Kathleen Buohl, age 13, of Adams Town, PA, or her question:

What happens to rain that falls on the ground?

Oceans of water seam to stream down from the sky during a sharp shower. 'then out comes the sun and in a very short time all that water has disappeared. Maybe a few wet puddles stand around, but soon they too are gone. The puddles and wet film of moisture on the leaves dry up into the air. This rain water evaporates and becomes vapor.

If the soil is loose and crumbly, a lot of the rain   sinks down into the ground. It will feed the roots and the plants and some of it will sink even lower and rest there as ground water among the rocks. In regions where the ground is hard and stony, most of the rain water runs down the slopes in gushing streams. The streams team together to form rivers which flow down to meet the salty sea.