Jan Bean, age 15, of Rainelle, W,

What is a tundra?

The tundra regions of the world lie within the chilly clutches of the frozen Arctic. They are vast, flat areas of land in far northern Canada, Siberia and stretches of Asia within the Arctic Circle. Through most of the year, the ground is frozen solid and crusted with ice and snow.

During the short Arctic summer, the long hours of daylight melt the surface frost, turning the tundras into sloppy patches of swamp. No trees grow here, for the summer sun melts only a few feet of surface ground. But there are mosses and lichen s, and countless shrubs, seeds and small plants sleep under the winter snow. Come spring, they burst into life and vast stretches of tundra are ablaze, for a short while, with gardens of rainbow colors.