What’s the big idea …

About Earth?

Our Earth is always changing

• The Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago, and it has been changing ever since.

• Some changes happen very fast:– Earthquake– Volcanic eruption– Flood

• Most changes happen so slowly we don’t notice them

• How do scientists know about these changes?

A peak inside our planet• The Earth is made of different layers• The crust: a layer of rock about 22miles thick.• The mantle: a thick layer just under the crust• The outer core: a liquid layer, made mostly of

iron and nickel, that moves around the inner core. This motion causes the Earth to act like a giant magnet.

• The inner core: a solid ball made almost entirely of two metals, iron and nickel. It’s hotter here than on the surface of the Sun!

Earth’s layer work together• Intense heat flowing out of the core and the

mantle makes the mantle flow in circles.• The motion of the mantle causes the plates to

move.• The moving plates create volcanoes.• The volcanoes release gases into the

atmosphere. • The atmosphere acts like a giant blanket, keeping

the planet warm.• This makes life on Earth possible.

Humans are just a tiny parts of Earth’s long history

• 4.5 billion years ago our planet Earth was formed.

• 30,000 years ago, humans like us started living on Earth.

Rocks tell stories about the Earth• Rocks hold important clues about our planet.• Scientists learn about the conditions in erupting

volcanoes, bottom of ocean, or across the solar system from rocks they collect.

• Rocks also give scientists a look back in time.• Fossils held in sedimentary rocks can tell us

when, where, and how ancient plants and animals once lived on the Earth.

• Rocks can also tell us about the history of Earth itself

All rocks are made of minerals

• Rocks are different because they have different types and amount of minerals in them.

• The kinds of minerals in a rock give clues to where the rocks formed.

• Rocks can be formed deep in the Earth, under a mountain or on land.

There are three types of rocks• Rocks come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and textures.• Igneous rocks form from melted rock, or magma, that

come from inside the Earth. These are brand-new rocks.

• Sedimentary rocks form from tiny pieces of rock that are broken down by wind and water. They are made of layers of sand, silt, dead plants, and animal skeletons squeezed and cemented together.

• Metamorphic rocks form from igneous, sedimentary, and even metamorphic rocks deep in the Earth’s crust. When these rocks are heated and squeezed, they slowly change into new, metamorphic rocks.

Scientists discovered things about our planet all the time

• In the 1960’s, scientists discovered evidence that Earth’s crust and upper-most mantle are broken into plates that are always moving.

• In the late 1970’s,scientists found hot-water vents at the bottom of the ocean where plates are moving apart.

• In 2004, scientists discovered that there once was liquid water on Mars. Other planets could hold important clues to the history, or future, of our own planet Earth.