Earth’s Formation
Unit 1: Assignment – Earth’s Formation
Instructions: Watch the Khan Academy video about Earth’s formation at the following link:
Apply your understanding of the theory that is discussed by creating a concept map.
Examples of concept maps (unrelated topics) can be found below:
On your concept map, you should diagram the relationships among the following ideas:
·
· 4.5 billion years old
· Supernova
· Space
· Gravity
· Hydrogen
· Clouds of gas
· Nuclear fusion
· Elements
· Helium
· Formation of Earth
· Planetesimals
You are not limited to using these terms, but they should be included.
Concept mapping includes selecting terms, ranking concepts, arranging concepts in clusters and linking concepts together according to a cognitive scheme.
NOTE: The arrows should include words that connect the ideas presented in the bubbles. Here’s an example below:
You can opt to draw your mind map by hand, or use a program like excel, or another type of diagramming software.
Submit your concept map by the due date via the D2L submission inbox.
Earth’s Formation
Introduction
The Earth is a rocky planet that formed about 4.5 billion years ago. It has a mass of 5.972×1024 kg and its radius is 6,356 km (3,960 mi). Earth’s gravitational field deflects objects from entering the atmosphere of the planet, so it doesn’t have an atmosphere like Venus or Mars does
Earth’s formation
Earth is the third planet from the sun and has a diameter of about 19.524 miles (31 kilometers). Earth is composed of crust, mantle, core and inner core.
Earth’s formation occurred around 4.5 billion years ago when it formed from debris that was left over after another planet-sized object collided with our planet’s inner core.[3] The collision caused molten rock to be created as well as releasing energy which later cooled down and solidified into rocks.[4][5] This event was known as “Nuclear Fusion” or “Big Bang” theory.[6][7][8] After this event took place about 4 minutes 26 seconds into time nothing else happened for about 20 million years until more gas started coming out from inside our atmosphere causing it to expand rapidly forming large clouds which eventually became continents.[9][10]
The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
The Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago, when the solar system was just 2 billion years old. The planet that came before us in this timeline–the one that eventually became our home–has a name: Theia.
Theia was a large object that collided with Mars and then the moon, creating all of these other planets we know today: Mercury, Venus and Earth itself! That’s how they got their names (Mercury comes from a word meaning “to shine brightly” due to its proximity to the Sun; Venus means “she who brings love”; while Earth is named after an ancient Greek deity).
Conclusion
That’s it! There you have it, a quick and easy introduction to the Earth’s formation. I hope this article has helped you understand the process better and that you’ll be able to use what we’ve learned here in your future studies of geology or other sciences.
