough was called Play-Doh, made by a new company they called Rainbow Crafts in 1956, Play-Doh is now owned by Hasbro.
  • Originally, Play-Doh (although it wasn’t called that at the time) was manufactured to clean coal marks from wallpaper in the 1930s.

Playdough, Roses, Mushroom, Blue, Red, Green, White, Blob, Play-Doh, Ten Random Facts

  • In 1955, the McVicker’s non-toxic wallpaper cleaner was introduced to children in schools and became an almost overnight success.  Prior to this, classrooms were using much stiffer materials that were difficult to model and stained hands.
  • More than 2 billion containers of Play-Doh were sold between 1955 – 2005.
  • Petroleum has been added to manufactured Play-Doh to obtain softness qualities.
  • Play-Doh has been sold in 75 countries around the world and similar playdough products are also sold in numerous countries.
  • Approximately 100 million containers of Play-Doh are sold each year.
Bibliography:
Play-Doh 14 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play-Doh>

Anne of Green Gables

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Anne of Green Gables

Ever read a Lucy Maud Montgomery book?

  • The classic novel Anne of Green Gables was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, who has written many books.
  • The first publication of Anne of Green Gables was in 1908 by L. C. Page and Co and contained 429 pages.
  • Anne of Green Gables has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated in 36 different languages.
  • Anne of Green Gables is about a young orphan named Anne Shirley.
  • Anne of Green Gables is extremely popular in Japan and has been read in Japanese schools for decades.

Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery, Classic, Wordsworth, 1994, Soft Cover, Ten Random Facts

  • Anne of Green Gables was inspired by a young couple who wanted an orphan boy but got a girl, and kept her.
  • Anne of Green Gables was ranked number 41 in BBC’s The Big Read survey of 2003.
  • Many movies from the novel Anne of Green Gables, have been produced, the first being a silent film in 1919.
  • Anne of Green Gables has many sequels. The first three are ‘Anne of Avonlea’ (1909), ‘Anne of the Island’ (1915) and ‘Anne of Windy Poplars’ (1936).
  • In 2009, an Anne of Green Gables 1908 first edition sold for $37,500 US.
Bibliography:
Anne of Green Gables 20 December 2012, Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Green_Gables>

Jewel Bug

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Jewel Bug

Little ‘jewels’.  Flashy, shiny and metallic.

  • Jewel bugs are also known as metallic shield bugs.
  • Jewel bugs are from the ‘Scutelleridae’ family, which are true bugs that have mouths that suck, rather than beetles that have mouths that chomp.
  • The jewel bug’s diet consists of plant juices.
  • When jewel bug’s feed, they alter the plant by injecting an enzyme from their saliva into the plant matter, which turns the plant into a liquid state.
  • Jewel bugs are related to stink bugs, as they can produce a smell when they are irritated.

Jewel Bug, Armor, Metallic, Orange, Red, Blue, Green, Australia, Queensland, Ten Random Facts

  • There are approximately 450 species of jewel bugs around the world.
  • Jewel bugs can range from 5 mm to 2 cm (0.2 to 0.79 inches) in length.
  • Jewel bugs come in a range of colours including metallic or iridescent blue, red, orange, black and green.
  • Jewel bugs lay white, cylindrical shaped eggs.
  • Jewel bugs moult, which is when they shed their exoskeleton to grow bigger.
 Bibliography:
Scutelleridae 26 December 2012, Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutelleridae>
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