Honors Biology Root Word Basics

Front 1

A-

Back 1

WITHOUT

Hint 1

Abiotic means without life

Front 2

AERO

Back 2

AIR

Hint 2

Aerobic means that something needs air (oxygen).

Front 3

ALB

Back 3

WHITE

Hint 3

Albinos are usually very white because they have no pigment in their skin or fur.

Front 4

ANTE

Back 4

BEFORE

Hint 4

Anterior is the part of the body that is in the front or before... first.

Front 5

ANTHRO

Back 5

MAN

Hint 5

Anthropomorphic is when human qualities or motivations are incorrectly imposed on animals or other objects. Ex. That dolphin must be happy because it seems to smile.

Front 6

ANTI

Back 6

AGAINST

Hint 6

The word antibiotic means "against life" because it kills living bacteria.

Front 7

AQUA

Back 7

Water

Hint 7

Aquatic plants live in fresh or saltwater.

Front 8

ARCHAE

Back 8

ANCIENT

Hint 8

Archaeology or archeology is the science of ancient things.

Front 9

ARTHRO

Back 9

Joint

Hint 9

Arthritis is the painful inflamation of the joints.

Front 10

AUTO

Back 10

SELF

Hint 10

Autotrophs are organisms that can make their own food. Ex. Plants are autotrophs.

Front 11

AVI

Back 11

Bird

Hint 11

The class Aves contains all the birds. Aviation means to fly like a bird.

Front 12

BENTHOS

Back 12

Depth of the ocean

Hint 12

Benthic animals live in the deep ocean regions.

Front 13

BI

Back 13

Two

Hint 13

Humans are bipedal because they walk on two feet.

Front 14

BIO

Back 14

Life or Living

Hint 14

Biology is the study of living organisms

Front 15

CALOR

Back 15

HEAT

Hint 15

A calorie is a unit of measure pertaining to food and how much heat producing energy it contains.

Front 16

CARBO

Back 16

Carbon

Hint 16

A carbohydrate is a chemical that contains carbon and hydrogen which is used is converted to energy by living organisms.

Front 17

CARDIO

Back 17

Heart

Hint 17

A cardiologist is a doctor that specializes in the heart.

Front 18

CARCIN

Back 18

Ulcer or Cancer

Hint 18

A carcinogen is something that causes cancer. A cancer was originally considered anything that caused a sore or ulcer.

Front 19

CARNI

Back 19

Flesh

Hint 19

Carnivores eat flesh. Ex. Lions are carnivores.

Front 20

CENT

Back 20

1/100TH

Hint 20

A centimeter is 1/100TH of a meter.

Front 21

CENTRI OR CENTRO

Back 21

Center

Hint 21

Centripetal means to move towards the center or axis. Ex. A sunflower is centripetal in that the largest and oldest petals are on the outside of the flower. They get progressively smaller and younger closer to the center of the flower.

Front 22

CEPHALO

Back 22

HEAD

Hint 22

Some animals exhibit cephalization, meaning that they have an anterior "head" region. Other animals are acephalic and do not have this. Ex. Insects exhibit cephalization but starfish do not.

Front 23

CIDE

Back 23

Kill

Hint 23

Insecticides kill insects.

Front 24

CHEMO

Back 24

CHEMICAL

Hint 24

Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer using specific chemical agents or drugs that are selectively destructive to malignant cells and tissues.

Front 25

CHLORO

Back 25

Green

Hint 25

Chlorophyll is the chemical pigment in plants that give the leaves their green color and allow them to do photosynthesis.

Front 26

CHROMO

Back 26

COLOR

Hint 26

A chromatophore is a special cell that contains pigments to produce color in an organism. Ex. Some lizards have chromatophores that expand and contract to allow them to change color.

Front 27

CILI

Back 27

HAIR

Hint 27

Cilia are hairlike structures that extend from the surface of some cells.

Front 28

CLIMA

Back 28

The climate

Hint 28

A climatologist studies the climate. A climate is the weather in some location averaged over some long period of time. Ex. Our climate is one of hot and humid summers and mild winters.

Front 29

CO-

Back 29

With

Hint 29

When we work in cooperative groups we must work/operate with each other.

Front 30

COEL

Back 30

Hollow

Hint 30

Some animals, like humans have a coelom. This is a hollow cavity where organs are usually found. Our intestines are one organ found in our coelom.

Front 31

CON

Back 31

TOGETHER or WITH

Hint 31

A congential defect is when a baby is born with a defect that happened as they developed in the womb.

Front 32

CONTRA

Back 32

AGAINST

Hint 32

Contraception is something that works against pregnacy.

Front 33

CRYPT

Back 33

HIDDEN

Hint 33

Cryptozoology is supposed to be the study of creatures, such as the Sasquatch/Bigfoot, whose existence has not been substantiated.

Front 34

CYST

Back 34

POUCH

Hint 34

A cyst is a sac of tissue that contains a gas, liquid, or semisolid substance. Ex. The cyst on the woman's hand was removed by the doctor.

Front 35

CULE

Back 35

SMALL

Hint 35

A molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that retains the chemical and physical properties of the substance and is composed of two or more atoms.

Front 36

CYTO

Back 36

CELL

Hint 36

A cytologist studies cells.

Front 37

DECA

Back 37

TEN

Hint 37

A crustacean of the order Decapoda, such as a crab, lobster, or shrimp, characteristically having ten legs, each joined to a segment of the thorax.

Front 38

DENT-

Back 38

TOOTH

Hint 38

A dentist is a doctor that specializes in teeth.

Front 39

DERM

Back 39

SKIN

Hint 39

The epidermis is the outer layer of skin.

Front 40

DESMA

Back 40

A BAND OR BOND

Hint 40

Plasmodesmata are holes in the cell walls of plant cells. They allow materials to flow from one cell to another and in that sense bond them together.

Front 41

DETRIT

Back 41

WEAR OFF

Hint 41

Detritus is the loose matter resulting from the wearing away or disintegration of a tissue or substance. Ex. The forest floor was full of detritus made up of dead and decaying leaves.

Front 42

DI

Back 42

TWO

Hint 42

A diplococcus bacteria is one that is made up of two spherical cells attached together.

Front 43

DIS

Back 43

APART

Hint 43

Disjunction occurs when chromosomes pull apart as cells divide.

Front 44

DYS

Back 44

BAD

Hint 44

Muscular dystrophy is a disease which weakens and destroys muscles.

Front 45

ECO

Back 45

HOME

Hint 45

Ecology is the branch of science that is concerned with the relationships between organisms and their environments...or their "homes" in the world.

Front 46

ECHINO

Back 46

SPINY

Hint 46

Echinoderms have a spiny skin.

Front 47

ENDO

Back 47

INSIDE

Hint 47

The endodermis is the inside layer of tissue in plants.

Front 48

EPI

Back 48

UPON

Hint 48

You epidermis is your skin which is upon your body.

Front 49

EQUI

Back 49

EQUAL

Hint 49

A chemical equation should be balanced on each side in that there should be an equal number of the same kinds of atoms on the reactant and the product sides.

Front 50

EU

Back 50

GOOD

Hint 50

Euphoria is a good feeling of great happiness or well-being.

Front 51

EXO OR EXTRA

Back 51

Outside

Hint 51

Insects have exoskeletons. They have an outer shell or plates that give them support and structure instead of an endoskeleton of bones such as humans have.

Front 52

FERTIL

Back 52

Fruitful

Hint 52

Mules occur when a horse and donkey are mated. Mules themselves are not fertile because they cannot produce offspring.

Front 53

FLAGELL

Back 53

WHIP

Hint 53

Flagella are long whiplike structures that extend from some cells. Sperm have flagella.

Front 54

GAMET

Back 54

WIFE, HUSBAND

Hint 54

Women and men both produce gametes (or sex cells). Women produce eggs and men produce sperm.

Front 55

GASTRO

Back 55

STOMACH

Hint 55

A gastrologist studies and treats problems with the digestive system... particularly the stomach.

Front 56

GEN, GENO

Back 56

BORN, PRODUCING

Hint 56

All of the offspring that are born at the same stage of descent from a common ancestor: Mother and daughters represent two generations.

Front 57

GEO

Back 57

EARTH

Hint 57

Geology is the scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of the earth.

Front 58

GLUCOS

Back 58

SWEET

Hint 58

Glucose is a simple sugar that serves as the major energy source of the body; it occurs in most plant and animal tissue. Also called blood sugar.

Front 59

GLYCO

Back 59

SWEET

Hint 59

Glycogen: A complicated sugar that is the main form of carbohydrate storage in animals and occurs mainly in liver and muscle tissue; it is readily converted to glucose. Also called animal starch.

Front 60

GYMNO

Back 60

NAKED

Hint 60

Gymnosperm: A plant that bears naked seeds (i. e., seeds not inclosed in an ovary), such as the common pine tree.

Front 61

GYN

Back 61

WOMAN

Hint 61

Gynecology: The branch of medicine dealing with health care for women, especially the diagnosis and treatment of disorders affecting the female reproductive organs.

Front 62

HAPLO

Back 62

SINGLE

Hint 62

Haploid: Having a single set of chromosomes.

Front 63

HEMO

Back 63

BLOOD

Hint 63

Hematology is the study of the blood.

Front 64

HEMI

Back 64

HALF

Hint 64

A the brain consist of two hemispheres; the right and the left.

Front 65

HERB

Back 65

NON WOODY PLANT

Hint 65

A plant whose stem does not produce woody, persistent tissue and generally dies back at the end of each growing season.

Front 66

HETERO

Back 66

DIFFERENT

Hint 66

Heterosexual: Of or relating to different sexes.

Front 67

HOMO- HOMEO

Back 67

MAN OR SAME

Hint 67

A homogenenous mixture is evenly mixed. Store bought milk is homogenous, but vegetable soup is not.