Bands of flint are found embedded in chalk and other kinds of soft limestone.
When the chalk is eroded, the hard flint nodules survive as pebbles on a shingle beach. It may happen that the pebbles later get cemented into another rock, such as a puddingstone. In this way, they make up a sedimentary rock for the second time.
Flint is a cryptocrystalline (means you can't see the crystals) form of the mineral quartz. It is a variety of chert. It occurs as a line of knobbly masses in chalk and some limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually translucent, and can be various colours. A thin layer on the outside of the nodules is usually different in colour, typically white and rough in texture.
Flintstones often have a rough lumpy surface but when they are broken, they look like dark glass. It has been one of the most useful types of stone to humankind.
Flint was used by hominins for over three million years. Stone tools found at Lake Turkana in Kenya, are dated as 3.3 million years old. This predates the genus "Homo" by half a million years. The oldest known "Homo" fossil is 2.8 million years old compared to the 3.3 million year old stone tools.
When flintstones are broken, they have a sharp edge which could be used as a knife, or a scraper. When flint and an iron-containing material such as pyrite or steel are hit together, they can make a spark. For many centuries, flint was one of the main ways for people in many countries to make fire. People would carry a little box called a "tinder box" which had some tinder along with flint and pyrite or steel. The tinder was used to catch the spark and start a fire. Tinder could be sawdust, cloth, grass or bark. Flints were later used to make a spark to fire a gun. A gun that used flint was called a "flintlock" gun.
Flintstones are used in some countries for building. In England the flintstones used for building were often "knapped" which means they were broken to show the inside, like the stones used for the tower of Long Melford Church (below). This gave a better finish to the building that the dull knobbly stones would have made.
Valley Center, California
Valley Center is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. It has a population of 9,277 people.
Newbridge, County Kildare
Newbridge (Droichead Nua in Gaelic) is a town in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. It is the second largest town in Kildare.
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in the United States. It was founded by German immigrants in 1857. It is the home of Disneyland, and two professional sports teams, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (baseball) and the Anaheim Ducks (ice hockey). In 2012, there was a riot following a police officer shooting a man.
Chair
A chair is a piece of furniture. It is used for sitting on and it can also be used for standing on, if you can't reach something. They usually have four legs to support the weight. Some types of chairs, such as the bar-stool, have only one leg in the center. Those chairs are usually able to spin. Sometimes chairs have armrests. These chairs may be called armchairs. There are many types of chairs such as Windsor chairs and rocking chairs. There is another type of chair called a sofa or settee.
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Hercules
Hercules is a hero in Roman mythology. He is a mortal son of Alcmene and Zeus. Hercules is known for his great strength. In Greek mythology he is named Herakles, but he has some different stories.
The name Hercules (Latin "Herculēs") comes from the Etruscan Hercle. He was an Etruscan hero who was the equivalent to the Greek hero Herakles.
In one of the more well known stories of Hercules, he had to complete twelve tasks. These tasks were:
Hercules is also a character in Marvel Comics. He was an ally of the mighty Thor. He is the leader and a founding member of the super team the Champions. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962.
Hercules also appears in the 1997 Disney movie of the same name, in which he is voiced by Tate Donovan.
Navigation
Navigation is the methods used to learn where someone is and how to go to another place. Since this is easy when landmarks are visible, the word is often limited to the methods ships or aircraft use. The word "navigation" was invented in the 15th century from the Latin word "navis" which means "ship" and is found in other Indo-European languages. Navigation is literally "art of ship mastery" but is also used for 'finding one's way'. The Global Positioning System is the main tool for it.
One type of navigation was made by the Polynesians and is called Polynesian navigation. Polynesians used different things found all around them to find their way across large areas of open ocean. Other early people also learned how to travel large distances using the natural world. For example:
An example of people who used the stars were the Vikings. They knew that the star called Polaris (the North Star) does not change location and points to the north. They would then know the latitude (distance from the equator), by measuring the angle between Polaris and the horizon. They also used animals, especially birds, to know if land was nearby. They also knew that specific kind of clouds form near land and that waves are different near land than at high seas.
As time went by better methods of navigation were invented or discovered. Some of these methods are:
Hercules (1997 movie)
Hercules is a 1997 American animated musical movie based on the legendary Greek mythology hero Heracles (known in the movie by his Roman name, Hercules), the son of Zeus in Greek mythology. The movie was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and was produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is the 35th animated movie in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.
"Go the Distance" was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It lost both to Celine Dion's hit "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic".
The Karate Kid
The Karate Kid is a 1984 American drama movie starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. It tells the story of a boy named Daniel (Macchio) who moves with his mother from New Jersey to Los Angeles, California. Daniel has trouble adjusting and is victimized by a gang of bullies at his school. Mr. Miyagi (Morita), the handyman from the apartment building Daniel lives in, teaches Daniel martial arts, so he can fight the bullies in a tournament. In the song "You're the Best", the Roland Juno-106 patch "Brass" was heard. The movie was very successful and was compared to the boxing movie "Rocky". It was followed by three sequels: "The Karate Kid Part II", "The Karate Kid Part III", "The Next Karate Kid" and a remake in 2010.
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Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse (born about 1838 – died September 5, 1877) was an Oglala Sioux Native American chief. There is a huge sculpture being carved of him in South Dakota, United States.
When Crazy Horse was first born he was given the name 'Curly'. When he was young, he had a vision when he was not supposed to and his family did not know where he was. His father found him and was very unhappy at what young Curly had done.
As Crazy Horse grew into a man, he was given his father's name Crazy Horse. His father then changed his own name to Worm.
Crazy Horse had good medicine, so he was never killed when he went into battle. He led his people to the Little Bighorn river in northern Montana to join forces with other Sioux bands like the Hunkpapa and Miniconjou, and with other tribes like the Cheyennes and Arapahos. There they fought General George Armstrong Custer, killing and defeating him and his many horsemen.