The Story of Earth Notes
5,000 Million Years Ago:
- A newborn star
- Dust and rocks surround the sun, no Earth has formed yet.
4,540 Million Years Ago:
- Gravity pulls the rocks and dust together to form Earth.
- Earth is 1200 degrees Celsius, with Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, and Water Vapor in the air
- A planet the size of Mars called Theia collides with Earth
- Gravity pulls the Earth back together and forms the moon.
3,900 Million Years Ago:
- Debris from the solar system bombards Earth.
- The meteorites contain small amounts of salt and water.
- The water accumulates on the solid ground forming oceans
- The moon is so close it is causing huge waves.
3,800 Million Years Ago:
- Tiny islands come up from the water.
- Volcanoes are erupting and the lava hardens to form land.
- The land gets bigger and eventually becomes our continents.
- More meteorites hit Earth, releasing minerals and amino acids.
- Water contains lots of chemicals that created microscopic bacteria.
3,500 Million Years Ago:
- Stromatalites evolve and can do photosynthesis, producing oxygen, filling the ocean with O2.
- Oxygen is transforming the atmosphere.
1,500 Million Years Ago:
- Oxygen levels rise
- The core pushes plates around
- 30 degrees Celsius and days are 18 hours long
750 Million Years Ago:
- Volcanoes release CO2, which combines with water to form acid rain
- The rain causes the temperature to drop to -50 degrees Celsius and the Earth freezes
650 Million Years Ago:
- A layer of ice 3 meters thick surrounds the Earth
- The ice reflects all of the sunlight and heat from the sun back into space.
620 Million Years Ago:
- Volcanoes break through the ice and release CO2, which causes the temperature to rise.
- As the ice melts, oxygen trapped in the ice is released.
600 Million Years Ago:
- Earth warms up
- Bacteria thrives in the oceans
- Days are 22 hours long.
540 Million Years Ago: Lots of life in the ocean
- Bacteria have evolved into prehistoric slugs.
- The first animals with backbones appear.
- Lots of worms, sponges, plants, and “sea monsters”in the ocean.
460 Million Years Ago: Ozone
- The sun has deadly radiation, so nothing is living on the land.
- Oxygen from our atmosphere and the radiation from the sun combine to create ozone.
- Ozone builds up and blocks the harmful radiation on Earth
375 Million Years Ago: Plants and Fish
- Plants are covering the land.
- Fish are rapidly evolving
- Tiktaalik: a fish with bones that make it capable of lifting itself out of the water, primitive lungs
360 Million Years Ago: Amphibians
- Animals are moving from the ocean to the land
- First amphibians
- Huge dragonflies, millipedes, spiders, and other insects
320 Million Years Ago: Reptiles
- First reptiles appear
300 Million Years Ago:
- Lots of plants and animals
- As they die, their remains are covered by lava and other sediment. This begins forming the coal and oil we use today.
250 MillionYears Ago:
- Rise of early mammals and larger reptiles.
- The Earth erupts and ash, Carbon dioxide, and lava cover the land
- 90% of all life dies
- Minerals from the ash cause algae to thrive, causing the oceans to turn pink.
- Methane from the Earth is escaping and causing the temperatures to rise.
200 Million Years Ago:
- There is one landmass called Pangaea
- Temperature is stabilizing and plant life is returning
- Dinosaurs are thriving and they don’t have much competition.
190 Million Years Ago:
- Pangaea begins to break apart.
- Fish are filling the oceans.
- The dead fish layer the seafloor and are covered by sediment. The pressure from the rocks will create the oil that we use today.
180 Million Years Ago:
- The North American Plate is moving away from the European plate, 2 cm per year, forming the Atlantic Ocean.
- Animals from all over are populating the new ocean.
- The seafloor is pushing and pulling creating underwater mountains.
65 Million Years Ago:
- Dinosaurs are still thriving.
- An asteroid hits the Gulf of Mexico with the force of millions of nuclear bombs, destroying everything in its path.
- Many meteorites also hit the earth, causing earthquakes and tsunamis,
- The surface of the Earth reaches 275 degrees Celsius
- Most plants and animals die
- Mammals are able to survive by living underground and eating almost anything.
47 Million Years Ago:
- 24 degrees Celsius and days are 24 hours long.
- The planet is almost as we know it today. The atmosphere is much like our own.
- Ancestors of primates, Darwinius ida
- India is colliding with Asia, causing the land to buckle and creates the Himalayan Mountains.
- When snow from the mountain range melts, it forms many rivers in Asia.
20 Million Years Ago:
- Our planet is as we know it today. The land masses are mostly where they are today.
4 Million Years Ago:
- A rift opens up on the East coast of Africa, which forms a range of mountains.
- These mountains block rain from reaching the center of the continent and the Sahara Desert is formed.
- Our ancestors are forced to walk on two feet instead of four in search of food.
1.5 Million Years Ago:
- The earliest species of humans is on the planet. They walk on two feet and don’t drag their knuckles.
70 Thousand Years Ago:
- A species of humans cross the Red Sea, out of Africa.
- Their population increases and they spread to other parts of the world.
40 Thousand Years Ago:
- An ice wall is spreading and the temperature drops incredibly. The Earth enters an ice age.
- The ice sculpts the Earth, forming all sorts of land and water features.
20 Thousand Years Ago:
- The ice is causing the seas to shrink.
- A land bridge is formed between Siberia and the Americas.
- Humans travel over the bridge and start populating North America.
14 Thousand Years Ago:
- The ice begins to retreat to the Arctic’s and the Great Lakes are formed in the process.
6 Thousand Years Ago:
- The ice has fully retreated and is now completely in the Arctic’s.
Present:
- Humans are fully evolved as we know them today and live in the world as we know it.