Scientists became confused when they would try to talk about plants and animals. Scientists started to use a language that was rarely used anymore called Latin. Latin is an ancient language that was used by the Romans. Still, the scientists had trouble. They would use too many words to name simple organisms. For example, the scientific name for a common honey bee was made up of 12 words.

A Swedish scientist named Carl Von Linne, who lived from 1707 until 1778, made the naming system much easier to use. His new system was so great that we still use it today! In fact, Carl was so happy about his new system that he changed his name to Latin. He has forever been known through history as Carolus Linneaus.

Just like the song said, words in science are often 2 separate Latin words put together. Here are some examples:

Bio means life and -logy means study. Therefore, biology means the study of life.

Chromo means colored and -some means body. Therefore, chromosome means colored body.

Epi- means top derm means skin. Therefore, epiderm(is) means top layer of skin.

Can you think of word combinations from the examples used in the song?

Another way to use Latin in scientific words is to use them to name organisms like plants and animals. Ol' Carl or, as he is known in Latin, Carolus, thought it would be good to name every organism using 2 names like our first and last names. The first word is called the genus which you can remember as general. The second word is called the species which you can remember as specific. Scientists almost always work from the general facts to the more specific facts.

Felis means cat. There are many different kinds of cats, but there is only one kind of cat that is tame or domestic. This cat is called domestica. Your house cat is Felis domesticus. The Felis big cat from Africa is called Felis leo.