Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: The flattening , ellipticity , or oblateness of an oblate spheroid is a measure of the `` squashing '' of the spheroid 's pole , towards its equator .
Simplified: The flattening , ellipticity , or oblateness of an oblate spheroid is the `` squashing '' of the spheroid 's pole , down towards its equator .