Question

why do areas near the equator receive more heat from the sun,than those near the poles

Answer 1

Because the suns heat mostly reaches the middle of the earth

Answer 2

The equator receive heat directly from the sun. As you can see, the earth is in a spherical shape. Equator is the line that cuts the earth into half. The sun's rays come and fall directly on the equator making it's climate hot and wet. The more the sun's rays, the more the rain. The sun's rays reach polar regions a bit slower, making the region cold. A polar region has 6 months of day and 6 months if night.