Wonder Roots Camp

Ages 9-13 

What does a radish have to do with the word radical?

What does an animal’s respiration have to do with conspiracy?

What does a brown recluse spider have to do with inclusion?

Just as roots bring life to plants, word roots reveal the wonders hiding in our language. People exploring nature use language to describe what they see. Understanding root words gives naturalists a way to describe and organize what they discover. Campers will become detectives, exploring Latin word roots and the connections they make to the natural world, firing imaginations and supercharging their word power.

Some activities for the week:

• Read The Giant Turnip folktale and re-enact the story through a game of tug of war

• Root hunting

• Plant and harvest veggies

• Explore conspiracy through games like Capture the Flag, role playing as animals

• Experiment with evaporative cooling

• Creatively add each day’s word root to a self-made collage

• Build a beaver dam

• Team games, role-playing as animals

• Make miniature terrariums