The 2021 Tour de France begins!

 

2021 Tour de France.

In 2021, the Tour de France began on June 26th and ends on July 18 th. This year's Tour de France begins in Brest(Brittany, France).The end of the race takes place along the Champs-Elysees, one of the famous streets in France. It's considered the world's biggest and most exciting bicycling race.  Athletes competing in the race will travel approximately 3383 km  ( 2192 miles) during the 23 day race. Each day(called stages), a leader  will be awarded a yellow jersey(or Maillot Jaune in French). In addition to the yellow jersey, there is a polka dot jersey awarded to the best climber(king of the mountains), a white jersey( the best youngest rider) and a green jersey(best sprinter).The Tour de France began in 1903.

See a map with the 2021 route: http://www.cyclingweekly.com/tour-de-france.

*Download the free resource here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/TOUR-DE-FRANCE-2018-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-3894291

Fun Facts:

Only men compete in the Tour de France.

Approximately, 123,900 calories are burned by each rider in the Tour de France.

42000 water bottles will be used by the racers!

Someone figured out that enough sweat is created from racers competing in the 22 day race, to flush a toilet 39 times!

Riders from France have won the most races!(36 as of 2015)

The Tour de France is also known as "La Grande Boucle". 

Vocabulary word: Peloton, the term for the "pack" of riders.

History of Bicycles...Did You Know? 

As of 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark, is the bike friendly capital of the world. Amsterdam, Netherlands, came in second, with Utrecht, Netherlands, third. Some sources say Utrecht is more bike friendly than Amsterdam.

Some sources say the  invention of the first “bicycle” is credited to Comte Medi De Sivrac, of France. His bike didn’t have any pedals! The year was 1792 and it was called a hobby horse(or celerifere). To move you needed your feet!

Other sources credit Baron Karl von Drais, of Germany, with the Draisine meaning “running machine”.The 1917 human-propelled vehicle didn’t have any pedals.

A bike similar to today’s bike was created by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, from Scotland. The year was 1839. His bicycle had pedals!

The word “bicycle” comes from the French word “bicyclette”. The term became popular in 1868. Previous to this, bicycles were called “velocipedes” meaning “fast foot”.

The Penny-Farthing was a British bicycle that had a large front wheel and a much smaller wheel in the back. The name represented two British coins, the Farthing and the British Penny.

Early bicycles (velocipede) were known as bone shakers by their riders. With wooden wheels inside an iron rim and an iron frame, it was a very bumpy ride!

In 1887, Thomas Stevens became the first person to ride a Penny Farthing around the world!

In 1867, father and son, Pierre and Ernest Michaux, invented the modern bicycle.

Did you know that suffragette, Susan B.Anthony made a comment on the bicycle? She said that the mode of transportation “has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” She called the bicycle the “freedom machine.”

In 1896, Margaret Valentine Le Long rode a bicycle from Chicago to San Francisco!

Did you know that before Orville and Wilbur Wright became famous for their flying machine, they owned a bicycle repair shop? It was in their shop, in 1903, that they made their first airplane! It was called the Wright Flyer!

YOUR TURN!

1. Write a diary pretending to be one of the cyclists in the Tour de France. What do you see? Feel? Hear?

2. Do you think women should be allowed to compete with the men's Tour de France? Why or why not?

3. What are 2 character traits of a person that would participate in the Tour de France? 

4. After reading the History of Bicycle facts, why do you think Susan B. Anthony called the bicycle, the “freedom machine”?

5. What are two positive things about riding a bicycle?

6. Learn more about the country of France: https://www.natgeokids.com/za/discover/geography/countries/facts-about-france/

7. How the bicycle changed the world for women: https://www.nbcsports.com/ washington/2021-tour-de-france-stages-schedule-map-live-stream-how- watch

Teacher Page:

Ask students if they have heard of the Tour de France and share any information they may have on the famous race.  Have students locate the country of France on a world map.  

Give the students the handout pages. Have students do one or more of the following activities.

Extension Activities:

1. Try this FREE crossword puzzle on France: http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?francepuzzler.html

2. Draw/color a picture of a bicycle. Write a fact learned about the Tour de France on your drawing.

3. Read about the Eiffel Tower, one of France's most famous landmarks: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Eiffel-Tower-Explore-World-Landmarks-773097

4. Learn some fun facts about France: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/countries/france.html

5.Timeline on the history of the bicycle: https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7083.html. 

Illustration from:Wpclipart

Brain Trivia!

 

JUNE IS BRAIN AWARENESS MONTH

COOL BRAIN FACTOIDS!

by

Gail SKroback Hennessey

The brain is made up of five main parts: the brain stem, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, cerebellum, and the cerebrum.  Learn some cool facts about your brain! Share these facts with students.

• Did you know that the brain is about 3 pounds in weight?

• The largest part of the brain, or 85%, is called the cerebrum.

• Did you know that 75% of the brain is made up of water?

• The brain feels no pain as there aren’t any pain receptors in the brain.

• If you lined up all the neurons in your brain, they’d stretch about 600 miles!  That’s because there are about one hundred BILLION neurons in the brain. They are very tiny. About 50 neurons could be lined up side by side across a dot. What’s a neuron?  It’s a nerve cell.

• You can’t tickle yourself! That’s because the brain can tell the difference between your own touch and an external one.

• Did you know that there is a BRAIN BANK at Harvard? It’s the largest such “bank” in the world. About 7,000 brains are stored at the bank for research.

• Mummies of ancient Egyptians have been found with drilled holes suggesting people had some sorts of brain surgery in ancient times.

• You could use  a butter knife to cut the brain. It is THAT soft.

• Your brain creates about 25 watts of energy while you are awake, enough to light up a light bulb.

• Ancient Egyptians didn’t see any value in the human brain. It was removed via the nostrils and thrown away in the mummy-making process.

• Wow…it is estimated that we have 70,000 thoughts each and every day! That’s a lot of thoughts…hopefully they are positive ones.

• 170 mph is the speed in which nerve impulses travel to the brain and back.

• Scientists say we blink about 20,000 times each day. The brain keeps the world from going dark each time we blink.

• The hypothalamus is your brain’s thermostat. It monitors your body temperature. If it is too high, you sweat to help cool down. If your body temperature gets cold, you shiver to warm up.

• Have you had a “brain freeze”? The correct term is sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia.

• Often nicknamed, the “grey matter”, the brain is actually a pink-beige color.

• It is estimated that the brain has about 100,000 miles of blood vessels!

• Eating eagle hearts and crushed lizards was thought, in the middle Ages, to be brain food!

• Our brain’s very short term memory(working memory) can remember up to about seven digits at a time before it is forgotten. Hmmm, no wonder telephone numbers are no longer than seven digits!

TRY SOME FUN BRAIN ACTIVITIES AT THIS LINK: http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?brainfryer.html

Check out these Brain links:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/brain.html

http://www.ducksters.com/science/brain.php

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/brain/index.shtml

NOTE: Illustration from wpclipart.com

YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THIS RESOURCE AT THIS LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brain-Factoids-1900973

Juneteeth to Become a Federal Holiday!

 

Juneteenth (or June 19th), is a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. Although President Lincoln, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, on January 1, 1863, it would take until 1862, and the 13 Amendment(1865) for many enslaved people would learn that slavery had been abolished. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free people. A celebration started in the Texas with prayers, dancing and cookouts that continues to this day. Also known as Black Independence Day or Freedom Day, a number of states, including Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York, have made it a state holiday. This week, Congress voted to make Juneteeth a federal holiday. The day after the bill was passed, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law. It is the first new national holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared in 1983.

Learn more:

https://www.ducksters.com/holidays/juneteenth.php

https://historyforkids.org/juneteenth-facts-information-for-kids/

https://royalcoastreview.com/2021/06/juneteenth-a-new-us-public-holiday-to-celebrate-the-end-of-slavery/

Illustration from pixabay.com/CNN

In the News: FIVE Oceans!

The answer to how many oceans are on the planet, has for some time, been four. Not anymore. National Geographic has officially recognized the waters around Antarctica as the fifth ocean. Called the Southern Ocean, it is defined by the currents that are around it. All the other oceans are defined by the continents that touch them. NG made their announcement on World Oceans Day, June 8 and unveiled a new map showing the five oceans. Many oceanographers have felt that the Southern Ocean is simply an extension of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Since 1999, the US Board on Geographic Names has recognized the Southern Ocean. 

Check out my resource on Oceans: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Oceans-Exploring-the-Ocean-BlueA-WebquestActivitiesDistance-Learning-705943?st=3ef567bcfdfd126ccb83e089e3e6d6fa

Map of Earth showing five oceans isfrom:DailyMail

Using the News in the Classroom: Chocolate Frog Found in New Guinea

Using the News in the Classroom.

In a swamp on the island of New Guinea, scientists have found a yummy species of frog. The frog, about 3 inches long, is chocolate colored and has been named the “chocolate frog”. Found in crocodile infested waters, the  frog with big black eyes is actually called Litoria mira(“surprised” or “strange” in the language of Latin) and is related to the green tree frog native to Australia. 

1. Pretend you are a chocolate frog and tell about a day in your life.

2. Find information about the island of New Guinea:https://www.ducksters.com/geography/country.php?country=Papua%20New%20Guinea

Source: https://www.livescience.com/chocolate-frog-discovery-australia-new-guinea.html

 

Flag Day is Coming on June 14th

 

Fun Flag Facts:

1. A vexillologist is someone that studies flags! 

2. Most flags have the colors red and white. 

3. Only Vatican City and the country of Switzerland have square flags.

4. Most world flags are rectangle in shape. The flag of the country of Nepal is the only one which is not rectangular or square in shape.

5. When Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, summited Mt. Everest, the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, was placed.

6.The idea of a National Flag Day,a day to honor our flag, was started by Bernard J. Cigrand, in 1885.  

7. There are currently 6 American flags on the moon.  

8. The country of Bhutan has a white dragon on its flag.

9. “From Old Saxon," Fflaken" , meaning “to fly or to float in the air”, is where the word FLAG originated.

10.The largest American Flag is called the Superflag. It weighs 3000 pounds and is the size of 2.8 football fields.

11. A WHITE flag is the symbol of a truce or ceasefire.

12.The last of the 50 stars represents the state of Hawaii.

Extension Activities:

1. https://www.factmonster.com/take-quiz/usflag
Take this Flag quiz

2. Pretend you are an American flag on the moon or in a town, or on a mountain top. What do you hear, see, feel, etc. as you wave in the air? Remember...on the moon, there is no atmosphere so the flag wouldn’t wave!

3. Write a haiku to describe the American flag. A haiku has 3 lines(5-7-5 syllables per line). Use descriptive words. Sentence structure isn’t necessary. To check syllables, place your hand under your chin. Each time the chin drops is a syllable. For example: elephant. Three drops = 3 syllables.

4. Illustrate one of the factoids. Write a sentence to go with your drawing.

5. Read about the history of Flag Day: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/flag-day. Write a paragraph explaining the history of Flag Day, including 3 facts learned from the reading.

Check out my Flag Webquest!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Our-American-Flag-A-Webquest-Extension-Activities-726295

Learn about the History of the Star Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Francis-Scott-KeyThe-Star-Spangled-BannerA-Webquest-1401231

Gail