Think of a ball and you may see a round one. A football is not round. It is covered in tan leather. Each football team has 11 players on the field at one time. Two teams of 11 meet to play a game.

Now let us see how a team scores. A team scores a touchdown by getting the ball across the other team's goal line. A touchdown is worth six points, and after a touchdown, a team can try to score one or two more points.

A field goal is worth three points, and a safety is worth two points, so a touchdown is worth the most. A goalpost has two tall uprights joined by a crossbar. The crossbar is 10 feet off the ground. A kickoff follows each touchdown try or successful field goal.

The team with the ball gets four downs, or tries, to move the ball 10 yards. Officials use a 10-yard chain on two rods to see whether a team has earned a first down. A player who touches a sideline is out of bounds.

Look at what the players wear on the field. Football players wear helmets that have a face mask. They must wear shoulder pads, knee pads and thigh pads. Every football player wears a number on the front and back of his jersey.

A game lasts 60 minutes. It is divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each. At halftime, between the second and third quarters, play stops and the teams leave the field. Each team gets three timeouts in each half. A kickoff starts each half.

Two plays have names worth knowing. A punt is a kick in which the kicker drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. A fumble happens when a player with the ball loses it. Either team can recover it.

Words to know

• touchdown: six points
• punt: drop-and-kick
• fumble: loses the ball
• uprights: tall posts