The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [129]
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