Linda Jones, age 11, of Herkimer, N.Y., for her question:

What is a food chain

Sea worms, fish larvae and baby barnacles live on the floating algae that float in the ocean waters. Shrimps and small fishes live on the algae eaters. Herrings and mackerel live on the shrimps. Codfish live on the herrings. Halibuts and sharks live on the codfish. This is a food chain of the sea by which small creatures live on plant life and are eaten by larger creatures which are eaten by still larger creatures.

All sorts of food chains exist on land. Rabbits live on greenery and are eaten by meat eating foxes, weasels and pumas. Many insects live on plant juices and insects provide food for frogs, birds and a host of other animals. The frogs and birds provide food for the raccoons, cats, weasels and many other meat eaters. When vegetation dries up, the frogs starve for want of insects, the raccoons starve for want of frogs and so on up the line, for the whole food chain breaks down.