Vocabulary and Concept
Development
EDI
Standard:
1.4 Students will identify
common roots and affixes
derived from Greek and Latin
and use this knowledge to
analyze the meaning of complex
words (e.g., international).
Learning Objective
• I will know common roots derived from
Greek and Latin and use this knowledge
to analyze the meaning of complex
words.
Activating Prior Knowledge
• Have you heard the word aquarium?
• The root aqua means “water.”
• Can you see the root terr in
terrarium?
• The root terr means “land.”
• Can you see the root terr in the
Spanish word “tierra” or in the
English word territory?
Concept Development
• Root : The fundamental element of a word or form, exclusive of
all affixes and inflectional phonetic changes.
• Root: The root is the part of the word that
contains the basic meaning.
Tell your
partner what
a root is.
A root is the
part of the word
that contains
the basic
meaning.
Read the following Latin roots.
aqua
water
Latin
terr
land
Latin
Importance
• Have you ever been confused about a
word and have not been able to figure
out its meaning?
• Have you ever had to use knowledge of
word meaning to figure out the meaning
of a new or difficult word?
Skill Development
• Read these words:
aquaculture
aquamarine
aquatic
Mediterranean
subterranean
terrace
terrain
territory
• Read these definitions / synonyms:
 a large area of land, a region; a
settlement or colony
 a flattened top on the side of a hill
 a large sea between two
continents (bodies of land)
 Living in, or having to do with,
water
 Land or ground
 A bluish-green color
 The science or raising plants and
animals in water
 under the earth
• Match the words with the correct definitions or
synonyms:
 under the earth
aquaculture
 a large area of land, a region; a
settlement or colony
aquamarine
 a flattened top on the side of a hill
aquatic
Mediterranean
subterranean
terrace
terrain
territory
 a large sea between two
continents (bodies of land)
 Living in, or having to do with,
water
 Land or ground
 A bluish-green color
 The science or raising plants and
animals in water
Answer these questions:
1. What is a root?
2. Does aqua as in aquarium mean water or
land?
3. What does the root terr mean?
4. What is the root in aquatic?
5. What does the root mean?
Guided Practice
Identify the roots.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
territory
aquaculture
terrain
aquamarine
terrace
aquatic
subterranean
Mediterranean
Meaning in Context
Use the words in the box to fill in the blanks in the following paragraph.
aquatic
terrain
aquamarine
Mediterranean
The lands around the (1) ________________
Mediterranean
Sea
have a variety of features. Some have soil that is good
for farming, while others have rocky hills and rough (2)
__________________ where planting anything would be
difficult. From some points on the seacoast, the water
looks clear; in other places it appears to be a deep
shade of (3) _____________________. In shallow
spots, you can see (4) __________________ plants
growing underwater.
Closure
• A root is –
• the part of the word that contains the basic
meaning.
Independent Practice
Match the bolded word with the best synonym:
1. subterranean oil
a. expensive
b. thick
c. underground
2. an aquaculture business
a. diving
b. farming in water
c. hiking
3. a wooden terrace
a. fountain
b. outdoor platform
c. house
4. aquatic plants
a. in water
5. a large territory
a. region
b. on land
c. in caves
b. continent
c. business
Extension
One of the word in this lesson is aquamarine. It has two meaningful parts,
aqua and marine. Marine is derived from the Latin word marinus, meaning
“belonging to the sea” or “of the sea.” So the meaning of aquamarine can be
pieced together as “water of the sea.” Seawater sometimes seems to have a
blue-green color, which explains the definition of aquamarine. The root marin
also appears in other words connected with the sea.
Match the words with the root marin with their meaning.
d person guiding a
1. __
ship
c
2. __
underwater ship
a place for docking
3. __
boats
b seaweed
4. __
a. marina
b. marine plant
c. submarine
d. mariner