To Teachers
The blog is designed for grades 3-4 and up but would be appropriate for any students in the upper grades who are not familiar with the morpheme being introduced. The main purpose of the blog is to develop students’ knowledge of bases (roots), prefixes, and suffixes so they can use these elements to derive the meanings of unfamiliar words and build their vocabularies. As part of presenting a new morpheme each week, words containing that morpheme are also introduced. Chances are some of those words will be unfamiliar, thus providing an opportunity for added vocabulary development. This week’s Morpheme Monday Lesson introduces the morphemes aqua, hydra, terra, astra.
To Students
Using morphology can help you learn about the world around you and also build your vocabulary. This week’s lesson introduces the morphemes aqua, hydra, terra, and astra.
-Gemini generated image
Aqua is a base that means “water. ” Aquaman (Aqua+man) is a ruler who lives in Atlantis. Atlantis is an imaginary underwater kingdom. An aquarium (aqu+arium) is a container where creatures who live in water can be kept. Aquariums can be small enough so they fit on a shelf, or they can be so large that they are a home for hundreds of fish, sharks, and other sea creatures. At least one aquarium–the Georgia aquarium– has a whale shark. A whale shark is the largest shark of all. It is about as long as a full-size school bus. That’s a very big tank of water. On an aquafarm (aqua+farm), fish, shellfish, and other sea animals are raised in water and sold as seafood.
Terra means “earth or land.” Territory (terri+tory) is a piece of land. With the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired a vast territory west of the Mississippi River. The United States doubled in size. A terrarium (terr+arium) is a container where plants are grown, or land animals are kept.
Aster (astro) is a base that means “star.” The morpheme naut means “sailor.” Astro + naut form the word astronaut. An astronaut sails in a spaceship. Astronomy (astro+nomy) is the study of the stars and other bodies in space. An astronomer (astro+nom+er) is one who studies the stars. Astronomical (astro+nom+ic+al) means “so large, huge, or great that it reaches up to the stars.” The richest person in the world is worth an astronomical amount of money. An asterisk * is a mark that is shaped like a star and is used in printing and writing. It is often used to show that there is a note at the bottom of the page.
Hydra(hydro) also means “water.” A fire hydrant (hydr+ant) is where firefighters hook up hoses to get water to put out a fire. A hydroplane (hydro+plane) is a plane that can land on water. A hydroplane also refers to a boat that skims over the water as though it is flying. A hydrangea (hydr+ angea) (High-DRAIN- juh) is a flowering plant that needs to be watered. The morpheme angea means “container” or “part of the body that acts as a container.” The hydrangea has cup-shaped seed pods that are like containers.
Chart for Aqua, Hydra, Terra, Astra
| Morpheme | Meaning | Example | |
| astra, astro | star | astronaut, astronomer | |
| aqua | water | aquarium, aquafarm | |
| hydra, hydro | water | hydrant, hydroplane | |
| terra | land, earth | territory, terrarium |
Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with the following words: aquarium, aquanauts, astronomy, territory, astronomical, asterisk, aquafarms, terrarium.
- The book on ________________ had a lot of information on the stars.
- A team of ________________ searched for the sunken treasure.
- The city’s ________________ added an octopus to its collection of sea creatures.
- Much of the seafood that we eat comes from ________________.
- The scientist added an ________________ to her article to show that there was a note at the bottom of the page.
- Birds use their songs to warn other flocks to stay out of their ________________.
- The students took turns feeding the lizards in the ________________.
- The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is an ________________ 93 million miles.
Using Clues
Use the boldfaced words’ morphemes and the way the words are used in the sentences to guess what they mean. (In the second example, marine means “sea.”) Underline the correct answer.
- In hot weather it is important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, so you don’t get overheated.
- a) having enough water in one’s body
- b) staying cool on hot days
- c) staying out of the sun
- With its clear aquamarine water, the bay was a good place to spot sea creatures.
- dark yellow or bright orange
- brown or grayish
- blue or blue-green
Answers
Vocabulary
- astronomy, 2. aquanauts, 3. aquarium, 4. aquafarms, 5. asterisk, 6. territory,
- terrarium, 8. astronomical
Using Clues
- a 2. c
Note: All Morpheme Monday Lessons are posted at Buildingliteracy.org under The Building Literacy Blog. This is the last Morpheme Monday Lesson for the current school year. Morpheme Monday Lessons will resume in September.
©Thomas Gunning, Ed. D.
Monday Morpheme Lessons
Buldingliteracy.org
Contact email: Tom@buildingliteracy.org