ESC 1000 Class Video Name: __________________
Section: MW TR R
Date: ______________
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The Birth of the Earth - Space - How was the Earth
created?
DVD
54 minutes (clip 1:07 on rocketrights.tv) Review: Our planet now supports a huge diversity of living creatures
requiring very special conditions, but what was the series of events that
brought this unique set of conditions together? What did it take to make a
world that would support human life? Our journey begins with the astonishing
story of how a giant cloud of inter-stellar dust and gas collapsed to form
the sun and planets. |
Many of the features we take for granted on our living planet were
forged in the most violent event in our planet’s history. We wouldn’t have life
today without water. But where did the water come
from? Where did our oxygen come from? Why do we have a moon?
Film Notes: (use the back
if necessary)
The film uses a time clock and temperature analogy:
Clock Temperature Earth’s Description
Student Questions:
When did the
Earth get water?
When did Earth
get its atmosphere? Describe
When did the
Earth get oxygen in the atmosphere?
Your Questions/Answers:
1.
2.
Discovery Statement:
SYNOPSIS
How did the Earth evolve to
support life. Our planet now supports a huge diversity
of living creatures requiring very special conditions, but what was the series
of events that brought this unique set of conditions together? What did it take
to make a world that would support human life? We take an imaginary ‘human’
time traveller on a journey back to the moment of formation of our solar
system. We meet the scientists who are carrying out their own detective work,
uncovering the clues around the world today into what our planet was like 4 and
a half billion years ago.
Our journey begins with the
astonishing story of how a giant cloud of inter-stellar dust and gas collapsed
to form the sun and planets. We discover that the intense heat of the early
Earth created a molten iron core. This generated a magnetic shield around our
planet that protects us, to this day, from the sun’s deadliest particles.
Many of the features we take for
granted on our living planet were forged in the most violent event in our
planet’s history. Early in its life, the Earth collided with another planet.
Planetary Scientist Robin Canup has modelled the impact using supercomputers.
She reveals that the resulting fireball was so energetic it melted the Earth
and created the moon. This dramatic impact gave us our tides and seasons.
We wouldn’t have life today
without water. But where our water came from is a mystery that has long puzzled
scientists. At a NASA research laboratory, Michael Zolensky studies a recently
discovered meteorite that supports the view that water came from space.
For the first half of its history
the Earth had an atmosphere of methane and carbon dioxide we would find
impossible to breathe. One clue as to how the earth acquired its oxygen can be
found in Australia. Shark Bay in Western Australia is home to strange bacterial
mounds called stomatolites. The bacteria in these objects are pumping out
oxygen. A few hundred miles away geologist Martin Van Kranendonk shows us a
fossil stromatolite – the world’s oldest fossil. The evidence suggests that
these strange objects are responsible for creating the air we breathe.