Earth: An Owner’s Manual
Planet Earth is only eight thousand miles in diameter, which is merely a tiny drop in the vast sea of
space. Our nearest star, the Sun, is ninety-two million miles away, just the right distance to feed off
of its powerful radiant energy. Right now, Earth is traveling at sixty thousand miles an hour around
the sun, which is also flying even faster through the galaxy. If we think about, we’re really on board
an amazing spaceship, flying alongside a life-supporting star through the universe.
Spaceship Earth was so extraordinarily well invented and designed that, to our knowledge, humans
have been on board it for two million years not even knowing they were on board a ship. Our
spaceship is designed so superbly well that it keeps life regenerating, despite the law of entropy,
which states that all physical systems lose energy over time. Using the energy from the sun,
Spaceship Earth maintains a biological life force that constantly regenerates, despite entropy.1 This
life force has created everything that ever has is existed, is existing, and will exist in the future. It’s
actually a miracle to consider that we are along for the ride.
The only thing missing on this spaceship is an owner’s manual. That is… until now.
Task: Students will create an owner’s manual for Earth that demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the basic scientific principles and natural laws that govern our planet. The
owner’s manual will also serve as a “how to” guide to show people how to take care of our
spaceship into the future. To make your owner’s manual, follow the outline below. This outline will
also help you to create a table of contents for your owner’s manual.
Part One: The “Stuff” of Life
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include 2-3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 1-3:
1. What is matter? What are the different states of matter?
2. What is an atom? What are protons, neutrons and electrons?
3. What defines all of the elements? What are the primary elements that make up life? What is
unique about the Carbon atom?
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include 3-4 diagrams/illustrations for questions 4-7:
4. What is a chemical reaction? What direction do all chemical reactions go?
5. What are the physical properties of matter?
6. What are the chemical properties of matter?
7. How are molecules formed? What is the difference between covalent and ionic bonding?
Why does life use both?
Write at least 1 paragraph and include at least 1 diagram/illustration for each of the
following questions:
8. What makes the water molecule so unique? What are its physical and chemical
characteristics?
9. What is photosynthesis? How does photosynthesis reverse the pattern for most chemical
reactions?
10. Why is photosynthesis so important for life?
11. What is the Law of Conservation of Mass? What does the Law of Conservation of Mass mean,
in terms of the way we define and think about “trash”?
Part Two: Forces, Energy, Light and Patterns
1
From “Spaceship Earth” by Buckminster Fuller
Write at least 2 paragraphs and include at least 2 diagrams/illustrations for questions 1-2:
1. What is the definition of force?
2. What are the four natural forces in the universe?
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include at least 3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 3-5:
3. What is energy? What does it do? What are the different forms of energy?
4. Why can’t we use gravity as a force to power our machines?
5. How can the sun’s energy be used to power our machines?
Write at least 1paragraph and include at least 2 diagrams/illustrations for question 6:
6. What are Newton’s Three Laws of Motion? What are the formulas for each? Give some
examples of how these laws work in the real world.
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include at least 3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 7-9:
7. What is light? How does light travel? What is refraction? What is reflection?
8. What is the difference between the different colors on the visible spectrum? What is the
relationship between color and wavelength?
9. How do we “see” colors?
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include at least 3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 1012:
10. What kind of patterns does nature make?
11. What is the Fibonacci sequence?
12. What are some examples of these patterns?
Part Three: Biological and Ecological Systems
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include at least 3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 1-4:
1. What are the characteristics of all living things?
2. Where do all living things come from?
3. What do all living things need in order to survive?
4. What are all living things made of?
Write at least 2 paragraphs and include at least 2 diagrams/illustrations for questions 5-6:
5. What do all cells have in common? How are plant cells different than animal cells? How do all
cells function like a system?
6. How do most plants reproduce?
Write at least 3 paragraphs and include at least 3 diagrams/illustrations for questions 7-9:
7. What is a food web in nature? What are the roles of producers, consumers and
decomposers?
8. What do all ecosystems have in common?
9. How is all life connected in one big system?
Write at least 4 paragraphs and include at least 4 diagrams/illustrations for questions 1013:
10. What is edge effect?
11. What is ecological succession? What is a disturbance, and why is it necessary to the system?
12. How many biomes are there on our planet? What are the basic characteristics of each biome?
13. How do all the biomes connect to make our biosphere?
Part Four: How to Care for Earth
In this section you will give examples of strategies and ideas that describe how to care for Earth.
Use the following questions to guide your thinking. You can answer these questions in any way that
you choose, but be sure to include some writing and illustrations.
1. How can humans grow and produce food in a way that cares for the earth?
2. How can humans make buildings and homes in ways that care for the earth?
3. How can humans create and use different forms of transportation to make the urban biome
more accessible and ecological?
4. How can humans conserve energy and resources, like water and soil?
5. How can humans make the urban biomes function like all the other biomes on the planet?