August 6th 2010
exercise: We would like our learners to find the equivalents of the illustrations from this column in the language they are learning and print them out. .  a thing is an inanimate object distinguished from a living being. It can be either a dead plant or animal, or non-organic elements. The four elements - things are classified in four categories:water (liquid), fire, air (gas), earth (solid) Non organic elements are organised in a periodic table. link to table of periodic elements . .  Ken Krieger, CHP writes: the elements that are present in big enough pieces to where you can see and pick up. These elements are Aluminium (Al)bismuth (Bi), carbon (C), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), gold (Au), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (N), potassium (K), silver (Ag), sulfur (S), silicon (Si), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), Zinc or Spelter (Zn). Each of these can be found in veins or deposits in collectable amounts. (Health Physics society) The process of analysing chemical elements is called "Chemistry", the process of manufacturing things from chemical elements is called "chemical process". metals
 Metals are elements that conduct heat or electricity. The metal elements from the above selection are: Aluminium (Al), Chromium (Cr) Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Gold (Au), Iron (Fe), Nickel (N), Silver (Ag), Tin (Sn), Titanium (Ti) and Zinc (Zn) If you mix one metal elements with some other element, what you get is an "alloy". Here are the most common ones. copper alloys Copper + zinc = brass, copper + tin = bronze, copper + nickel = nickel silver gold alloys : gold + copper = rose gold, gold + nickel = white gold iron alloys: iron + carbon = steel silver alloys: silver + copper = sterling silver Tin alloy: tin + lead + copper = pewter zinc alloy: copper + zinc = brass Minerals (stone)
 rocks and crystals
crystaline rocks are formed from molten magma that has cooled very slowly and under big pressure. - granite, evaporite rocks are formed from deposits (shells, dead plants) that have consolidated in salty water metamorphic rocks are evaporite rocks that have crystalised, meaning that another element has been added to the evaporite rock to form a new raw material. Glass is made from an element derived from Silicon (Si), called Silica (SiO2). When a raw material is composed of different elements, we call them crystals. Common crystals are: quartz, amethyst, jasper, agate, silica, anthracite, bismuth, calcite, copper, diamond, emerald, fluorite, fossil wood, fossil, jade, jasper, jet, lapis lazuli, lava, obsedian, onyx, opal, pearl, peridot, pyrite (fools' gold), ruby, saphire, topaz, turquoise, zircon. sedimentary rocks: gravel, sand, silt, clay, shale, rock salt, gypsum, chalk, limestone, organic sedimentary rocks (coal): peat, lignite, antracite coal, minerals - they are natural substances the main ones are: native elements: arsenic, bismut, copper, gold, graphite, iron, iron nickel, lead, mercury, platinum, silver, stilbarsen, sulfur, oxides: water halides: fluorite carbonates: calcites, nitrates: borates: borax, sulphate: gypsum (used as fertilizer and pottery (plaster and alabaster) phosphates silicate : beryl (emerald, aquamarine), garnet, jade, opal, serpentine (asbestos), topaz organic minerals: carbon (diamond, graphite) Industrial products
petrochemical productsfrom minerals and stones  reconstituted stone
stone products that have been altered by humans concrete, paving stones, tiles, pool coping, stackstone, mosaics, cladding, brick, cement, pottery (from clay), glass (from silica) from metal:  wrought iron, machine parts, vehicles, vehicle parts, building material, bridges, accessories, jewelry, magnetic products, electric cables, stove, radiators, pipelines, fences, tubular steel, strong boxes, locks, electric product parts, electronic product parts, electroplated chrome, electroplated nickel-silver, gold-plated, silver-plated, silver-gilt  Olefins: they are the basics of polymer and oligomer, which is the material from which: plastics, resins, ink, paint, fibres, elastomer (artificial rubber), parafin wax, lubricants and gels. aromatics: Benzenes (detergents) toluene (polyurethane) and xylenes (plastic and artificial fibres - nylon, polyester, acrylic) by-products: ammonia and methanol. recycled products  things made of paper, aluminium, metals, glass, plastic bottles, cardboard, batteries, clothes, fabrics, or leather, as well as vegetable scraps can be recycled. It is important to recycle things because otherwise we need to throw them away. The industry makes new things out of recycled products. used textiles are called rags Second hand  Items that we don't need anymore can also be re-sold or given away. In that case, the thing becomes second-hand. Clothes, furniture, computers, electrical items, books, records, instruments, ornaments can all be sold in second hand shops. textiles -  textiles are made from woven fibres. The main types of textiles are: cotton (made from fibres of the cotton plant) Linen (made from fibres of the flax plant) wool (made from fibres of animal fleeces - sheep, lamas, camel) silk (made from fibres of the silkworm) nylon, polyester, acrylic are artificial fabrics made from petro-chemicals. many things can made from textiles, including clothes, upholstery, cushions, blankets, toys, tapestries, curtains etc. raw materials that are not made from minerals
wood (from trees, can be used as fuel, or
for making things, working with wood is called carpentry, an important
product is paper and cardboard) . Wood can also be transformed into
products like: cellulose, woodchip, chipboard, hardboard, MDF, laminate.
Many wood products are made from a solid body of cheaper wood covered
with a thin slice of more expensive wood - these are called veneeredwood  woodother products rubber (made from a tree product called latex) amber (fossilised resin) incense (made from resin) glue (made from resin) beeswax (secreted by bees) rope (made from grass, rush, hemp, sisal) papier mache (from paper) Straw (made from dried stalks of cereal plants) hay (made from dried grass) paper products stationary (sheets of paper, books, notebooks, envelopes), also stamps, paper bags, newspapers magazine etc animal products
ivory (made from elephant tusks) - the trade of new ivory (less than 100 years old is banned in Europe  bone and horn (made from animal bones and horns) bone china (porcelain made with clay and grounded bones) shells (the housing of dead sea-animals) sponge (made from a dead sea sponge) gelatine (made from animal bones) pearl (secreted by oysters) leather: leather is made from skin of dead animals and is a by-product of the meat industry. The skin is tanned so that it becomes hard and durable. - artificial leather are made from acrylic microfibres. Food products are edible things made from plants and animals. All living creatures eat food. Some food products can also be mineral (salt, nutrients), and synthetic (additives, dyes) . People who are vegetarians try to avoid products made from dead animals. Vegans want to avoid animal products completely. Types of things:
 (machine)Things can be natural or made. They can be made by hand or by machines. When objects are made by hand, we say that they are crafted. When things are made with a machine, we say that they are manufactured. If you need to plan the thing before making it, you call it the design. The people who invent new things are inventors, the people who make things by hand or tools are called craftspeople, the people who design things are called designers, and the people make things with machines are called manufacturers, and the people are employed by others to work on things are called workers.  
If things are made from precious metals
and stones, we call them valuables or treasures. Things that are made to
adorn the human body are clothes, accessories and jewelry. Jewelry can
be precious if it made of valuable raw material. If a thing is over one
hundred years old, we call it an antique. An ornament is designed to
adorn a place. An artwork is a thing that expresses the inspiration of the artist. A functional object is designed to be useful. If you use the functional object to make things, you call them tools. If your tool is composed of different parts and needs energy, you call it a machine. If your machine needs electricity, you say it is electrical. If your machine has micro-chips components inside it, you call it electronic. A thing that is used for fighting is called a weapon. manual  in order to find out how things work, we sometimes need a manual, where we find step-by-step instructions. colours and patterns:  , stripes, checks, floral, herringbone, polka
dots, lines, geometric, figurative, embroidered, carved, painted, embossed colours: black, white, red, blue, yellow.  black + white =
greywhite + red = pink white + blue = light blue red + blue = purple or brown red + yellow = orange blue + yellow = green shades: light or dark. (light-blue) (dark blue) Turquoise blue means blue like the colour of the turquoise crystal. adjectives  shapes: (adjectives) round, oval, square, brick-shaped, pyramid-shaped, figurative, star-shaped, triangular, pentagonal, heptagonal, rectangular, properties - long, short, heavy, light, hard, soft, solid, liquid, gas, to tell the properties of a thing, we use weights and measures. A group of objects from the same category (date or function etc) is called a collection. If you are showing the objects in a gallery to the public, it is called an exhibition |
things can be : food, clothes, pottery, accessories, medication, homes, jewelry, artwork, toys, weapons, tools, instruments, products, structures, paintings, drawings, symbols, rocks, stones, equipment, vehicles, solids, liquids, gases, textile, boxes, vehicles - exercise: We have photographed some things at the British Museum and would like our students to pick up five photos and describe the object. What is it? Describe what it is made of, what colours, what patterns and what you know about it/ alternatively choose five objects and describe them. Texts from Five Hundred Questions and Answers written by Anne McKie (Grandreams ltd, 1994, London).  What is pumice stone?Pumice stone is a very light and porous rock that floats in water. It is found in volcanic areas and formed by the quick cooling of molten volcanic lava as it pours out of the volcano. Air bubbles are trapped inside the rock from the foaming white hot lava. When the stone solidifies, gases inside are released and form tiny air pockets making the pumice stone feel very light.  What are frescoes?They are paintings done in watercolour on walls or ceilings while the plaster is still wet. The painting must be finished before the plaster dries. The colours sink into the plaster and remain fresh and bright, often for hundred of years. (this fresco represents scales)  What was the wooden horse of Troy?This story is told in Homer's poem The Iliad. Troy in Asia Minor, had been under siege by the Greeks for ten years. The Greeks tricked the Trojans into opening the city gates for a great wooden horse, which was full of soldiers hidden inside. Once the gates were opened the Greek army followed and captured Troy. (modern reproduction, photograph by Woo Tse Chien - 2005)  What is cork?Cork is the outer bark of the cork oak tree, which grows in large numbers in Spain and Portugal. When a tree is 20-years old, the bark is cut and peeled off in rectangular pieces. This is repeated every ten years, but it does not harm the tree. Cork is very light and floats in water.  Do you know what cotton is?Cotton grows on low bushes in the south eastern states of the USA, Egypt, Brazil and India. It is the fluffy tufts of white fibre (bolls) that grow round the cotton seeds. Cotton is picked, and after cleaning it, is spun into the thread that can be woven into cloth.  Why is the sky blue?The sky has no colour of its own. When sunlight (made up of all colours) passes through the atmosphere it is scattered around by millions of particles in the air. The blue in the sunlight is scattered more than the other colours, so the sky appears to be blue.  What is an abacus? it is an ancient calculating machine, dating 5,000 years that is still in use today. Row of beads threaded on wire represent units, tens, hundreds. To calculate, the beads are moved up and down and sideways.  How do you get gold from a river?Small pieces of gold get washed down the rivers and collect in quiet pools. People would scoop up the sand from the river and swirl it around in a shallow pan. The heavier pieces of gold would be left at thte bottom.  What is an airship?An airship is a sausage-shaped balloon filled with a lighter-than-air gas that makes it float. The early airships could carry passengers across the Atlantic, but they were slow and dangerous because they were filled with hydrogen gas which burns easily. Modern airships are filled with safe helium gas, but they are still slow.  What are pearls?If a tiny grain of sand or grit gets inside an oyster, the creature protects itself by building a series of layers around the grain. The substance that forms these layers hardens to form a pearl.  Why is the sea salty?Salt is a mineral that is gradually washed out of the rocks by rain and runs into the sea, making it taste salty. When sea water evaporates, salt is left behind.  What is the difference between a longbow and a crossbow?The longbow is an ancient weapon. Originally made from one piece of wood, it could shoot an arrow over a long distance, making hunting much easier. The crossbow is a small powerful bow, held and fired like a rifle. As a weapon of war, it was deadly - it could pierce armour, but it was slow to reload. (image shows a crossbow)  Which treasures are kept in tower of London?The crown jewels or regalia, used by the King or Queen on state occasions, are kept in vaults under the Waterloo Barracks. They include eight crowns, sceptres, orbs and the coronation ring. The imperial state crown has nearly 3,000 diamonds. What is a vaccum? Vacuum is a space that contains absolutely nothing. Scientists believe that it is impossible to have a complete vacuum - an empty space with no air or substance whatsoever. So a vacuum, as we know it, is an enclosed space from which as much air and matter as possible has been removed. A thermos flask has a double wall inside, with a vacuum between the two walls. Hot liquids is kept hot because the heat cannot pass through the vacuum by convection or conduction.  What did Laslo Biro invent?In 1938, Laslo Biro invented the ballpoint pen. he was a Hungarian journalist and realised that the quick drying ink he had seen used by the printing trade could be adapted for use in a pen.  Who first made paper?Paper was first made by wasps. They made paper for their nest by chewing up fragments of wood. The ancient Egyptians made paper from a water reed called papyrus - hence the name 'paper'. As early as the second century, the Chinese manufactured paper from bamboo fibres, pounded and pulped and then left to dry. Nowadays, paper is mostly made from wood or recycled paper.  How old are dolls?Dolls have been around since there were children! At first they were very simple - just a piece of cloth with a crudely drawn face or a piece of carved wood or bone. The Egyptians had dolls with movable limbs. In Roman times children played with rag dolls. Greek clay dolls had cords attached to their arms and legs, so they moved up and down when pulled. The Romans had dolls' furniture made of lead, so they may have had dolls' houses too. Up to the 19th century, dolls were often made of cloth and leather, often with hand-carved head. In Europe, after the 1850s, dolls faces were made with wax: heads and trunks of papier mache and cloth bodies stuffed with sawdust, which often trickled out. The more expensive dolls had beautiful faces with heads and hands made of porcelain. They had long hair and glass eyes and were sometimes dressed in Paris fashions. Modern dolls can also be made from polymers and vinyl. Life-like dolls are used by health professionals, figures can have a religious significance. There are also action dolls for boys, mannequins for displaying clothes and dolls made of paper.  What is an illuminated manuscript?Before the invention of printing, all books were copied by hand. Monks and scribes laboriously wrote out the text in pen on parchment. Often single letters, words and borders were decorated or illuminated in these manuscripts.  What is the Bayeux Tapestry?it is an embroidery, commissioned for Bayeux Cathedral in Calvados, France. It shows the conquest of England by the Norman King William The Conqueror. It is worked in eight colours on a band of linen. 70.4 metres long and 50 centimetres deep. The story of the Norman invasion is told in 72 scenes, starting with the English King Harold's visit to the Norman Court and ending with his death at Hastings, shot through the eye by an arrow. The tapestry can still be seen in Bayeux. Big Ben is the bell that chimes the hours in the clock tower of the Houses Parliament in London. It is not the clock itself. Installed in 1859, Big Ben rings out the hours after the Westminster chimes.  What is a figurehead?In the old days of wooden sailing ships, the builders would add a carved figurehead, on the bow as a ship's mascot. They were usually brightly painted.  What is a magnet?A magnet is a piece of metal that can attract or repel other metals. The end of the magnet are opposite poles. One end will point to the North Pole, the other to the South Pole, this is how a compass needle works. If you put two magnets together, North Pole to North Pole they push apart. Many magnets are horseshoe-shaped  What was the Eiffel Tower used for?The Eiffel Tower, which must be one of the wonders of the modern world, stands 300m (984ft) high and dominates the Paris skyline. It weighs 7,100 tonnes which is not heavy for something so gigantic. It was built for the 1889 Paris exhibition as a rival to the Crystal Palace in London. It was only expected to last for twenty years, but it was so useful as a telegraph station, and later as a radio mast, that it still stands today.  What is a peace pipe?The peace pipe was a sacred object to the Indians. Called a 'calumet' it was usually out of stone. All important dealings were sealed with the smoking of the peacepipe. To break your word after this would make the spirits very angry.  What is a Tomahawk?A Tomahawk was a light war axe. Until white people introduced iron, tomahawks were made of chipped stone tied to a handle.  Are Olympic medals made of pure gold?No, Olympic gold medals are made of gilded silver.  Who hits a Pinata?In Mexico, all through the Christmas festival, children have great fun when they are blindfolded and hit a Pinata with a stick. The hollow clay/papier mache pinata jars are hung above the children's heads. They hit them with sticks and when at last the jar splits, sweats and treats spill all over the floor.  What was first on the Moon?On September 14 1959, the Soviet Lunik II space craft crashed onto the Moon. It was the first man-made object to reach the Moon.  What was the first antibiotic?Penicillin was discovered by accident by Alexander Fleming in 1928. Returning from a month's holiday, he found that mould growing on a culture plate had killed some of the harmful bacteria. The first antibiotic was named after the mould.  What is the Statue of Liberty?The Statue of Liberty in New York was designed and built by the French engineer Eiffel some years before his famous tower. He became known as the 'Magician of Iron'. This huge and beautiful statue that stands on Liberty Island in New York harbour was made in France and given as a gift to America by the people of France. The figure stands at 46m but she stands on a pedestal of the same height, making her 92m tall altogether. The idea for the statue came from Edouard de Laboulaye, a French professor in 1865. He discussed it with his friend the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who later designed and built the huge figure which he called 'Liberty Enlightening the World'. It was 21 years later that the statue was completed in 1886. The figure is made of thin copper sheets beaten into a shape over an iron frame. When copper is exposed to the weather it turns pale green. The original torch was lit from inside but the light was very poor. Liberty was given her second torch in the early 20. Century, but over the years it was damaged by rain. In 1984, she was given a new torch covered in gold leaf. With spotlights on the outside it looks as if the torch is alight. There is a smaller copy of the statue by the river Seine in Paris, which is where she was designed and built.  Which of the Seven Wonders of World still survives?From ancient times, only one can be seen and visited today: the Pyramids of Egypt.  Where does the Red Cross symbol come from? The symbol is a red cross on a white background, the reverse of the national flag of Switzerland. In 1864 a young swiss businessman, Henri Dunant formed the International Red Cross, for the relief of suffering in war. Nowadays, the Red Cross also provides relief in natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Sometimes it is used in tandem with the Red Crescent or the Red Diamond.    Information zum Stuhl / Chair
Brno, 1929 by Mies van der RoheGestell aus hochwertigem verchromten Federstahl, aufwendige Polsterung auf Hartholzrahmen. Bezug in Leder. Abmessungen: L. 59 cm, T. 58 cm, H. 80 cm 
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