B. Foundations of Language · Listening, Speaking and Word Power

More Greek and Latin Roots: Words for Science, Math and Social Studies

B2.1 B2.2 A3.1About 45 minutes

Learning goals

I can read and explain new Latin roots: duct, ject, mit/miss, pend, terr, voc, manu, ped and fract/frag.
I can read and explain new Greek roots: chron, hydr, astr, cycl, logy, dem, cracy and sphere.
I can combine roots, prefixes and suffixes to figure out the meaning of a complex word.
I can use roots to understand vocabulary in science, math and social studies.

Words to know

root
A base that came from another language, often Latin or Greek, and carries the main meaning.

Latin
The language of ancient Rome. Many English words, and French words, grew from it.

Greek
The language of ancient Greece. Many science and math words come from it.

connecting vowel
A vowel, often o or i, that joins two roots: hydr + o + electric.

vocabulary
All the words a person knows. From voc (voice, call).

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you learned Latin roots like port (carry), rupt (break), struct (build), spect (look), dict (say), tract (pull), aud (hear), vis/vid (see) and scrib/script (write), and Greek roots like tele, scope, phon, graph, micro, bio, geo, therm, auto, photo and meter. In Grade 5 you'll add new roots that unlock many words in your other subjects.

Let's start with a question

In Ontario, many people call their electricity bill the hydro bill. But hydr means water! Why?

It's because much of Ontario's early electricity was made by water power, at places like Niagara Falls. Hydroelectric power stations use the energy of moving water to make electricity. The name stuck, so today, Ontarians still call electricity hydro.

Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, with water pouring over a curved edge and mist rising. — The huge force of falling water at Niagara is used to make electricity. That is why Ontarians call electricity hydro, from the Greek root for water. AI-generated image

hydr (water) + o (a connecting vowel) + electric = hydroelectric: electricity made from moving water.

Latin root	Means	Examples
duc, duct	lead	conduct, product, aqueduct (a channel that leads water)
ject	throw	eject, project, reject, inject, trajectory
mit, miss	send	transmit, emit, mission, dismiss
pend	hang	pendulum, pendant, suspend, depend
terr	land, earth	territory, terrain, terrestrial
voc, vok	voice, call	vocal, vocabulary, advocate, invoke
manu	hand	manual, manuscript, manufacture
ped	foot	pedal, pedestrian, centipede
fract, frag	break	fraction, fracture, fragile, fragment

Latin roots

Greek root	Means	Examples
chron	time	chronological, chronicle, synchronize
hydr	water	hydrant, dehydrated, hydroelectric
astr, aster	star	astronomy, astronaut, asterisk (*)
cycl	circle, wheel	bicycle, recycle, cyclone
logy	study of	biology, geology, ecology
dem	people	democracy, epidemic
crat, cracy	rule, power	democracy, democratic
sphere	ball	atmosphere, hemisphere

Greek roots

Roots across your subjects

Math: a fraction is a number that shows part of a whole, as if the whole were broken into equal parts (fract = break).
Science: terrestrial animals live on land; the atmosphere is the layer of air around Earth; a pendulum hangs and swings.
Social studies: in a democracy, power belongs to the people, who vote to choose their leaders. Canada is a democracy. Territory means an area of land; Canada has three territories.

The Latin root fract means break. A fraction names part of a whole that has been broken into equal parts.

Worked example

Let's figure out a social studies word

Read: In a democracy, citizens vote to elect the people who make laws.

Find the roots: demo + cracy.
demo (dem) = people. cracy = rule or power.
Put it together: rule by the people.
Check with context: citizens (the people) vote to choose their lawmakers, so power comes from the people. It fits!

democracy = a system where power belongs to the people, who vote.

Worked example

Let's figure out a science word

Read: After the long hike in the heat, Sam felt dizzy because he was dehydrated.

Prefix: de- = remove, take away (you learned it in Grade 4).
Root: hydr = water.
Suffixes: -ate (to cause) + -ed (it happened). The e of -ate drops before -ed.
Meaning: water was taken away: Sam's body lost too much water.
Context check: a long hot hike makes you sweat a lot, and that can make you dizzy. It fits.

dehydrated = having lost too much water from the body.

Just for fun

Centipede means hundred feet (cent + ped), but no centipede has exactly 100 legs! Centipedes always have an odd number of pairs of legs, so they can have fewer than 100 or more than 100, but never exactly 100.

Root first, then the rest

When a word looks long, hunt for a root you know first. Then add the prefix and suffix meanings. in + ject + ion → injection: the act of throwing (pushing) in, like a vaccine injection.

Hands-on activity

Root detective newspaper hunt

You need: an old newspaper, flyer or magazine (or a children's science book), a highlighter or coloured pencil, and paper.

Make a chart with three columns: Word, Root, Meaning I figured out.
Hunt for words with roots from this lesson (and Grade 4 roots). Highlight each one.
Fill in the chart for at least eight words, for example project, product, recycle, territory, vocal, manual.
For each word, use the root to explain the meaning, then check one or two in a dictionary.
Share your favourite "aha!" word with your family.

What to look for: the root is correctly identified and its meaning is used in the explanation. Accept reasonable meanings.

Your turn

What does chron mean? Read chronological.

What does ject mean? Read eject.

A pedestrian is a person who travels how?

What does manual mean in a manual can opener?

Which root means star? Name two words that use it.

Read: The atmosphere protects Earth from much of the sun's harmful light. What does sphere add to the meaning?

What does fragile mean, and how does the root help?

More practice: warm-up

What does cycl mean?

What does logy mean?

What does terr mean?

What does mit / miss mean?

What does voc mean?

More practice: on your own

Read ecology. Eco means home or environment. What is ecology?

Explain why a fraction is a good name for a math idea.

Read: Radio towers transmit signals across the country. Use the prefix and root.

What do a pendulum and a pendant have in common?

Read recycle using its parts.

Challenge

Read extraterrestrial using every part.

A hydrologist and a geologist are both scientists. What does each one study? Explain with roots.

Choose three roots from this lesson and invent a sentence for each that uses a word with that root correctly in a science, math or social studies context.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What does the root hydr mean?

A pedestrian walks on...

What does democracy mean?

Which root means break?

What is chronological order?

What does transmit mean?

Which word is about the study of living things?

For parents and teachers

Big idea (B2.1, B2.2): Grade 5 students use morphology (including Greek and Latin roots) to read and understand complex words, and use taught vocabulary in other subject areas. This lesson connects to A3.1 (language skills across subjects): many Grade 5 science, math and social studies words are built from these roots.

How to help at home:

Notice roots in everyday life: hydro bill, recycling bin, manual car, pedestrian crossing.
When your child brings home subject vocabulary, ask: "Do you see a root you know?"
Keep a family "root wall" on the fridge and add words as you find them.

Common difficulties:

Same letters, different root. The ped in pedal means foot (Latin), but the ped in pediatrician (a children's doctor) comes from a Greek word for child. Always check that the meaning fits.
Forgetting the prefix or suffix meaning. Encourage adding up every part.
Mixing up similar roots (ped foot vs pend hang). Make quick picture cards.