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