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.