Roxanne Sikes, age 12, of Gadsden, Ala., for her question:

HOW DID AMERICA GET ITS NAME?

Five years after Columbus made his first trip to the New World, an Italian merchant explorer named Amerigo Vespucci claimed he discovered a new continent. Columbus had no idea that he reached the Western Hemisphere. He thought that the islands he explored were part of the Indies. He set foot on the mainland of America on his third voyage in 1498.

When Vespucci claimed that he had discovered a new continent in 1497, or the New World as it was called, Columbus did not dispute his claim.

Vespucci's letters describing his discovery were published, and in 1507 someone suggested that the new continent, which was actually South America, be named "America" because Amerigo discovered it. Scholars no longer believe that he was the actual discoverer, but his name was accepted for South America, and gradually came into use for North America as well.

Vespucci (which is pronounced ves poo chee) knew a great deal About astronomy. In 1495 he became connected with a firm which fitted out ships for long voyages. He claimed he made voyages in 1497, 1499, 1501 and 1503. He did not take a leading part in these explorations but only served as a pilot, or astronomer.