Two questions about yeast and my bread maker.

Hey, my mum got me a bread maker for christmas and it is working fine. We have made a few loafs with it and they tasted great. I however have two questions based on using it.

1. Why does it ask me to make a well in the flour to put the yeast in, and making sure it does not touch the liquid?

2. I have a tub of dried active yeast or whatever that needs “activating” in water. I tried this with some bread yesterday and the yeast didn’t seem to make the bread rise. How can I activate it (there are instructions on the tub if you need) to use with my bread maker?

Thankees.