Simran thinks the equator is a real line drawn on the ground, one you could see from a plane or by…

Why

Simran's picture is understandable — maps and globes draw the equator as a bold solid line, so it feels like a thing you could go and find. But the equator is a reference line people agreed on: the circle around the Earth exactly halfway between the North and South Poles, marked as 0 degrees latitude, used so anyone can describe how far north or south a place is. There is no paint or fence on the actual ground; fly over that latitude and you would see only ordinary land, sea, or forest. Test it: some towns that sit on the equator have built a marker or a monument for visitors to photograph — but they had to build it, because there was nothing there to see. Her teacher is right: the equator is an imaginary agreed-upon line at 0 degrees latitude, not something physically drawn on the Earth.