Darrell Monks, age 11, of Bridgeport, Conn., for his question:

WHAT EXACTLY IS A RAIN FOREST?

In order to qualify, a rain forest must get at least 80 inches of rainfall every year. Usually this deluges down from afternoon thunderstorms that occur almost every day. The forest is crowded with tall tree trunks that reach 100 to 150 feet high. Their leafy tops form a dense canopy that shuts out the light. Below the giants is a level of shorter trees. Sometimes there are no bushes or low growing plants because the treetops shut out the sunlight.

There are tropical rain forests in South and Central America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. All of them are populated with vast assortments of birds and insects‑‑and chattering monkeys play among the high boughs. The tree‑lined slopes of our northwestern Cascades get enough annual downpour to qualify as a rain forest. But this region is not a typical tropical rain forest because the winters are too cool.