Elizabeth Luke, age 9, of Portland, Maine, for her question:

How wide is it around the world?

Our beauteous round globe bulges a bit around the waist. This makes it slightly wider around the Equator. Of course, we can travel around it in any direction. But the direction we take makes a difference in the distance. For example, suppose we travel north and south. Our journey takes us over the North Pole and right down through the South Pole. By this route, the distance around the world is 24,860 miles. Now suppose we travel east and west, around the widest part of the globe. We stay on the Equator and the complete circle around is 24,902 miles.

If we take the shortest distance, through both poles, we save about 42 miles. We cross the Equator twice but much of the route is through the two cold polar regions. If we take the other route, we travel an extra 42 miles. But it's worth it because we stay in the warm climate of the Equator all the way.