Each day, we will post a word for you to learn to build your science vocabularly. Write the word in your notebook, and do some research into the word. Try to use it in a sentence, which will demonstrate whether or not you really understand the word and how it is used.
Depending on how old you are, you have probably learned what "prefixes" and "suffixes" are in school. If not, I'm going to tell you.
A prefix is "an affix placed before a base or another prefix, as un- in unkind, un- and re- in unrewarding."
A suffix is "an affix that follows the element to which it is added, as -ly in kindly."
Most prefixes, used in scientific terms, come from Latin or Greek.
For example, in aquaculture, the prefix is aqua. Auqua means water in Latin. Culture, in this context, does not mean a social culture, like a civilization, but rather culture as in cultivation, such as "the cultivation of microorganisms, as bacteria, or of tissues, for scientific study, medicinal use, etc." ("Cult" is another prefix, which we'll discuss at a different time.")
So aquaculture is "the cultivation of aquatic animals and plants, esp. fish, shellfish, and seaweed, in natural or controlled marine or freshwater environments; underwater agriculture"
Another word that uses the prefix aqua is "aquanaut." Again, aqua means water, so aquanaut means "an undersea explorer, esp. one who skin-dives from or lives for an extended period of time in a submerged dwelling".
(Explaininng how the word "naut" was derived, such as astronaut, aquanaut, aeronaut, would also take time, and I'll explain it later on, too. Either subscribe to or Follow this blog so you can find out all about it, unless you want to do research on your own.)
How about aquifer? It doesn't have "aqua" but it has "aqui", so you can still figure out that it has something to do with water. "any geological formation containing or conducting ground water, esp. one that supplies the water for wells, springs, etc"
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