Sandy Bennett, age 13, of Affton, Missouri, for her question:

Are the Russia Steppes actually steps?

This question demonstrates how different languages lead to misunderstandings between peoples. To us, steps are stages between lower and higher levels. To the Russians, steppes are vast flat stretches of level land with no ups and downs. We might call the steppelands plains, or prairies.

There are, goodness knows, plenty of trails stepping up and down the earth's massive mountains and plenty of rocky cliffs stepping down to the sea. But the steppelands of Russia step only east and west, north and south. The Russians named them with their word for "plain" but this immense region of the earth's surface actually reaches in and through several other countries. To get a geographical picture of the steppes we should view them as part of Eurasia, the earth's land mass that includes both Europe and Asia. The steppelands spread flat as a tabletop through the heart of this natural continent and their central position creates their particular features.

Weather conditions, especially rainfall, is moderated by winds from the ocean. The center of a large land mass naturally spreads farther and farther from the sea and in most cases barriers of mountains seal it off from the moist ocean breezes. These conditions create our own deserts and prairies. Similar conditions create the steppelands of central Eurasia. These flat, rather high, dry grassy plateaus stretch from Hungary eastward as far as China. The core of the vast land mass is even drier    and the steppes surround the Gobi and other arid deserts.

The seasonal climate of the steppes tends to be extreme. The summer days are hot, the winters bittery cold, and at night the daily temperature may fall as much as 50 degrees. The seasonal rains arrive in spring and there is rarely enough water to nourish tall trees. The steppelands are covered with grasses and a wide assort¬ment of low growing plants. In spring, there are colored carpets of wild flowers as far as the eye can see. There are purple irises and bright buttercups, peonies arid hyacinths and red and yellow tulips. But soon the grasses grow tall and feathery above the flowers. The steppeland becomes a sea of waving grass and the air is filled with the tangy fragrance of sturdy sage bushes. By midsummer, the hot arid sun has scorched all this plant life and the ground is matted with dried out vegetation.

The steppes are populated by a wide assortment of grazing animals, including antelopes, gazelles and deer. There are foxes and burrowing marmots and dozens of other rodents. The short springtime provides breeding grounds for flocks of birds. Through the long hot summers and the long cold winters, the spring vegetation decays and adds its nutrients to the ground. The dark soil of the steppes is rich and pro¬vides the fertile farmlands of the Ukraine. In other regions it provides pasture, and nomad peoples wander around to find seasonal fodder for their sheep and cattle, goats and horses.

The geography of the steppes has played a big role in the history of mankind. The open grasslands are fine for traveling by horse. Marco Polo traveled across the steppes from central Europe all the way to China. The ravaging hordes of Genghis Khan thundered westward across the steppes from China into Europe. And for centuries the flat, grassy corridors of steppeland provided trade routes between the Mediterranean countries and the Orient.