Stanley Griffin Jr., age 13, of St. Augustine, Fla., for his question:

WHAT IS A SECTION OF LAND?

A section of land is a block of ground that measures one mile long and one mile wide. The Land Ordinance of 1785 provided a framework for the ordinary settlement of the Northwest Territory, and the system of establishing townships and sections prevented boundary disputes. It was used in surveying all the territories later acquired by the United States.

A township is six miles long and six miles wide. Within its bounds are 36 sections of land, each one a mile long and a mile wide.

Each section is made up of 640 acres. A half section of land measures  320 acres while there is 160 acres in a quarter of a section. Half of a quarter section is 80 acres.

The section system of land division is used in most of the United States west of Ohio.