Second, many woods are filled with poison ivy, and there’s little worse than coming home from a hike with set of small dots on your arm, ready to erupt into the worst round of five-day itching you can imagine. “Leaves of three, let them be” is the watch-out-for-poison-ivy mantra. There are many well-behaved three-leaved plants out there, but poison ivy takes so many forms and seasonal colors that the best advice is to stay far from for all three-leaved plants—on the ground, vining up trees, and hanging from overhead.
Jewelweed
If you run aground of poison ivy, nature is there to help you. Look immediately for jewelweed, also called touchme-not. It often grows nearby poison ivy and especially loves creek beds. Break open the stem and rub the jewelweed’s juice onto your skin as an antidote against the poison ivy.
4. How to Make a Walking Stick
A walking stick should only be fashioned from a fallen branch, not pulled from a tree, and should reach from the ground to your shoulder. First, use your Swiss Army knife to remove the bark and whittle away extra branches and spurs. Then sand it down until the stick is smooth to touch, and finally just shine it with a little linseed oil.
Greek and Latin Root Words
MANY ENGLISH WORDS have their origins in Latin and Greek. Knowing a word’s roots, prefixes, or suffixes, can be your clue to its meaning—even if you don’t understand it at first glance.
A word’s “root” is the part of the word that carries the main component of meaning. Adding a prefix to the beginning of the root word, or a suffix to the end of it, can add other layers of meaning, but the core concept of the word is in its root. Here is a chart of Greek and Latin root words, their meanings, and some examples (the Greek terms are in italic).
Greek and Latin roots Meaning English examples
-anthrop- human anthropology
-arch-/-archi- ancient archetype
-aster-/-astra- star astronomy, astral
-audi- hear audible
-bene- good benefit
-bio- life biography
-brev- short abbreviation
-chron-/-chrono- time anachronism, chronicle
-dem- people democracy, demagogue
-derm- skin dermatologist
-dict- to say dictate, predict
-duc- to lead; to take produce, reduce
-fer- carry transfer
-fix- fasten affix, fixative
-gen- kind, type; birth generation
-geo- earth geography, geology
-graph- write graphic
-gress- to walk progress
-hydr-/hydro- water hydrate
-ject- to throw eject, project
-jur/just- law jury, justice
-log/logue- word, thought dialogue, monologue
-luc- light lucid, luculent
-manu- hand manual
-meter/metr- measure thermometer
-morph- form amorphous
-neg- no negative
-ocu- eye ocular
-olig- few oligarchy
-op/oper- work operation
-osteo- bone osteoporosis
-path- feeling, suffering empathic, sympathy
-pel- to drive compel, dispel,
-pend- to hang depend, pendulum
-philo-/-phil- love philanthropy, philosophy
-phon- sound polyphonic, phonetics
-phys- body; nature physical
-pod- foot podiatrist
-port- to carry export, support
-proto- first prototype
-pseudo- false pseudonym
-scrib-/-script- to write describe, transcribe
-sect- cut dissect
-sol- alone solitary, solo
-struct- build construct
-tact- touch contact, tactile
-tele- far off telephone
-tract- to pull, drag, draw attract, contract, extract
-ter/terr- earth territory
-vac- empty vacant, vacuous
-ver- truth verify
-verb- word verbal
-vert- to turn convert, revert
-vid/vis- see video, visualize
A prefix is a word part added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning. Here are some Greek and Latin prefixes, their meanings, and examples.
Greek and Latin prefixes Meaning English examples
a-/an- without; not amoral, atypical
ad- to addict
amb-/ambi- both ambidextrous
ante- before antecedent
anti-/ant- opposite antifreeze, antacid
auto- self autobiography, autopilot
bi-/bi- two bipedal
bio- life biology
centi- hundred centimeter, century
circum- around circumvent, circumnavigate
con- with concert
co- together coauthor
de- off; from; down depart, defrost
deci- ten decimeter, decade
di- two diameter
dis- opposite; not disable, discomfort
e-/ex-; ec-/ex- out exit, exegesis
hyper- too much hyperactive, hypersensitive
hypo- too little hypoactive
in- not invalid
inter- between interstate, international
intra- within intramurals
macro- large macrobiologist
micro- small microscope
milli- thousand millipede
mis- bad misnomer
mon-/mono- one; single monochrome
nano- billion nanosecond
neo- new; recent neophyte, neonate
non- not nonstop
omni- all omniscient
pan- all panorama
para- alongside paralegal
per- throughout pervade
peri- all around periscope
poly- many polygon
post- after postpone
pre- before precede, prepare
pro- forward protest
re- again; backward rearrange, rewind
retro- back retrograde
sub- under submarine, subway
super- more than supermarket
sym- together symbol, symbiotic
syn- with synchronize
thermo-/therm- heat thermal, thermometer
trans- across, beyond, through transatlantic
un- not unwilling
A suffix is a word part added to the end of a root word to change its meaning. Here are some Greek and Latin suffixes, their meanings, and examples.
Greek and Latin suffixes Meaning English examples
-able/-ible capable or worthy of likable, flexible
-al relating to maternal
-algia pain myalgia, neuralgia
-arium place of aquarium, terrarium
-ation action or process civilization, strangulation
-dom quality; state freedom
-fy/-ify to make or cause to become purify, humidify
-gram something written or drawn cardiogram, telegram
-graph something written or drawn; an instrument for writing, drawing, or recording monograph, phonograph
-ic relating to poetic
-ile quality; state juvenile
-ism the act, state, or theory of criticism, optimism
-ist one who practices biologist, cyclist
-ize to cause to be or to become legalize, modernize
-logue/-log speech; to speak dialogue, travelogue
-logy/-ology the study of biology, dermatology
-ment action or process entertainment, amazement
-meter/-metry measuring device; to measure geometry, kilometer, perimeter
-oid like or resembling; shape or form humanoid, trapezoid
-ous quality; state nebulousa
-phile loving audiophile, Francophile
-phobe/-phobia an intense fear of a specific thing; a person who fears that thing agoraphobe, agoraphobia, xenophobe, xenophobia
-phone sound; device that receives or emits sound; speaker of a language telephone, Francophone
-ty/-ity quality; state certainty, frailty, similarity
-tion quality; state preservation
-ular relating to cellular
Now that you know roots, prefixes, and suffixes, you can figure out what new words mean—and your can mix and match word parts from the charts to make your own words, like hyperlogophobia!
Paper Flowers and Capillary Action
YOU WILL NEED
A piece of paper (notebook paper is fine)
A pencil
Scissors
A large bowl or dish of water
TO MAKE YOUR PAPER FLOWER, draw a large circle on your piece of paper, and then draw triangle-shaped petals all around it. Cut out the shape and close the triangle parts down on top of the paper. Place your closed paper flower on the surface of the water in your dish or bowl, and watch what happens: your flower will blossom, thanks to something called capillary action. Capillary action, or capillary motion, is the ability of one thing to pull another thing inside it—think of sponges or paper towels and how they soak up spills. When your paper flower is placed in water, the paper begins drawing the water in through capillary action. As the paper fibers swell with water, the folded petals unfurl.
FUN FACT
Albert Einstein’s first paper published in the 1901 Annalen der Physik, titled Folgerungen aus den Capillaritätserscheinungen (“Conclusions from the capillarity phenomena”), was on capillary action.
Capillary action isn’t a phenomenon restricted just to science experiments or wiping counters—it happens every day in our bodies, with the circulation of our blood and even the draining of constantly produced tears from our eyes. And some modern fabrics use capillary action to draw sweat away from skin. You can try this experiment with other kinds of paper to see how capillary action works with different materials, from construction paper and watercolor paper to tracing paper and tissue paper.
Cootie Catchers
(Origami fortune tellers)
AS WE ALL KNOW, cooties are invisible, communicable germs that can infect anyone who is touched by someone who has them. This makes sense with what we know about the word “cooties,” which comes to us from the Malay word kutu, meaning “lice.” But how did a foldedpaper fortune-telling device become associated with cooties?
Playground lore has it that cooties, which often lie mysteriously dormant until recess, can only be eradicated in one of two ways: either the infected person can touch another person and transfer the cooties, or a pincer-like piece of folded paper can be used to catch the cooties and then throw them away. As cooties are usually associated with persons of the opposite sex, and as history has given girls numerous rituals for divining their futures in love and marriage, it makes sense that a cootie catcher might evolve into an origami fortune-telling game used to both reveal a girl’s future and to protect her from it.
Of course, when you design your own cootie catcher, you can make it say anything you want, and the fortunes it tells might have nothing to do with anyone who may or may not have cooties.
FOLDING INSTRUCTIONS
* * *
If you have any size of square-shaped paper handy, use that. If you don’t, take regular letter-sized paper, fold the bottom of the paper up to make a triangle, crease the edge, and cut off the strip above the triangle. When you open the triangle, you’ll have a perfect square with a crease diagonally down the middle.
Fold the square into a triangle again, this time the opposite way, crease the edge, then unfold. You now have a square with an X folded into it.
Fold the corners of the square toward the center. When all of the corners are folded, your paper should look like a smaller square.
Turn your paper over so that the folded sides face down, then fold the corners of the square toward the center again. When the four corners are folded, your paper should be an even smaller square, composed of triangles. Number these triangles one through eight.
Now fold the square vertically, crease it, and open it back up. Fold it horizontally, crease it, and open it up again. The numbered triangle side should be facing you.
Lift up the flaps and write a fortune or message on each triangle inside, then close the flaps again. Flip the square over and color each of the triangles a different color.
Turn the square back over so the number side is facing up and fold it in half, towards you. Slip your thumbs and index fingers under the flaps and pinch them together to make the cootie catcher’s edges come together. When you open your fingers, you should see the numbered triangles inside; when you close them, you should see the colored triangles outside.
PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS
* * *
Find a friend who wants their fortune told. Have them choose a color from the outer triangles, then open and close the cootie catcher (up and down and side to side), moving once for each letter in the color they’ve picked, until it’s all spelled out. Then have your friend choose a number from the inner triangles. Move the cootie catcher open and closed that many times. Then have your friend select one more number from the inner triangles. Lift up the corresponding flap and read the fortune inside. (This can be fun stuff like: “You will be a famous singer,” “You will build a scooter with your mom,” “You will beat your friends in a game of four-square…”)
Jacks
JACKS, ALONG WITH MARBLES, is one of the oldest games in the world. Store-bought jacks are a bunch of six-pointed star-shaped objects, with a ball to bounce as we scoop them up, but in its early form the game was played with whatever was at hand—stones, small animal bones, or even crumpled-up paper.
Players decide who goes first by “flipping” or using any rhyming game to determine the first player. Flipping means tossing jacks in the air and trying to catch as many as you can on the back of your hand. The player who catches the most gets to go first.
To begin play, toss the ten jacks onto the playing surface. Then bounce the ball in the air, pick up one jack using your throwing hand, and catch the ball in the hand holding the jack before the ball bounces. (Place the jack you’ve collected in your other hand or off to the side before you try to pick up another one.) Do this again, picking up one jack at a time without the ball bouncing twice, until you’ve picked up all ten jacks. This is “onesies.” Once you’ve done that successfully, move on to “twosies”: scatter the ten jacks again, and this time pick up two jacks at a time. Do this until you’ve picked up all ten jacks. Continue to “threesies,” where you pick up the jacks three at a time, “foursies,” four at a time, and on all the way to “tensies.”
(When there are “leftovers”—one jack in “threesies,” two jacks in “foursies”—you pick them up individually. If you pick them up before you’ve picked up the groups, that is known as “putting the cart before the horse,” and you must call “cart” as you pick up the individual “leftover” jacks. “Threesies” has three groups of three and one jack in the “cart”; “Foursies” has two groups of four and two jacks in the “cart”; etc.)
Your turn is over when you don’t pick up the correct number of jacks, you miss the ball, or the ball bounces. When it’s your turn again, start up where you left off—if you lost your turn on “twosies,” start at twosies. The winner is the player who is able to successfully pick up the largest number of jacks.
TIPS AND VARIATIONS
* * *
Usually, only one hand may be used to throw the ball and pick up the jacks, but play can be simplified to allow two hands. You can also make it more difficult by only allowing players to use their “bad” hands (right hand for left-handed players, left hand for right-handed players).
OTHER JACKS LINGO
* * *
Kissies
When two jacks are touching. They can be separated by calling “Kissies!” while a player moves them apart.
Fancies
Complicated ways of picking up the jacks, like not being allowed to touch the jacks you don’t pick up.
Around the World
Toss the ball, circle
the ball with your hand, and then pick up jacks before the ball bounces.
Cats in the Well
Make a loose fist with the thumb and first finger of your non-throwing hand. The jacks you pick up (“cats”) are dropped through the opening (the “well”).
Eggs in the Basket, or Picking Cherries
Toss the ball, pick up the jacks, and transfer the jacks to your other hand before catching the ball.
Pigs in the Pen
Make an arch with the thumb and first finger of your nonthrowing hand. Then toss the ball, flick a jack through the arch, and then catch the ball.
Pigs over the Fence
Make a “fence” with your nonthrowing hand by putting your hand on its side, thumb facing up. Toss the ball, transfer the jacks to other side of your “fence,” and catch the ball.
PICKING WHO’S IT
Rhymes to determine who goes first can be used for any game, from jacks to tag to board games to truth or dare. Here are some fun schoolyard ways of figuring out who gets to be first.
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
(Point at each player for each word said; whoever lands on “it” goes first. OR whoever lands on “it” is out, and you start again until there is only one person left who is not “it.” That person gets to go first.)
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe
Catch a tiger by the toe
If he hollers let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
My mother said to pick the very best one
And you are not it.
Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a Dish
(On “wish,” the player says a number, which is then counted out. The player on whom the last number falls is It, and gets to go first)
Bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish
The Daring Book for Girls Page 31