What's in a Word?
Participants will find new words in this lessons. Some may be similar to words they already know and some will not be.
Cell is the small compartment that is the basic structural unit of all organisms - often called the building brick of life. The word comes from the Latin word, cellula, meaning "a small room".
Characteristic is a distinguishing trait or quality and comes from the original Greek word, character, which originally meant "sharpen or cut". The original word referred to a stamp marking one item to make it different from another.
Diversity is being made up of distinct characteristics or qualities. The word is related to words like verse, version, vertebra, and divert. The root of the word comes from a Latin word with two parts meaning "turn" and "aside". The word divert means "turn in new directions".
Genes are units of information that determine particular characteristics in an organism, The word comes from the old European root gen- meaning "to produce". Other words from "gen-" are genetic and genome. Genes have information that make individuals different. So your genes "produce" you.
Organism is an individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, or bacterium. The Greek word for organ means "tool or instrument"; Ism means "system". So an organism, such as the human body, is a "system of tools".
Proteins are essential components of living cells and consist of many individual chemical units called amino acids. The word comes from a Greek word meaning "of first importance", which emphasizes the important role proteins play in living organisms.
You may notice other words with these same roots. By finding the root in a word, you may be able to figure out what it means, even if you have never seen the word.
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