Do you think you could have lived in a medieval castle? Did you know that moats were sometimes used for dumping raw sewage? Since these moats might contain sewage, it deterred enemy soldiers from trying to swim across them.
Did you know that most candles were made from hardened animal fat? Oil lamps burned liquid animal fat. Only the very wealthy and churches used beeswax candles because of the expense.
Floors were made of dirt, and were never swept. To clean the floors, layers of straw were added to them. It didn't matter if there was food, sewage, feces, or anything else on the dirt floor. It was covered with straw, and that's how the floors were cleaned!
If you've ever wondered what it was like to live in a medieval castle, then you'll want to read
Ye Castle Stinketh. Available this fall from Enslow Publishers, and available in both library and paperback versions, this title, and the rest of the titles in the
Ye Yucky Middle Ages series, will keep your reluctant reader students interested. These titles also have a huge gross-out factor!
Land hermit crabs are unusual pets. In the wild, when they get too big for the shell they are currently living in, they look for larger empty snail shells. They communicate by tapping each other's shells.
