Linda Rogers, age 13, of Cedartown, Georgia, for her question:

Is it correct to call a beetle an animal?

Biologists know of a few microscopic living things that seem to be neither plants nor animals. They have a sort of between world of their own. However, all the living things that we are likely to meet in the everyday world are either plants or animals. They are classified in the Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom.

A beetle, of course, is certainly not a plant. So he must be an animal of the Animal Kingdom. And so he is. He is an insect of the animal class Insecta. Everyone, of course, knows that the furry, four footed mammals are animals. And many people tend to think that they are the only animals. It is, however,. correct to say that a beetle is an animal. So is a wasp or any other insect. Birds and snakes, fishes and jellyfishes, frogs and even worms are animals.