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EARTH AND SPACE PART I: IN THE BEGINNING … Using you textbook (pages 351-368) and the film History and Earth by National Geographic (available on Mr Caners' website: www.mrcaners.weebly.com), answer the questions in this booklet: 1. How old is the earth approximately? 2. What scientific theory explains the beginning of the earth? 3. What is the role of gravity in the theory of the beginning of the Earth? 4. What theory explains the creation of our moon? 5. What theory explains where much of the water on our planet comes from? PART II: OUR SOLAR SYSTEM AND EARLY FORMS OF LIFE Although there were many planets at the beginning of the solar system, there are now only 8 planets. The order of the planets can be remember using the mnemonic device, "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles." The first letter of each of those words represents one of the planets. In order from the Sun, they are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. You will need to know this so make sure you memorize the mnemonic. Pluto, which is further from the sun than Neptune, used to be considered a planet until 2006. Now Pluto and its moons are considered to be a collection of objects, which together are called the "Kuiper Belt". The eight planets that make up our solar system can be divided into two groups: terrestrial planets and giant gas planets. The terrestrial planets and the giant gas planets are separated by a large asteroid belt that is located between Mars and Jupiter. The planets between Mercury and Mars are mostly solid, whereas the planets beyond the asteroid belt are not. 6. What are the terrestrial planets and why are they called that name? 7. What are the giant gas planets and why do they have that name? 8. What is the difference between a comet and an asteroid? (use textbook) 9. What proof is there about major impacts of meteors and asteroids on Earth? (Hint: look up meteoroid impact in the textbook) 10. How many meteors hit earth on average in a year? (Internet) 11. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth and were the dominant life form for 160 million years. What theory is proposed for their disappearance? 12. How does the theory related to asteroid collision explain the rise of mammals as replacing the dinosaurs as the prominent large animal of Earth? 13. Before plant life occurred on Earth, oxygen was released in the atmosphere by Stromatolites. What are stromatolites? By what process was oxygen released in the air? Why is oxygen important to life on Earth? PART III: THE CAMBRIAN PERIOD At the Beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 542 million years ago, there were sea creatures like hydras, jellyfish, sponges and seaweed living in the oceans. On land there were only one-celled algae. Small arthropods like beetles were starting to appear at the same time, and by 540 million years ago the first land plants evolved from the land algae. These plants were like modern moss: See more at http://scienceforkids.kidipede.com/geology/eras/cambrian.ht m Earth's land was broken up into smaller continents, but they were drifting closer together. About 500 million years ago plate tectonics brought all of the land on the Earth together to make a new super-continent called Pannotia. During the Cambrian period, there does not seem to have been any more Ice Ages. Earth was probably a little warmer than it is today and there were no glaciers at the North or South Pole. Questions: 14. What are plate tectonics and why do they move? 15. How are plate tectonics related to earthquakes? 16. How do plate tectonics help explain volcanoes? Around this time, evolution seems to have speeded up so that suddenly many new kinds of animals and plants appeared on earth, evolving from earlier ones. Mollusks like snails and squid appeared for the first time. A few animals even had spinal cords and resembled something like eels. But most animals still lived in the oceans. On land there was still just moss and a few beetles close to the shore. At the end of the Cambrian Period, about 488 million years ago, most of the animals and plants on Earth died out. This is probably because of a global climate change. 17. The era called the Cambrian Explosion produced the first fossils of almost all major categories of animals living today. During the Cambrian era the first plants appeared on land. What change took place that allowed plants to grow on land about 700 million years ago? (p. 296) 18. What are the present layers of the atmosphere and which one contains the ozone layer? Which layer of the atmosphere protects us from meteors? (p. 294) 19. In the past the atmosphere was composed mostly of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, which are both toxic to most current life forms on earth. What is the atmosphere composed of now? (p. 293) 20. At the beginning, the earth was molten lava. After millions of years, and after the probably collision with Thea, the Earth cooled down and the surface became harder and formed its crust. The crust was thinner than it is today. What are the three main layers of the Earth? What state are they in and how thick are they? (p. 290) 21. What are the three parts of the biosphere? Explain which each of their names mean. 22. What happens to rocks when it rains? (p. 298) 23. What percentage of the water in the world is fresh water? How much of this water is trapped in glaciers? (p. 299)