Origins: Earth Is Born
1. Where was the Moon at the time of the early Earth?
2. What was bombarding the early Earth?
3. If the Earth’s 4.5 billion year history was condensed into a 24 hour day, when did
humans first walk the Earth?
4. When did the first single celled organisms appear?
5. What do supernovas “cook up” when they explode?
6. What did gravity create over time?
7. Where did the Hydrogen and Helium go?
8. Bits of dust closer to the Sun collided together and eventually formed what?
9. What was the Earth like at midnight (in the beginning) on the 24 hour clock?
10. Where do scientists look for clues about the early Earth?
11. Why are meteorites a “window” on the past?
12. Can we know the age of meteorites?
13. How old are they?
14. Where happened to the heaviest elements and lightest elements when the Earth was
entirely molten?
15. What creates the north and south magnetic poles?
16. What happens to the magnetic poles over time?
17. Why do we need the Earth’s magnetic field?
18. What planet lost its magnetic field 4 billion years ago?
19. Can life as we know it exist without a magnetic shield?
20. Was their an oxygen atmosphere on the early Earth (4 billion years ago)?
21. What did Apollo astronauts collect from the Moon?
22. What is the leading theory of how the Moon formed from the Earth?
23. How long was an Earth day when the Moon was so close to the Earth?
24. What did the astronauts leave on the Moon to measure the Moon’s distance from
Earth?
25. How fast does the Moon move away every year?
26. How did the Moon affect Earth’s seasons?
27. What do geologists learn about Earth crust from zircon crystals (on the Canadian
Shield)?
28. How much water covers the Earth’s surface today?
29. What one requirement is crucial for life as we know it?
30. Some scientists believe the water on Earth may have come from what?
31. Why do scientists want to compare the “type” of water of comets with Earth’s
oceans?
32. Why should a scientist never “fall in love” with his/her hypothesis?
33. Were the conditions for life present on the early Earth (4.3 billion years ago)?