A definition: “Carbon dioxide makes charged water fizz”

Abstract

One inter-Allied code in World War I was an Indian language. This medium of communication, which was meaningful to the Indians, was meaningless to our enemies. Frequently, other meaningless are presented to school children in the form of new subjects, each of which has its own unique vocabulary. Teachers may either decode these languages to increase the validity of meanings for pupils, or keep locked the secrets of meanings which these languages can unfold. To illustrate the complexity of the problem, a definition of the word see was sought. Funk and Wagnalls' abridged dictionary lists over sixty-five synonyms for see, a common word, used daily by most people. Do we really say what we mean when we use look instead of see, considering the degree of difference of meaning which each connotes? It is obvious that confusion, misunderstanding, and lack of understanding may result from the use of incorrect conversational words. Science-subject words are even more remote to most students. What, then, are the implications in the understanding of a science vocabulary which, next to foreign languages, presents the largest number of new words to young people? Various authors of science texts have attempted to aid pupils in getting meanings from science words in several ways; among which are the use of footnoted definitions, the use of a glossary, and the use of the Latin derivation. Fenton and Kambly1 recognized the problem and attempted to solve it by defining the word in context the first time it appeared. Thus, dioxide was defined, . . some water contains dissolved minerals and the gas called carbon dioxide, which makes charged water fizz. Carbon dioxide is an important word commonly used in science.