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Earth: Life of a Planet: Teacher’s Notes SYNOPSIS Earth: The Life of a Planet tells the story of Earth, from its creation 4,750 million years ago through to the world we live in today. The introductory spread describes the birth of the solar system including planet Earth. On the next spread the life of Earth is illustrated in the form of a timeline. The following pages take you through the key moments in the life of the planet. With the aid of stunning double-page artworks the book explains the formation of the planets and the Moon, examines the first signs of life on Earth and illustrates how life gradually evolved through the age of the dinosaurs to mammals, and eventually the human species. At the end of the book, the life of planet Earth is represented in a diagram of five clocks, showing at what stage the Universe, Earth and its living things developed. WRITING STYLE This unique book presents the Earth’s history as a visual narrative. Each double-page artwork gives a snapshot from a key time period, plus a short piece of descriptive text to place the scene in historical context. The text is short and light in tone, allowing the reader to absorb the visual information while learning the key facts at a glance. A reference section at the back of the book summarizes all of the scientific information in the form of a timeline, while the artwork spreads focus on telling the amazing story of our planet. AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR BACKGROUND Dr Mike Goldsmith studied the philosophy of time and space at Keele University, where he also obtained his PhD in astrophysics. He now writes non-fiction science books for children. Mark A Garlick is an illustrator with a strong scientific background. He has a Bachelor’s degree in astronomy from University College London (UCL) and a PhD in astrophysics from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. His digital illustrations cover a broad range of scientific subjects, from Earth’s natural history to space technology. EDITORIAL COMMENT Earth: The Life of a Planet has been thoroughly researched by the author and editor and fully checked for factual accuracy. Dr Mike Goldsmith’s narrative journey through billions of years is a great picture book, a terrific read and a really enjoyable way to learn more about the fascinating life of our planet. TEACHER ACTIVITIES/NOTES Choose an event in the creation of the universe, such as a cloud storm or the birth of the Moon. Write a poem describing what happened or imagine you are a TV journalist reporting it live. What would you say? You are an alien visiting Earth when it was covered with coal swamps. Write a report for the other aliens on your planet telling them what Earth is like and the primitive animals that live on it. Another alien could visit again after humans have evolved. What would it write now? Write a newspaper-style eyewitness report for The Daily Universe about how a huge meteorite smashed into the Earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Use this book to help you draw a set of pictures showing how an animal might have developed (evolved) over millions of years, perhaps growing feet or wings. Prepare a two-minute presentation on some of the ways that people have changed the Earth, from hunting and farming to building cities and mining coal and oil.