Helen Smith, age 10, of Cuyahoga, Ohio, for her question:

In what direction does the earth rotate?

Our earth is a big ball suspended in space. Around us the vast heavens stretch far and wide in all directions. As the earth turns on its axis, we face first one view of the starry sky and then another. In 24 hours we turn clear around in a. circle. This is why the stars, the sun and, the moon seem to parade over the sky.

The heavenly parade starts out at the eastern horizon. All the heavenly bodies rise in the east, climb up end arch over the sky, and sink down to set in the west. This is because the earth is forever turning to meet the eastern horizon. Our big globe, then, rotates always towards the east.