Steve Holmes, age 11, of Glendale, Ariz., for his question:

WHAT IS THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?

Loch Ness is the name of a lake in the Great Glen in northern Scotland. It is 24 miles long, one mile wide and about 750 feet deep. For many years, there have been reports that a giant sea monster lives in the depths of the lake.

Although speed boat records have been set on Loch Ness, the lake is most famous for the monster stories. People regularly claim to have seen the monster rising above the surface of the lake. Most of the reports describe the monster as a creature that is about 30 feet long. Experts say there probably is no sea monster in the lake.

Reports of the Loch Ness monster date back to the 500s. The reports have been increasing since the 1930s.

Loch Ness is part of the Caledonian Canal system, a waterway that cuts diagonally across Scotland from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea.