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1. Introduction
To understand why Earth has been
so conducive to life, we need to
identify key conditions that make it
habitable and ask why they exist
here but not on neighboring planets.
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http://www.99hdwallpaper.com/nature/beach.html
DID YOU KNOW?
The Universe includes all
the planets, stars and
cosmic debris. The
current view is that
the Universe is between
12-15 billion years old.
7. Our solar system formed form a solar
nebula, or cloud of gas and dust, that collapsed
and condensed about 4.56 billion years ago.
8. Most of the gas and dust compacted
together to form the sun, while the remainder
formed planets, asteroids, and smaller bodies.
The center of our solar
system is our Sun, a
medium-sized star.
We know the universe
includes hundreds of
billions of stars and
billions of other solar
systems.
Do you think ours is the
only solar system that
sustains life?
http://solar.teasss.com/solar-system-theory/
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9. Compare and contrast the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune by placing an X in the boxes that apply under each.
Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn
Outer planets
Uranus Neptune
X
Terrestrial planets
4 condensed at
cold temperatures
4 higher temps
4 closer to sun
4 farthest from sun
Contain large amounts
of iron, silicates,
magnesium
Made mostly of
helium and hydrogen
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10. List 3 reasons why the young Earth was not habitable.
http://amp.wpcamr.org/archives/135
The young Earth was anything but habitable. Radioactive
elements decaying within its mass and impacts from debris
raining down from space generated intense heat.
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11. What was the period of time from about 4.5 to 3.8
billion years age called and why?
The first eon of Earth’s history, from about 4.5 to 3.8 billion
years ago, is named the hadean after hades, the Greek
word for hell because of the intense heat on Earth.
Most original rock from this period was melted and
recycled into Earth’s crust, so very few samples remain
from our planet’s formative phase.
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12.What are meteorites and what can scientist
learn from studying them?
Meteorites are stony or metallic fragments up to
4.5 billion years old that fall to Earth from space.
Scientists can see what materials were present
when the solar system was formed and how similar
materials may have been melted, crystallized, and
transformed as Earth took shape.
http://www.footballphds.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/02/When-Ancient-Aliens-attack.png
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www.learner.org
The Willamette
Meteorite, the largest
ever found in the United
States (15 tons)The
Willamette Meteorite is
probably a fragment
from the core of an
ancient planet that
broke up as it orbited
the sun. Its structure
suggests that it
sustained at least two
high-energy impacts in
space before it fell to
Earth's surface and
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weathered further.
Video about the crater
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoGvlYCkD6Q
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Arizona/Meteor_City749944/TravelGuide-Meteor_City.html
Meteor Crater in Arizona is the breath-taking result of a collision
between a piece of an asteroid traveling at 26,000 miles per hour and
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planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago.
Large buildings
and parking lots
Meteor Crater is nearly one mile across,
2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep.
http://onestep4ward.com/top-5-arizona/ 9
Big Story: Russia Meteor Blast is Biggest in 100 Years
The dramatic fireball that exploded over Russia today (Feb. 15) was
apparently the biggest such blast in more than a century, scientists say.
The object that caused the Russian fireball, which damaged hundreds
of buildings and wounded perhaps 1,000 people in the Chelyabinsk
region, was originally probably about 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter
and weighed roughly 7,000 tons, said Peter Brown, director of the
Center for Planetary Science and Exploration at the University of
Western Ontario in Canada –
View video here: http://www.space.com/19807-raw-video-meteorite-crash-in-russia-sparkspanic.html
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13. About 4 billion years ago, Earth’s surface
began cooling which allowed for water vapor to
condense in the atmosphere and fall back as rain.
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http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/h2o6.htm
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/studentscience/gif/watercycle1.gif
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14. Rock weathering is a key part of the
carbon-silicate cycle that regulates
Earth’s climate.
http://ore.conroeisd.net/Teachers/kwardrup/157DA2E7-00870B2F.1/arizona-rock-Weathering.jpg
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15.How long do scientist believe oceans have
been around?
3.5 billion years ago
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http://www.earthgauge.net/wp-content/uploads
16.View page 4 and list 5 facts about Venus
-
Nearly the same size and density as Earth
About 30% closer to the sun than Earth
Called Earth’s “sister planet”
Stifling inferno – surface temperature
460°C or 860°F
- Dense atmosphere, 100 times thicker than
the Earth’s
- Atmosphere made up of almost entirely CO2
- Clouds on Venus consists mainly of sulfuric
acid droplets
- .
Venus
Earth
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http://singularityweblog.zippykid.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Venus-Earth-Comparison.jpg
17. What does it mean by Venus having a higher
albedo than Earth?
Albedo means Venus’s surface is brighter than Earth’s
surface. Because of this, Venus is an inferno because it’s
thick atmosphere traps the reflected light like a heavy,
thick blanket.
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18. View page 5 and list 5 fact about Mars.
- Much colder than Earth
- Clouds of ice and frozen CO2 drift over its
surface.
- Frozen ice caps at the poles reflect sunlight
- Atmosphere consists mainly of CO2
- Mars atmosphere is 100 times thinner than
Earth’s atmosphere, so it provides only a small
warming effect
- Called the “RED PLANET”
- All water on Mars is frozen
Mars Land Rover
NASA's Curiosity rover
celebrates one year on
Mars August 2013
http://www.space.com/22226-mars-rover-curiosity-time-lapse-video.html
http://www.spacetoday.org/images/Mars/MarsRovers2003/MarsRover2003_2.jpg