A World of Words: Pacific Islands - Middle School and High School

You'll feel like you've traveled to the Pacific Islands when you dive into this word list! Learn about the archipelagos and atolls of the region as you explore volcanoes, coral reefs, and lagoons. You'll also review hazards like earthquakes and tsunamis and foods like taro, coconut, and poi.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. archipelago
    a group of many islands in a large body of water
  2. atoll
    an island consisting of a coral reef surrounding a lagoon
  3. atomic bomb
    a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239)
  4. Austral Islands
    a chain of small islands in French Polynesia
  5. Bikini
    an atoll in the Marshall Islands
  6. Bougainville
    French explorer who circumnavigated the globe accompanied by scientists (1729-1811)
  7. breadfruit
    native to Pacific islands and having edible fruit with a texture like bread
  8. citizen
    a native or naturalized member of a state
  9. coconut
    large hard-shelled oval nut with a fibrous husk containing thick white meat surrounding a central cavity filled (when fresh) with fluid or milk
  10. colonial
    relating to a body of people who settle far from home
  11. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  12. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  13. constitution
    law determining the fundamental principles of a government
  14. copra
    the dried meat of the coconut from which oil is extracted
  15. coral reef
    a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone
  16. democracy
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  17. earthquake
    vibration from underground movement along a fault plane
  18. Eastern Samoa
    a United States territory on the eastern part of the island of Samoa
  19. Federated States of Micronesia
    a country scattered over Micronesia with a constitutional government in free association with the United States; achieved independence in 1986
  20. Fiji
    an independent state within the British Commonwealth located on the Fiji Islands
  21. French Polynesia
    a French overseas possession in the South Pacific
  22. Gilbert Islands
    a group of islands in Micronesia to the southwest of Hawaii
  23. Guadalcanal
    a mountainous island
  24. Guam
    the largest and southernmost island in the Marianas which is administered as a territory of the United States; it was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1898
  25. habitat
    the type of environment in which an organism normally lives
  26. Hawaii
    a state in the United States in the central Pacific on the Hawaiian Islands
  27. Hawaiian Islands
    a group of volcanic and coral islands in the central Pacific
  28. independence
    freedom from control or influence of another or others
  29. independent
    not controlled by outside forces
  30. jurisdiction
    the territory within which power can be exercised
  31. Kahoolawe
    an island of south-central Hawaii
  32. Kauai
    an island of Hawaii to the northwest of Oahu
  33. Kiribati
    an island republic in the west central Pacific just to the south of the equator
  34. lagoon
    a body of water cut off from a larger body by a reef
  35. Lanai
    an island of central Hawaii; a pineapple-growing area
  36. magma
    molten rock in the earth's crust
  37. marine
    of or relating to the sea
  38. maritime
    bordering on or living near the sea
  39. Marquesas Islands
    a group of volcanic islands in the south central Pacific
  40. Marshall Islands
    a group of coral islands in eastern Micronesia
  41. Maui
    the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands
  42. Mauna Kea
    an active volcano on north central Hawaii Island
  43. Mauna Loa
    an active volcano on south central Hawaii Island
  44. Melanesia
    the islands in the southwestern part of Oceania
  45. Micronesia
    a country scattered over Micronesia with a constitutional government in free association with the United States; achieved independence in 1986
  46. Molokai
    an island of central Hawaii (between Maui and Oahu)
  47. monarchy
    autocracy governed by a ruler who usually inherits authority
  48. Nauru
    a small island in the central Pacific Ocean 2,800 miles to the southwest of Hawaii; in Micronesia to the west of the Gilbert Islands
  49. New Caledonia
    an island to the to the east of Australia and to the north of New Zealand
  50. New Guinea
    a Pacific island to the north of Australia
  51. nickel
    a hard malleable ductile silvery metallic element that is resistant to corrosion; used in alloys; occurs in pentlandite and smaltite and garnierite and millerite
  52. Nihau
    the most northwestern Hawaiian island (beyond Kauai)
  53. Northern Mariana Islands
    a self-governing territory comprising all of the Mariana Islands except Guam
  54. Oahu
    an island of central Hawaii ; the chief island of the state
  55. Oceania
    a large group of islands in the south Pacific including Melanesia and Micronesia and Polynesia (and sometimes Australasia and the Malay Archipelago)
  56. Palau
    a republic in the western central Pacific Ocean in association with the United States
  57. Papua New Guinea
    a parliamentary democracy on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea; in 1975 it became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations
  58. phosphate
    a salt of phosphoric acid
  59. poi
    Hawaiian dish of taro root pounded to a paste and often allowed to ferment
  60. Polynesia
    the islands in the eastern part of Oceania
  61. Polynesian
    of or relating to Polynesia or its people or culture
  62. precipitation
    the falling to earth of any form of water
  63. prime minister
    head of government, especially of a parliamentary democracy
  64. radiation
    energy transmitted in the form of rays or waves or particles
  65. rainforest
    a densely wooded tropical area with heavy precipitation
  66. republic
    a political system in which power lies in a body of citizens
  67. Samoa
    a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific
  68. seismic
    subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration
  69. Society Islands
    an island group of French Polynesia in the South Pacific to the east of Samoa
  70. Solomon Islands
    the northernmost islands are part of Papua New Guinea
  71. state
    a politically organized body under a single government
  72. subsistence farming
    farming that provides for the basic needs of the farmer without surpluses for marketing
  73. Tahiti
    an island in the south Pacific
  74. taro
    edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants
  75. Tonga
    a monarchy on a Polynesian archipelago in the South Pacific
  76. tourism
    the business of providing services to travelers for pleasure
  77. tsunami
    a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave
  78. Tuamotu Archipelago
    a group of about 80 coral islands in French Polynesia
  79. Tuvalu
    a group of coral islands in Micronesia to the southwest of Hawaii
  80. Vanuatu
    a volcanic island republic in Melanesia
  81. volcanic
    relating to eruptions of gas and lava from the earth's crust
  82. volcano
    a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt
  83. Wake Island
    an island in the western Pacific between Guam and Hawaii
  84. Western Samoa
    a constitutional monarchy on the western part of the islands of Samoa in the South Pacific
Created on Tue Jan 10 16:30:05 EST 2017 (updated Fri Mar 31 16:15:27 EDT 2017)

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