Allan Lazo, age 10, of Portland, Ore., for his question:

WHAT DO OYSTERS EAT?

An oyster is not a fussy eater. He stays in one spot and cannot go hunting, so he cannot pick and choose the items on his menu. He squats there, waiting for the sea to serve him scraps of food. He has just enough pep to part his two shells to let the water flow in, around his soft body and out again. In fact, this is just about all he does to keep himself alive.

The water of the salty sea contains dissolved oxygen, minerals and floating scraps of this and that. The oyster feeds on these floating scraps. His menu includes bits of seaweeds and mini plants called algae, too small for our eyes to see. His meat course may include a mini worm or a mini fish egg. But most likely it is a few scraps of meat that fell from the body of a dead fish or some other sea creature. All this food is digested, purified and changed into delicious, nutritious oyster meat.