Susan Nowitzke, age 10, of Milwaukee, Wis., for her question:

WHY DOES A SUNTAN MAKE THE SKIN PEEL?

This is the season when the bright sun tells us to come outdoors and enjoy the wondrous beauties of nature. So let's go and make the best of it. However, when we cope with old Mother Nature, there are sure to be a few tricky items to watch. For example, it's fine to let the sun toast our skins. But a severe suntan is downright disastrous.

Actually, a severe suntan really burns the skin. And as we know, the skin is made from several layers. Sometimes the scorching rays burn just the surface layer of skin in a very short time. Later, the burned layer peels off or flakes away. But a longer time in the hot sun burns down through deeper layers. This sort of suntan is agony  and may be dangerous. It may ruin your whole summer, for the deeper skin layers take weeks to recover. So when it comes to suntanning, let's remember that enough is enough.