Vocabulary Science and Technology

YRALUVOC ABSCIENCE ANDTECHNOLOGYWORDS◆ Science in the News◆ Computers and the Net◆ The Natural World◆ Observations and ExperimentsVOCABULARYin contextELLIOTT QUINLEY1VOCABULARYiinn ccontexto n te x tEVERYDAY LIVING WORDSHISTORYMEDIAANDANDMUSIC, ART,SCIENCEGEOGRAPHY WORDSMARKETPLACE WORDSANDANDWORKPLACELITERATURE WORDSTECHNOLOGY WORDSANDCAREER WORDSThree WatsonIrvine, CA 92618-2767E-Mail: info@sdlback.comWebsite: www.sdlback.comDevelopment and Production: Laurel Associates, Inc.Cover Design: Elisa LigonInterior Illustrations: Katherine Urrutia, Debra A. LaPalm, C. S. ArtsCopyright © 2002 by Saddleback Educational Publishing.

All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storageand retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.ISBN-10: 1-56254-400-4ISBN-13: 978-1-56254-400-3eBook: 978-1-60291-484-1Printed in the United States of America07 06 05 04 039 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 12CONTENTS▼ Introduction .....................4UNIT 1 Preview ............................. 5LESSON1 Unit 1 Glossary .......................

62 How Does SunlightProduce Vitamin D? ............. 93 Waves, Surf, Seas,and Swells: What’s theDifference? ........................... 124 Some Surprising FactsAbout Bones ........................ 155 Science in the News: A VeryLong-Term Experiment ..... 186 Have You Ever Seen aSun Dog? .............................. 21UNIT 3 Preview ........................... 55LESSON1 Unit 3 Glossary ..................... 562 Today’s Weather Forecast:A National Overview ......... 593 Try It Yourself: MakingMold ......................................

624 Two Kinds of Research:Basic and Applied ............... 655 How Does a Radio Work? .. 686 The Amazing Rhino ............ 717 Science in the News:Avoiding Potholes on theInformation Highway ........ 74▼ Unit 3 Review ........................ 777 Science in the News: TheDangers of Mercury ........... 24▼ Unit 1 Review ........................ 27UNIT 2 Preview ........................... 30LESSON1 Unit 2 Glossary .....................

31UNIT 4 Preview ........................... 80LESSON1 Unit 4 Glossary ..................... 812 Rabbits and Hares: What’sthe Difference? .................... 842 What’s a Hertz? ................... 343 What Causes3 Animal Intelligence ........... 874 Why Are Deserts Dry? ....... 905 Q&A Sites on the4 Try It Yourself: Make a6 Science in the News:5 Carbon: A Common7 Noise Pollution: How Loud6 In Pursuit of Knowledge:▼ Unit 4 Review ...................... 1027 Science in the News: Rewriting▼ End-of-Book Test .........105▼ Unit 2 Review ........................

52▼ Word List ......................109Precipitation? ...................... 37Standing Wave .................... 40Element ................................ 43Internet ................................ 93Monitoring Vesuvius ........... 96Is Too Loud? ........................ 99The Scientific Method ....... 46the Record Books ................ 493INTRODUCTIONWelcome to VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT!A well-developed vocabulary pays off in many importantways. Better-than-average “word power” makes it easier tounderstand everything you read and hear—from textbookassignments to TV news reports or instructions on how to repaira bicycle. And word power obviously increases your effectivenessas a communicator. Think about it: As far as other people areconcerned, your ideas are only as convincing as the words youuse to express them.

In other words, the vocabulary you use whenyou speak or write always significantly adds to or detracts fromwhat you have to say.VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT was written especially for you.The program was designed to enrich your personal “word bank”with many hundreds of high-frequency and challenging words.There are six thematic books in the series—Everyday Living,Workplace and Careers, Science and Technology, Mediaand Marketplace, History and Geography, and Music, Art,and Literature. Each worktext presents topic-related readingswith key terms in context.

Follow-up exercises provide a widevariety of practice activities to help you unlock the meanings ofunfamiliar words. These strategies include the study ofsynonyms and antonyms; grammatical word forms; wordroots, prefixes, and suffixes; connotations; and the efficientuse of a dictionary and thesaurus. Thinking skills, such asdrawing conclusions and completing analogies, are includedas reinforcement.A word of advice: Don’t stop “thinking about words” whenyou finish this program. A first-class vocabulary must beconstantly renewed! In order to earn a reputation as a firstrate communicator, you must incorporate the new words youlearn into your everyday speech and writing.4SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORDSUNIT 1PREVIEWHere’s an introduction to the vocabulary terms, skills, and concepts you will study inthis unit.

Answers are upside down on the bottom of the page.Write T or F to show whether each statement is true or false.1. _____ The words molecule and atom are synonyms.2. _____ Hexagon is the noun form of hexagonal.3. _____ Cirrus clouds are dark and dense.4. _____ Botanists are scientists who study a type of food poisoningcalled botulism.5. _____ The words pollute and sterilize are antonyms.6. _____ The prefix -al turns the word digit into digital.7. _____ The Greek root therm means “heat.”8.

_____ Dynamic is the adjective form of the noun dynamics.9. _____ The plural form of bacterium is bacteriums.10. _____ The suffix -ion can be used to turn a verb into a noun.SPELLINGCircle the correctly spelled word in each group.2. professor3. germanatevirtabrateproffessorgerminatevertebrateperfessergermenateANSWERS: 1. F 2. T 3.

F 4. F 5. T 6. F 7. T 8. T 9. F 10. T1. vertabrate5SPELLING: 1. vertebrate 2. professor 3. germinateUNIT 1Lesson 1SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORDSGLOSSARYA glossary is an alphabetical list of unusual or specialized words from a certainfield of knowledge. Following are some important scientific and technical wordsthat all educated people should know.atmosphere the air (made ofgases, fine dust, and water vapor)that surrounds the Earthatoms tiny parts into which all thingson Earth can be broken downbacteria simple, one-celled organismsthat are visible only through amicroscopebit the smallest unit of informationused by a computer; represented bya 0 or a 1byte a string of eight bits standingfor a single charactercarbohydrates sugars and starchesin food that give people energychemistry the scientific study ofwhat substances are made ofand how they can change whencombined with other substancesclimate a region’s average weatherover many yearscrust the outer layer of the Earthdiskettes disks made of magneticmaterial and used to store dataentered into a computerecology the study of how all livingthings depend on one anothererosion the wearing away of soil bywind and waterevolutiontimechanges in a species overfood chain a group of organisms,each of which is dependent onanother for foodfossils the remains of organisms thatlived long agoorganisms living thingsWORDS IN CONTEXTComplete each sentence with a word from the glossary.

Use the other words in thesentence to help you decide which word to add. Check the dictionary definition ifyou’re still not sure.1. The devastating Dust Bowl of the 1930s was caused by thewidespread ____________________ of America’s farmland.62. Life science is the study of all the ____________________ on Earth.3. Fruits, vegetables, and grains are all good sources of____________________.4. Some ____________________ are useful for making foods such ascheese; other kinds can cause sickness and death.5. There are two hydrogen ____________________ and one oxygen____________________ in a water molecule.6. Each ____________________ of information in a computer programstands for a letter, number, or symbol.SCRAMBLED WORDS1First unscramble the words from the glossary.Then solve the crossword puzzle with wordsthat complete the sentences.ALCTIME____________________ODFO ACHIN____________________COYLOGE____________________MYSTERCHI____________________STRUC____________________HERPOSTMAE ____________________2AF345CECTACROSS5.

_____ is the study of whatmatter is made of and howit can change.6. The continents and theocean floor are part of theEarth’s _____.DOWN1. The _____ extends morethan 1,400 miles abovethe Earth’s surface.6C2. Each of the organisms in a_____ (two words) eats one ofthe other organisms.3. The study of the relationshipbetween different populations in ahabitat is called _____.4. A desert _____ is mostly hot and dry.7WORD FORMSAdd vowels (a, e, i, o, u) to complete a different form of a glossary word. Use contextclues for help. The first one has been done for you.1. A b__ca t__r__e i __la infection can usually be treated with an antibiotic.2. As weather __r__d__s rocks, salt from the rocks enters the soil.3. __t__m__c energy is used to power some submarines.4. Ch__m__s t s often conduct their experiments in laboratories.5.

Over time, organisms will f__s s__l__z__ if all the conditions areright.6. All of today’s plants and animals __v__l v__d from tiny one-celledcreatures.7. Scientists call lightning an “__t m__s p h__r__c disturbance.”EXAMPLESCircle an example of each boldface glossary item.1. climatemountainousoverpopulatedhumidprosperous2. carbohydrateslettucebutterproteinspotatoes3. organismsfleas8glacierschemicalsinstrumentsUNIT 1Lesson 2SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORDSHow Does Sunlight Produce Vitamin D?Vitamin D is a chemical that allowsyour body to make use of animportant nutrient called calcium. Ourbodies make the Vitamin D we needby “doing chemistry.”molecule. Then that chemical ends upin your kidneys. There it is taken apartagain and put back together ascalcitrol. This is the Vitamin D yourstomach needs to absorb calcium.Sunlight is a part of the chemicalreaction that makes Vitamin D.