Eddie Crankovic, age 10, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for his question:

Where does the bristlecone pine grow wild?

So far as we know, the gnarled and hardy bristlecone pines are the earth's oldest living things. They grow in the rugged White Mountains that straddle the border of Nevada and Northern California. Scientists suspect that their durable life span is related to the history of this ancient range. These mountains existed at least 600 million years ago, long before the Sierra Nevada range arose between them and the sea. Before this geological event, the White Mountains had forests of evergreen trees  ¬including the sturdy ancestors of the bristlecone. Later, the higher Sierras, less than 100 miles away, shut off the moist rains from the Pacific and the White Mountains lost most of their trees.

But the tough bristlecones adjusted to the new hardships. They survived on bleak, cold slopes 10,000 feet above sea level    growing slowly, very slowly and living a long, long time. Their descendants still cling to the harsh region and some of the old timers have been growing; there for more than 4,500 years.