Word roots

Last week, I presented the kids with the following challenge: Imagine that a new element has been discovered. It was found on a fragment of meteorite; it is solid at room temperature; it is slightly radioactive; and it has a greenish hue. Invent a scientific name for this element.

We completed the challenge as a class, brainstorming words we knew in French that related to the characteristics of this imaginary element, and consulting a Latin-English dictionary to find helpful word roots. We also looked at the Periodic Table to see what element names usually sound like. The goal was to come up with a name that gave hints to at least a few of the characteristics of this imaginary element. Here are some of the root words we discussed (the ones we wound up using):

xeno—alien

terrestrial—earthly

ver (vert, verde, verdant)—green

saxum—Latin word for rock

And here are the element names we finally settled on, with endings taken from the Periodic Table:

Xenoversaxon (or Xenoveraxium or Xenoversaxum)

Xenoterrestrion