Shanna Kirkham, age 13, of Buhl, Ida., For her question:

What is a neap tide?

The tides, of course, axe governed by the golden moon, and the moon takes about four Weeks to complete each of its rather wobbly orbits around the earth. Every 24 hours, a high tide and a low tide, a high tide and a low tide chase each other around the globe. Throughout the lunar month, the tides are sometimes Stronger and higher, sometimes weaker and lower.

The strongest tides come when the sun, moon and earth are in a straight line. Then the sun and moon pull at the earth together, and their combined force causes the strong, high tides of the month. This happens at the time of the full moon and the new moon. When the moon is one quarter or three quarters old, the sun and moon are at right angles with the earth, pulling from opposite directions. Their force is weaker and our tides are lower. These lowest tides are called the neap tides.