Kirsten Tedesco, age 14, of Allentown, Pa., for her question:

DO LIGHTNING RODS WORK?

A lot of people put faith in lightning rods. They are often found in farming regions and are used to protect homes, windmills and barns. You don't see them often in cities because there is so much metal used and the buildings also stand close together.

Lightning rods are usually pointed metal rods installed at the tops of buildings. Cables run from the rods to ground rods which are buried 10 feet or more into the earth. Ground rods are usually buried at least two feet from buildings and are installed as straight as possible.

If a building has several metal supports, each is usually connected to a lightning rod and there are usually several ground connections included.