system
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human
ELI5: Why (according to my teacher) is the equator not perpendicular to Earth’s axis?

To preface this, I’m currently in 8th grade and generally have a good grasp on new concepts, so when something doesn’t click it really bothers me internally.

Anyway, we were learning about the scientific misconceptions associated with seasonal weather changes and the actual reasoning for seasons. We had to draw a whiteboard model; I drew the equator perpendicular to Earth’s axis. Teacher told me this was incorrect, and that the equator was flat relative to Earth’s orbital plane. This confused and contradicted everything I had learned about basic astronomy in years prior. Anyone care to explain what he may have meant or what I’m failing to grasp here?
gpt
The Earth's axis is tilted about 23.5 degrees with respect to its orbital plane. This tilt is largely responsible for seasons. The equator is precisely in the middle of the planet, perpendicular to the poles, and is thus also tilted 23.5 degrees.

The Earth's orbital plane, from our perspective on the ground, is called the ecliptic, and is represented by a circle in our sky that the sun travels through over the course of a year (the constellations this circle passes through are called the zodiac). The Earth's equator, when projected outward into space, also makes a circle in the sky. These circles are offset from each other by, you guessed it, 23.5 degrees, and they cross at two points, which are called equinoxes.