Sonya Snyder, age 11, of Waukomis, Oklahoma, for her question:

What does the word zoology mean?

Scientists borrow most of their words from Latin and Greek. This is because these old languages are understood by educated scholars of all nations. The ancient Greek word for life was "zoe"• In every country, scientists who study living things know what it means, even though the old spelling has been changed to "zoo". A zoo, as we know, is a place where various animals are kept and exhibited. The second part of zoology comes from a Greek word meaning wisdom or study. Hence, a zoologist studies living animals of every kind.

This is a very large order. Our planet supports a million or so animal species and each species has its own way of life. This is much to much to grasp in a lifetime, so zoologists specialize in various branches of this fascinating field. One may specialize in birds, another in mammals, fishes or reptiles. However, all zoologists know the basic rules for classifying animals and also a lot about their general biological chemistry.