Namatjira was an Arrernte man from the western MacDonnell Ranges area. He was born at Hermannsburg, a Lutheran mission near Alice Springs. He was born as Elea, but once baptised, his parents changed his name to Albert. He had a western-style upbringing on the mission. When he turned 13, though, he returned to the bush for his initiation. He was made a member of the Arrernte community and was introduced to his traditional heritage. Namatjira said this is how he came to understand the kinship with his land that is seen in his works. He eventually become an elder of the Arrernte community.
His first exhibition was held in Melbourne in 1938. Exhibitions after this in Sydney and Adelaide sold out. His art became widely recognised around Australia. A portrait painting of him by William Dargie won the Archibald Prize in 1956.
Florida Bay
Florida Bay is the large shallow lagoon between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys, a long series of small islands. The Bay is significant for its ecology of sea grass and the organisms that live there.
Nearly all of Florida Bay is included in Everglades National Park. The southern edge, along the Florida Keys is in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Outside the Bay is the northern part of the Keys, and outside them is the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America.
The Bay has the largest known seagrass bed in the world. Sea grass beds contain many species from various phyla. Seagrass herbivory is important in the food chain, and eaten by a number of animals, some of them rare. Species that feed on sea grass include green turtles, dugongs, manatees, fish, geese, sea urchins and crabs. The mangrove swamps in the shallow areas are also quite extensive.
Florida Bay is a model for the conditions which produced limestones on many of the continental shelves of the world. It is a kind of carbonate 'factory'.
In the Florida Bay a type of flowering plant called sea grass is in abundance. Also in abundance is white, milky water full of calcium carbonate. This is mainly formed by "Melobesia", a small red alga which lives on the sea grass. Also, the organisms produce huge amounts of slime, which is a polysaccharide. There is good reason to think the slime is produced by the algae to control the way their carbonate skeletons are formed. As a side-effect the slime limits the amount of carbonate which goes into solution in the water, so most of it gets deposited on the bottom.
Florida Bay is a flat platform which has laid down a huge amount of carbonate rock.
Waterspouts are a feature of the area. There are as many as 500 waterspouts per year. They are common from June to October, but can occur at other times.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( ; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, formerly Kath Walker; 3 November 1920 – 16 September 1993) was an Australian poet, political activist, artist and teacher. She was best known for her poetry, and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse. Oodgeroo Noonuccal is a traditional Quandamooka name that she adopted for herself in 1988 (Oodgeroo refers to the paperbark tree, and Noonuccal is the name of her tribe).
Oodgeroo campaigned strongly for Aboriginal rights. She was one of the main people behind the campaign for the changes to the Australian constitution in 1967. These changes gave Aboriginal people full citizenship. She also campaigned for Prime Minister Robert Menzies and his successor Harold Holt.
She wrote many books, beginning with "We Are Going" (1964), the first book to be published by an Aboriginal woman. This first book of poetry was very successful, and Oodgeroo became one of Australia's best-selling poets. Her writing contained strong political messages. Oodgeroo described her own style as "sloganistic". She wanted to show how proud she was of being an Aboriginal. She wanted her writing to make people support equality and Aboriginal rights. Oodgeroo won several literary awards, including the Mary Gilmore Medal (1970), the Jessie Litchfield Award (1975), and the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Award.
In 1972 she opened an educational centre in her hometown of Moongalba, on North Stradbroke Island. The centre taught children about nature and Aboriginal culture.
Oodgeroo was made a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1970. She returned it in 1987 to protest the Australian bicentenary celebrations and to make a political statement about social inequality in Australia.
Sweat gland
Sweat glands, (sudoriferous or sudoriparous glands), are small tube-like glands in the skin that create sweat.
The evaporation of sweat helps to cool the body down. Also, in many mammals, the sweat contains a slight scent which other animals can notice.
E-learning
An online educational or e-learning service is a website which teaches and helps students improve in certain subjects such as Maths, English and Science. These are normally used by schools to let students learn from home and complete online homework. Website owners who own good online educational services may charge schools to use these websites, however, many websites such as Bitesize, run by the BBC, are open to the public.
When students encounter a difficult topic or section, their first instinct would be to ask help from the instructor. Because of this, communication methods are important for conducting online education. Typically, teachers would give students their e-mail address for any questions or clarifications. But with the many innovations of today’s online learning sites and web pages, there are other ways to communicate. Then some online course platforms have their own chat apps. Students and teachers can freely talk to each other in real-time for better communication.
Mexican west coast rattlesnake
The Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake (Crotalus basiliscus), also known as the ""Mexican Green Rattler"" or the ""Mexican West Coast Green Rattlesnake"", is a type of venomous pit viper species. The scientific name comes from the Greek word for 'King', basiliskos, because of the snakes large size and dangerous venom.Currently, no subspecies are recognized.
The Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake is one of the largest rattlesnake species. Ones which have the length of 150 centimetres (4.9 ft) are common, while the maximum size is reported to be 204.5 centimetres (6.71 ft).The young are mostly red but when they become adults their color changes to olive green or yellowish cream.
This snakes are found in western Mexico, from southern Sonora to Michoacán. They live in areas which are treeless, are covered in short grass, thorny bushes and have plenty of cactus.
Not many know what this Rattlesnake eats, but scientist found seven Mexican West Coast Rattlesnakes which had mammal hair inside them, probably belonging to rodents.
In the lowlands, these snakes are active during the raining, summer months and some have been found crossing the roads at night. However some have been seen basking early in the morning. It has been reported that the Mexican West Coast Rattlesnake can be tamed easily in zoos.
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Metastasio (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782) was a poet from Italy. His real name was Antonio Domenico Bonaventura Trapassi. He was born in Rome and died in Vienna. For many years he was the poet laureate for the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna. He is most famous for his librettos (the story and words) for operas. Many composers used them for their operas. More than 800 operas have a libretto by Metastasio.