Acronyms

The use of acronyms can be helpful when a list of facts or a sequence of items must be remembered. An acronym is a word or phrase made from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. For example, the acronym PERT stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique. Of course, acronyms can be created by students to remember a specific item, such as the planets in our solar system in sequence (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). Taking the first letter of each word, you would have m, v e, m, j, s, u, and n. Make up a nonsensical phrase to help you remember the exact order, such as, "My very elegant mother just served us noodles."

Make up a similar acronym to use to remember the sequence of red blood cell maturation:

• Pronormoblast
• Basophilic
• Polychromatic
• Orthochromatic
• Reticulocyte
• Mature