Alison Berry, Age 11, Of Naperville, Ill., for her question:

What does the word topology mean?

The topo part of this word comes frown an older word meaning a place or location. Topology, then, is something to do with the study of places. At one time, topology was merely the study of the names of places. When you trace down all the Indian place names in your state, you are studying topography.

Later the word topology expanded its meaning to include the study of topology or earth formation in a certain region. Nowadays, topology is more likely to mean the study of regional earth science.