Joyce Baisleyt age 9, of Bridgeport, Conn;  for his question:

How did the equator get its name?

The word equator means an equalizer. Our equator divides the earth into two equal parts ‑ the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Its an imaginary line, of course, exactly half way between the north pole and the south pole, It girdles the world at the wide bulge of its waist.

The equator also divides the lines of latitudes into, two equal parts,

These lines run in circles parallel to the equator, getting smaller and smaller towards the poles. There are no parallels between the equator and each of the poles, Latitude 30 degrees North is the 30th parallel north of the equator. Latitude 30 degrees South is the 30th parallel south of the equator. The equator itself is Latitude 0 degrees,