Eric McGillvrey, age 10, of Eugene,Ore., for his question:

IS THERE MORE LAND OR WATER?

We live on a watery world  without a doubt the earth has a lot more ocean than land. Our earth, as we know, is a huge round globe. The total area of its entire surface is about 196,940,400 square miles. Of this enormous spread, about 57,280,000 square miles is land, high and fairly dry above the water level. This amounts to 30%, more or less, of the total surface area.

The remaining 70% of the earth is covered by water. Most of this is the vast Pacific Ocean, which covers almost one entire side of the globe. This great ocean connects with all the other seas and oceans around the world. Actually, the oceans cover more than two thirds of the earth, and the land covers less than one third.