Diane Gifford, age 9, of Visalia, Calif., for her question:

WHAT MAKES WAVES ON THE OCEAN?

Almost always it is the wind that makes the waves on the ocean. The breezes blow softly and the big winds blow fiercely. And all of them blow in gusty puffs. Each puff pushes up a wave. Big strong winds push up big strong waves and gentle little winds push up gentle little waves. One wave follows another and on and on they go across the ocean.

Every day the tides wash up and down on the beaches. But they do not have much to do with the ocean waves. An earthquake that happens on the floor of the sea makes what we call a tidal wave. Sometimes these so called tidal waves come rushing way over the land. But all the other large and small waves are made by the winds.