Mercury/ Hermes is in my test booklet!

Mercury/ Hermes



Just a note:
Although I write about them nearly every week, at my school we do not just take bubble tests all day long.

With that being said, I would like to post that once again, we are taking another bubble test (this test is the one that every student has to take in school to evaluate your academic progress). The reason that I am telling you all this is because in the reading comprehension section, they had a lovely passage about the Roman god, Mercury.

Here are some facts that I learned about him today:

( Mercury the element)
* Although no one knows when the element Mercury was discovered, this element was named after the quick- winged messenger god because they noticed that Mercury( the element)could flow very quickly


* You may notice that many buisnesses have a picture of Mercury( the god not the element) as their logo. This is because they, like Mercury, pride themselves on being quick and fast.

Cool Latin Phrase

I completely forgot that I had an app on my phone that has a whole bunch of " Cool Latin Phrases". I looked around and found a quote that you might like:

abuses non toll it usum-
abuse of a right does not invalidate use

Our school also owns a piece of land that is covered with the Japaneese Knotweed. Unlike our future garden spot, we can't send the junior classicists( also known as the lower school girls) out with a shovel and spade. Why not? The problem is that the land is a very steep hill, and we are concerned that they would accidently fall down. Now THAT wouldn't be good...
If you have any ideas of how we can rid ourselves of this troublesome plant please write a comment! Come'on latinittes, I'm counting on you!

Visit my friend's blog for a recipe for making knotweed tea:
http://www.stupefyingscience.blogspot.com

(Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica)

My science teacher suggested that I do a blog post about this subject, and I wasn't sure how it was connected to Latin or greek Mythology. But, sure enough I found a way to connect a herbacious plant to a classic language.

Have You Seen This Plant?

Unfortunately, I am becoming all-too familiar with it...

In my science class, we are learning about enviromental conservation. We found something of interest right outside our classroom doors. What did we find, you ask? We found a herd(yes I'm calling it a herd) of Japaneese Knotweed, also known as "evil bamboo". Japanese knotweed was once used in ornamental gardens, but during the summer it blooms and spreads its seeds all over the place. Now, that is in itself is not bad, but the problem is that it is one of many invasive species, or a type of plant that is not native to an area, now found in West Virginia. The knotweed escaped from the gardens and is now found competing(and winning)against native plants and flowers. Japaneese knotweed poses a threat because the native wildlife, such as Monarch Butterflies, that depends on the native plants(oddly enough)will not survive. This is a chain reaction. If the Monarch caterpillars cannot find any milkweed to eat, this species will bacome extinct.

Now, if you find Japaneese Knotweed in your neighborhood, PULL IT OUT!!! Although cutting it down will temporarily prevent it from going to seed and spreading more knotweed, the remaining roots that are left in the ground will produce a whole new plant. Did I mention that in an area where there is Japaneese Knotweed other plants won't grow? Yep, that's right so if you don't pull the entire plant out their roots will produce a chemical that prevents other plants from growing.

As you can see, the garden at my school has to be postponed until the knotweed is gone

Thank you for reading this article and I hope that I have encouraged you to get rid of that knotweed of yours. Oh, and how I related Japaneese knotweed to Latin...well you all know that the genus species of any plant is written in Latin, right! Well all I can say is find and get rid of your Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum cuspidatum, Reynoutria japonica!!!


Pull Baby Pull,
Morgan, the enviromental conservatist and classy classicist

Grammar Book

Pronouns in Latin

In preparation for the annual standardized tests( these tests have
nothing- well almost nothing- to do with the classics) my Latin/
literature teacher decided to give us English worksheets.

This is what I learned:

Pronoun is a word for words like he, she, and we that are substituted
for proper nouns.

"pro" means to stand in for in Latin

Thus, you can remember that a pronoun stands in for another noun.

Yes, I know you all wanted an English lesson this morning, but still I
thought it was interesting.

Sent from my iPhone

Aveeno

See, this classy classicist scrubs up with Latin everyday.... Do you?

Scrub up with Latin!

Have you all heard of the Aveeno bath and lotion company? Well, let's assume that you do so this post will be relevant to you. Now, the Latin word for oatmeal is aveno. Consequently it is safe to say that the Aveeno company named it Aveeno because they use oatmeal in their washes. So there you go. You can't even escape the Latin influence while bathing.

Thank you Mrs.Jones- Hayes for sharing this with me and the rest of the blog community.

~Morgan

Here's the link

Here is the link that I promised. Click on it and learn about Egyptian mythology.

http://goddessesandgod.blogspot.com/2010/11/ancient-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses.html

OMG! My teacher is an Egyptian god!!!

Would you like this guy to be your teacher? Read this post to find out why I would ask this question...

As you all know, I mainly study Greek and Roman mythology, but lately I have been interested in learning more about Egyptian Mythology. Why is this you ask? Well, this for the last couple of months I have been babysitting the six year old girl next door who is completely in love with Nickelodeon. Once again, why is that relevant? That is because there on that channel there is a new show called House of Anubis.

Now, I'm not going to bother you with the deatails of the show, but it about a group of boarding students in England who think that their teachers are Egyptian gods(or something like that). I watch this show everytime I babysit Sara, so bear with me while I try to figure out the plot line. Anyway, soon I will post the link to a great blog that deals with Egyptian mythology. Then, maybe we can figure out Egyptian mythology together.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what this photo represents, but I do know that it was painted on a sheet of papyrus... I'll consult the internet soon to find out the answer for you all. Better yet, if you know please write a comment

NATIONAL MYTHOLOGY EXAM RESULTS!!!

Now, here is a riddle for all of you:

Q: What does a latin teacher get when she finds a package on her front step during testing season???

A: Very, very happy because the results from the National Mythology Exam have arrived!

You all guessed it. The results are in. Everyone who took the National Mythology Exam at my school received an award!* I know, my teacher is now very shocked. Anyway, me ,along with eight other people, recieved a gold medal- some of which completed a perfect paper-! We also had many Outstanding Achievments and silver medals, too! The only down side to this (if it is a downside)is that next year the Latin 4 students will be taking the Medusa Mythology exam. This exam is harder and requires more studying materials, but I am sure that we will all do great!

*The fifth graders who took the elementary exam have not gotten their results back yet. But knowing, the minimites I am sure that they did fantastic!