History lesson #35

Numerous small inventions can have an impact on a culture over time.

There are a few inventions I will talk about with three groups of people. Egyptian, Greek, and Christian.

  • Wheelbarrow (Greek VS. Christian only)
  • Plow
  • Crane (Egyptian VS. Greek only)

Wheelbarrow

(Greek VS. Christian only)

The wheelbarrow was probably used by more by slaves in Greece than other people. The Greeks believed they deserved a luxurious life, where they didn’t have to work. The Christians believed God had put them on Earth to work, not avoid it. (This is just a thought, but) the Christians may have used the wheelbarrow to take food and goods to the poor people.

(heavy) Plow

The plow in Greece was probably not needed in Greece, because Greece borders the Mediterranean sea, the grounds are probably fertile from the water. The Egyptians had the Nile river to keep their ground watered, yet away from the Nile, the plow would be helpful whenever there was good soil to plow. The Christians could plow up land for people to grow food in.

Crane

(Egyptian VS. Greek only)

In Greece, they used the crane to lift up blocks to build things like the Parthenon. The Egyptians used a ramp system for the pyramids; either inner or outer. (I think inner.) The crane consists of a crank, pulley, shaft, boom, and rope. The crane is very useful when it comes to building tall structure, yet the Egyptians didn’t figure it out at the time of the pyramid construction.

Owls (Barn)

Barn owls have a very unique pattern on their wings.

  • Barn owls have sort of a golden background color
  • They have small speckles that look something like this (below) on the golden background of the wing.
Speckle on a barn owl’s wing
  • Barn owls also have a pattern that looks like really black ground pepper with ground salt in patches on the wings.
  • The chest and, belly, and legs are all white. The belly has a few black speckles.
  • The face of the barn owl is very unique. It is hart shaped with white in the middle. The eyes are pitch black and the beak is pale golden.
  • The back of the barn owl’s head is pale golden with a bunch of speckles that look like this:
Speckle on a barn owl’s head

More on owls here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/03/owls-snowy/ or here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/02/owls/

Owls (snowy)

Snowy owls have many features that the Great Horned owls have. Such as:

  • Owls fly silently. How cool is that?!?!?
  • Owls have great hearing and can catch things like mice and rats all the way under snow!
  • Snowy owls eyes are yellow.

They also have a few features of their own:

  • Male snowy owls are mostly white with a few black spots on their backs.
  • Female and young snowy owls are white with a lot of black spots on their back. They eat food like mice and fish.

For more on owls, click here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/02/owls/ or here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/04/owls-barn/.

Owls (Great Horned)

  • Most owls eyes are yellow.
  • The owls feathers can be a few colors such as grey and brown.
  • Owls are nocturnal, meaning they are awake at night.
  • Owls fly silently. How cool is that?!?!?
  • Owls have great hearing and can catch things like mice and rats all the way under snow!
  • Great horned owls don’t have real horns. The horns are really feathers.

For more on owls, click here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/03/owls-snowy/ or here: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/12/04/owls-barn/.

How to make a compass

Here is what you need to make a compass:

  • A needle
  • A cork
  • A small bowl of water (make one below)
how to make a small bowl for a compassDownload
  • A piece of magnetic rock (or magnet)

Here is how you make a compass

  • Step 1: First, you need to magnetize your needle. To do that, you need your needle, and your magnetic rock (or magnet). Strike the magnetic rock (or magnet) with the tip of the needle. This magnetizes the needle.
  • Step 2: Take your needle and cork and stand the cork on end so it is tall. Stab the needle through the middle of the cork.
  • Step 3: Take the bowl of water and put the cork and needle (as prepared in step two) and float the cork in the water.
  • Step 4: Test your compass. You should test your new compass by taking a non-homemade compass or compass app and make sure both line up to north. If it doesn’t work, you should repeat step 1 and put the cork back in the water when you are done and go back to the begging of this step.

You now have a working compass!

Thanks for reading!

History Lesson #30

The Compass: Europe vs. China

  • The Chinese used the compass to build their buildings pointing to North.
  • The ans used them to navigate the sea.
  • The Egyptians might have used the compass to to align their pyramids to north. Or they used the Nile’s flowing North to align their pyramids to North.
  • Christopher Columbus used the compass to find his way west and discover the Americas. Without the compass, there might not be a United States Of America.
  • The Europeans could navigate even when cloudy or at night.
  • They could use the map and align North on the compass with North on the compass rose and get the map lined up the right way. The Europeans could now navigate through big under water rocks that could cause a shipwreck like in the English channel. This improved trade, because the ships could go to more places and not have the risk of sinking.
  • The compass was originally invented by the Chinese.

Here is a post on how to make a compass: https://essaybank.home.blog/2019/11/29/how-to-make-a-compass/

Eagles

Golden Eagles

  • Golden Eagles have a white and brown speckled head and neck.
  • They have white tail feathers and yellow beaks and feet. They have brown wings and legs.
  • They eat things like fish and and small ground animals such as rabbits.

Bald Eagles

  • Bald Eagles are brown except yellow feet and beak, and white head.
  • The Bald Eagle is on the US seal.
https://youtu.be/tzSYyEhgvcQ

Peregrine Falcons

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Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcons have a grey head and wings. They have yellow eye rings, beaks, and feet. The Peregrine Falcon has light grey and black stripes on their wings and body. They have dark grey on the tips of feathers.

Baby Falcons are called “eyases” according to my Science teacher.