Debbie Roecker, age l0, of Morton, Ill., for her question:

How did the smoky Mountains get their name?

The great smokies are a lofty range of the Appalachian mountain system. They form the boundary between Tennessee and North Carolina and their handsome slopes and peaks are one of America's scenic wonderlands. Rare wild plants grow in the forest shrubbery and rare animals inhabit the rocks and crannies.

As you stand there, the rich wild life at your feet stretches up and away over the forested mountain tops. Here and there a bare peak pokes above the lush greenery ¬and almost always this lofty scenery is softly veiled in scarves of smoky blue mist. The great smoky Mountains were named for the smoky blue haze that hovers around their handsome shoulders.