Pounds & Pence: U.K Currency

As a unit of currency, the term pound originates from the value of one pound weight of high purity silver known as sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. 
The word sterling is believed to come from the Old Norman French esterlin (meaning little star) transformed in stiere in Old English (strongfirmimmovable).

Coins of Knights Templar France
The U.K currency sign is the pound sign, originally  with two cross-bars, later £ with a single cross-bar. 
The abbreviation comes from libraesolididenarii (libra was the basic Roman unit of weight; the solidus and denarius were Roman coins). 

The Caesar´s Denarius
If an amount of money consists only of pence, we put the letter 'p' after the figures. 
For example: 20p is often pronounced "twenty pee" instead of "twenty pence". 
The singular of pence is "penny".

The MosT Intelligent Birds: CrOws & Ravens

With the highest brain volume relative to its body mass, they may be the brightest of all birds! 
See for yourself
Similar species CROWS and RAVENS
ClicK & Learn:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2501
Watch and learn how they´re different from each another
The modern raven was present during the North American Pleistocene (1.8 million to 10,000 years ago).
Here is an Aesop´s fable 
"The Crow and the Pitcher" 

FIFA and the enDANGERed Three BanDed Armadillo

The mascot for Brazil 2014, Fuleco will make FIFA rich, 

but the real animal, the Brazilian 3 Banded Armadillo

(Tolypeutes tricinctus) is dangerously near extinction!


Fuleco, the mascot of the 2014 World Cup


"Tatu-BolaClick to learn how Brazilians try to protect it :
http://www.acaatinga.org.br/index.php/2013/tatu-bola-e-a-copa-do-mundo-2014-juntos-marcando-um-gol-pela-sustentabilidade/
Here is another species, the  Nine Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)
Pluto and the Armadillo by Walt Disney

Turn Around the RoundAbout...


"Carriages on the Champs-Élysées"
Watch the traffic in the roundabout of the Triumphal Arch (Paris, France)

The KangarOO Rat: NorthWest American Native


The Kangaroo rat is a small rodent:Most of the 23 species of kangaroo rats can be found in California and in other areas where it is hot and dry. 
Like Kangaroos, the Kangaroo Rats have pouches, but they are used for carrying food back to their burrows, not babies...

The Kangaroo Rat's defense against its predators (owls, weasels, snakes, foxes, badgers and coyotes) are their long back legs which permit them to jump 7-9 feet (2.1 - 2.7 meters) off the ground and completely change direction upon landing!

Watch  how the Kangaroo Rat lives...

Not too soon you big baboon...

"Monkeys Feasting" 

By Flemish Painter Jan Brueghel the Elder

See you later, alligator...

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was a Naturalist and patron of Science. 
From an early age his passion was Natural History and in particular, Botany. 
He joined Captain Cook's 1768 expedition on the Endeavour to Tahiti for the astronomical observation of Venus transit.

In this satirical drawing by English caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson,  he is shown about to eat an alligator, a reference to his zoological interests. 

GoodBye...



Bill Haley & Comets "See you later alligator"

(SHE, HE, IT, WE, YOU, THEY) Learn Your Pronouns!


PaLLas and the Centaurus by Italian Painter Sandro Boticelli

In greek mythology, Pallas is a nymph, the daughter of Triton. 
Athenas kills her companion and opponent in battle and gains her name.
Pallas is also an asteroid, the largest body not rounded under its own gravity of the Solar System with a diameter of 544 km. 
It was discovered by Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers on March 28, 1802
PallasHST2007.jpg
Hubble Space Telescope photograph

WEird, WEierdER, WEierdEST: Comparative & Superlative Adjectives


An ExtraOrdinary RiddLe

What can run
but never walks.
Has a mouth
but never talks.
Has a bed
but never sleeps...

Carcajou River and Mackenzie River confluence, Northwest Territories, Canada
Carcajou and Mackenzie river confluence
(NorthWest Territories, Canada)

Two Little Eyes


Two little eyes to look around
Two little ears to hear each sound. 
One little nose to smell what's sweet. 
One little mouth that likes to eat.


May 12 is Limmerick Day!


A creature of charm is the gerbil 
Its diet's exclusively herbal; 
 It grazes all day 
On bunches of hay 
 Passing gas with an elegant burble.


I know a schoolboy from Dubai, 
Who was baked by mistake in a pie. 
 To his mother’s disgust 
He emerged through the crust, 
And exclaimed, "What a good boy am I!"

There once was a man from Peru 
Who dreamt that he swallowed his shoe. 
 He woke up in fright 
In the mid of the night 
To learn that his dream had come true!


There once was a princess named Jinx 
Who was asked what she thought of the Sphinx. 
She replied with a smile, 
 "That old fraud by the Nile? 
 I personally think that she stinks!"

My Dad


My dad is tall and strong and clever.
My dad is funny and hairy.
My dad laughs, sings and whistles.
That´s my dad!  

Mother

Mother my darling.
Mother my dear.
I love you, I love you.
Each day of the year. 
You are so sweet.
And you are so kind.
That I am glad you are my mom.