Another mesh

Yes, algadroid , most certainly!

This was probably not mentioned, because it is part of an Addon: Add Mesh > Extra Objects, that is not enabled by default.

Hey Aliye!
You mean when adding the plane at the start and merging the verts to a single vert?
Yes, you're right, you can just add a single vert and skip the merging step.
It's just a matter of choice, I think it is probably just habit for the instructor in this course.

Yeah as with all things Blender, there are a ton of ways to do a single thing. They're all acceptable and good, some better than others, but out of habit we can do stuff that are not as optimal as others. But it's all good though.

All good answers! Like spikeyxxx mentioned, I try to make sure things are as default Blender as possible in the courses, but please feel free to use the single vert option instead! :)