Strategy Name

Science Morphemes

Strategy Worksheet #6

Brief Description (in your own words):

Morphemes are parts of a word that have the same meaning in other words that use them. For
example, bio = life, and logy = study of, therefore, biology = study of life. Science is full of
morphemes that help enhance vocabulary. Students are able to look at a morpheme within a
word and infer the meaning to the whole word, just as in the biology example. Using
morphemes is a basis for connecting ideas and developing vocabulary to describe concepts.
How you plan to use this strategy in your Practicum, Internship, Student
Teaching, or in Your own classroom
I plan to use this strategy whenever new, unfamiliar vocabulary is presented. This should be
done at the beginning of the words introduction so that students know what word to connect to
the newly-learned concept. For example, students can learn the concept of photosynthesis and
then the actual word photosynthesis. Breaking it down, photo = light, and synthesis = to create
something. Therefore, photosynthesis must mean use light to create something, and students
would have just learned what is created. Words must then be used functionally in order to
encourage students to use academic vocabulary and appropriate scientific terminology. This is
a highly critical component of creating scientifically literate students.