EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
1ST QUARTER
Lesson 1: State the Different Hypothesis explaining the origin of the Universe
Earth Science – also known as geosciences, is an all embracing term for the sciences
related to the planet Earth. Study of universe and everything in space are included.
1. Geology – it is the study of the solid Earth. Geologist studies how rocks and
minerals form
2. Oceanography - study of the physical, chemical, and biological features of the
ocean, including the ocean's ancient history, its current condition, and its future.
3. Astronomy – It deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a
whole.
4. Meteorology – it is the study of weather and climate. Meteorologist studies the
atmosphere.
Theories on the Origin of the Universe
Narrative from Genesis – one of the books of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old
Testament, describing how God separated light from darkness, created sky, land and sea,
moon and stars, and every living creature in a span of six days.
Rigveda – describing the universe as an oscillating universe in which a “cosmic egg” or
Brahmanda contains the whole universe. Including the sun, moon, planets and all of the
space contains the 14 different planetary systems (Bhu-mandala) expands out of a single
concentrated point called a Bindu before subsequently collapsing again.
Anaxagora’s View – he propounded a physical theory of “everything-in-everything” and
claimed that nouns (intellect or mind) was the motive cause of the cosmos. He believed in
primordial mixture of all its ingredients which existed in infinitesimally small fragments
of themselves.
Atomic Universe – the universe was composed of very small, invincible and
indestructible building blocks known as atoms. Leucippus at Democritus
Geocentric Universe – Commonly known as Aristotelian Universe
- Aristotle introduces the four classical elements of fire, air, earth
and water, which were acted on by two forces, gravity and
levity. Contradicted by Nicolaus Copernicus with his theory
“theory of heliocentrism”
Heliocentric Universe – Aristarchus of Samos was the first to present an explicit
argument for heliocentric model of the solar system, placing the Sun, not the Earth at
center of the universe. Giordano Bruno suggested that even the Solar System is not the
center of the universe. Aristotle and Ptolemy then was revived by Nicolaus Copernicus.
Static (or Newtonian ) Universe – published by Isaac Newton in his book “Principia”,
which described among other things, a static. Steady state, infinite universe. Matter on
the large scale is uniformly distributed, and the universe is gravitationally blances but
essentially unstable
Big Bang Theory – Introduced by George Lemaitre in 1927. It says the universe as we
know it started with a small singularity, and then inflated over the next 13.8 Billion years
to the cosmos that we know today. 14 Gya ( Giga Years Ago) theory describes the
universe is expanding. There was only pure energy compressed in a single point called
singularity. Edwin Hubble’s supported by te demonstration of the continuously
expanding universe through his observations of galactic red shifts in 1929.
1. Electromagnetism – acts between charged particles, both charges repel, different
charges attract
2. Strong Nuclear Force – the strongest of the four fundamental forces of the nature
3. Weak Nuclear Force –is responsible for particle decay
4. Gravity – the attraction between two objects that have massed or energy.
Oscillating Universe – Albert Einstein favoured model, results in the universe expanding
for a time and then contracting due to the pull of its gravity, in a perpetual cycle of Big
Bang followed by Big Crunch.
Steady State Universe - proposed by English astronomer in 1948, which are Fred Hoyle
and Austrians Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi. It predicts a universe that expanded but
did not change its density, maintain a constant density.
Inflationary Universe – Alan Guth proposed a model of the universe based on the Big
Bang Theory. He incorporates a short, early period of exponential cosmic inflation in
order to solve the horizon and flatness problems of the standard BB model.
Multiverse – Developed by Andrei Linde, inflationary universe idea further in 1983 with
his chaotic inflation theory. Sees the universe as just one of many bubbles that grew as a
part of multiverse.
The Solar System (Earth and System)
The basic premise in the understanding of our origins, and te properties of all te planets we have
studied this term, is that natural forces created and shaped solar system.
Encounter Hypothesis – The hot gasses continued to spin in the same direction as the sun, and
coalesced into smaller lumps which formed the planets. The planets revolved in the same
directions.
Nebular Hypothesis – the entire solar system started as a large cloud of gas that contracted sue to
self gravity. Conservation of angular momentum requires that a rotating disk form with large
concentration at the center. It starts as the proto-Sun, while planets would began forming within
the disk.
Protoplanet Hypothesis – it is built on the main concepts of the nebular hypothesis and concepts
based on new knowledge on fluids and states of matter. The solar system was formed when a
cloud of gas and dust was disturbed by an explosion of a nearby star called supernova. The
waves squeezed the cloud of dust and gas resulting in its collapse. The clouds began spinning in
a tremendous speed; the solar nebula was formed. When the spinning slow down, the solr nebula
became hotter and denser which ws surrounded by a disc of gas and dust that was cool at the
edge. At the heart of the nebula, there was a ball of hydrogen gas whose pressure became quite
huge and the particles began to fuse together. There was infinite number of particles that began
to stick together and form clumps. Some clumps got bigger and bigger forming planets and
moons. It is also believed that the center of solar nebula was hot; it was easier from some planets
to form in there.
