Donna Ott, age 7, of Ronceverte, West Va., for her question:

HOW MANY YEARS IN A GENERATION?

You are a member of one generation while your parents are a member of a separate generation. If you are lucky, you have grandparents who are part of a third generation in your immediate family.

Generation is a term used to mean any stage necessary to continue the survival of a species. This means that one rank in natural descent must be followed by another.

Each generation of human beings is considered to  be about 25 years.

Generation can also mean one stage in an individual's life cycle, if the stages are marked different.