Jennifer James, age 10, of Tulsa, Okla., for her question:

WHAT MAKES A PLANT GREEN?

Plants and animals are made from multitudes of tiny living cells too small for our eyes to see. In the plant world, many of these living cells are stuffed with green material called chlorophyll. When we squeeze it out from a tender leaf, chlorophyll looks somewhat like green ink. This is because the watery liquid is crowded with zillions of tiny green bodies called chloroplasts.

These tiny chloroplasts in green chlorophyll perform the most important work in all the world. They help green plants use energy from sunlight to manufacture sugary food from air and water. This miracle is photosynthesis, the sunshine recipe. As it happens, it supplies fresh oxygen for all living things on the earth. In addition, it makes the basic food for all plant eating animals  and also for the meat eaters who feed on the plant eaters.