earth:

you are here

The Sun and the Moon

You are here!

What the Earth is Made Of

Life on Earth

The Continents
 Table of Contents
Earth: You are Here
Introducing … the Earth *
How Big Is One Billion?
How It Got Here
Where Are We in Space?
Early Myths
Neighbors: The Sun and the Moon
What's the Earth Made Of?
What It Looks Like
Earth Extremes
The Continents
The Ocean
Who Lives on It?
Perceptions of the Earth
Make a Map
Natural Resources
Factors Affecting Seed Germination
How We Can Take Care of the Earth
The Big, Blue Marble

Certificate of Completion
Answer Sheets

* Has an Answer Sheet

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 I N TRO DUCI NG...TH E E A RT H

T HE EARTH IS THE THIRD PLANET from the

Sun. It’s part of a group of planets called the Solar
System, in a galaxy called the Milky Way, in a coll-

and a bunch of other objects we haven’t explored yet called

The earth is different from other planets in many ways.

atmosphere, a layer of gases that surrounds
the pl
orbits around the Sun, and the Moon orbits the Earth. Both
provide us with light, and the Sun provides us with warmth.
planet we know of that humans can
live on. Everything we need to survive exists on or near this
planet.

C N N H U I X A X A Y P
A P O Y N W O T V Y A L
H O O K I Q W M Z B W A
J T M D V F C O F D Y N
H S U N E J T S L D K E
J T Y R R J G P V L L T
X F R H S G E H R H I I
G X L A E R U E N B M P
Z Q E Z E R Z R E F I L
Z K F H L Z X E E E W E
M E T S Y S R A L O S X
R S V Q Q P M B M Z M U

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 H O W BI G IS
Earth over the last billion years. Draw them along this
O NE BI L L IO N ? graph.

today

(one hundred million) (ten million)

one hundred
million years
ago

(one million) (one hundred thousand)

O .
It’s hard to understand how big it is, but
one billion is the same as one thousand
3.6 billion years, and all of the plants and animals
there have ever been evolved during that time.

and these were all Earth had for billions of years.

One billion years ago, multi-cellular life showed up,

reptiles first evolved 300 million years ago. The

the dinosaurs.

of our species, homo sapiens, has only happened in

would take up on the graph to the right would not

be visible to our eyes.
one billion
years ago
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 H O W IT G OT H ER E
cooled down enough for oceans and an atmosphere

beginning on our planet.

T , but like all of All of that molten rock is still with us

us there was a time when it wasn’t here. underneath many miles of cool and stable crust,
Scientists believe that one hundred billion
years ago, the solar system we live in was nothing what is happening when volcanoes erupt.
but cold dust particles swirling around in space.
Gravity, the same thing that keeps our feet on the
ground, attracted these particles to each other, and
they clumped together to form large masses of gas the Earth might have looked like when it was still very
and rock that eventually became the planets and the young.
sun. When these particles came together they became
white-hot from rubbing against each other and the
rock particles melted together.
When the earth was young, it was a large mass

cooled down, but for a very long time the Earth was
a red-hot planet bursting with volcanoes and lava. It

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 W H ER E A R E W E
I N SPACE?

1. What is the name of the galaxy we live in?

E and the Universe placed the Earth in the

center, with all of the planets and stars

hundreds of years ago, but scientists are still trying

3. What are some of things that you think make
exploring space and understanding the Universe so

Universe.
What we do know is that our solar system is
made up of one star, the Sun, which several planets

billion other stars and solar systems, which make

up a galaxy. All of the stars and solar systems in our
galaxy, called the Milky Way, revolve around one

light-years away, which means it takes light 27,000

now, of telling how many galaxies there are in the

constantly expanding, all of the galaxies are moving

outward and away from each other.

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 E A R LY MY T HS
and bounced back into the sky, creating the sun,
moon, and stars.

that describe how the mountains, rivers, and

people came to be.

Greek

I Greek mythology the goddess Gaia

is the creator of the world. She was considered

A culture has had some kind of

story, or myth, that describes how the
Earth was made. A myth is a story that is
used to pass down wisdom from generation to gener-
ation to generation, and to help a group of people
was chaos and darkness. When she came she created
the stars and the Earth and everything on it, and she
gave birth to all the gods of these things. Many more
gods were a part of the Greek mythology. Hades
understand the world they live in. All of the stories was the god of the Underworld, Poseidon was god
here are summaries of myths from very old cultures– of the Sea, and Zeus was the ruler of all of Gaia’s
some are still with us; some of them are gone. children and the god of the sky.
All of the myths like these are part of much
larger groups of myths, called mythology
ures that tell them have hundreds or thousands of Ojibwa
these stories in their mythology, explaining the world–
how it was made, why it is the way it is, how to live
in it–and they are all connected. T of Turtle Island is common in
many Native American cultures, and Turtle
Island is sometimes used as a name for North
from the Northwest of Canada, Greece, and the America.
Great Lakes region of Canada and the U.S.
the land on Earth and killed most of the animals.
Only a few good swimmers and animals that
Haida
needed dry land, so they thought they would go
I n the Haida mythology, the creator of the

there was an old man, with a daughter, who kept tried–the loon, the mink, the turtle–but they all
failed. Finally the muskrat said he could do it and he
became jealous of it. He tried to steal it but there dove down under the water. He was gone for such
was no way into the house. He saw the daughter a long time that all of the other animals thought he
leave the house to fetch water, so he transformed
paws. Now there was land, but no one knew where
water bucket and was drank by her. Later she
became pregnant from this and gave birth to the
Raven inside the house. Once he was inside he was did this, and the land and animals grew and grew
and are still growing, and the turtle still holds them
able to get to the light. He took his opportunity,
all on his shell.

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 E A R LY MY T HS

telling the stories with drawings and sculpture.

See if you can match the artwork to the culture.
Write the name by the picture.
A

Tellus (the Roman name for Gaia), C. Haida carving of the Raven
Answers: A. an example of Ojibwa picture writing, B. Roman bust of

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 NEI GH B O R S :
TH E SU N A ND TH E MO O N

T next-door neighbors with

the Sun, but they still share a special bond. We
need the Sun’s light and warmth to survive.
Without the Sun, the Earth would be too cold for us
to live, and plants wouldn’t be able to absorb the light
from it to grow. Our atmosphere absorbs and traps the
heat from the Sun so we can stay warm.

tides: the gravity of the moon pulls on the Earth, which

causes water to move. It also gives us enough light to be

Name one more thing the Sun does for us.

Name another thing the Moon does for us.

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 W H AT ’S TH E E A RTH
M A DE O F?

T the crust, the mantle, the outer core, and the

and is made of rocks. The mantle is the largest layer–

about 1,800 miles thick–and is made of hot magma,
which comes up out of the ground when volcanoes

completely of metallic elements. Because it is made

up of metal, scientists believe the core is what makes
magnetism possible on Earth.

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 W H AT IT LO O K S L I KE

F , the Earth looks like a big, blue

ball, but because of its rotation, it actually

away, it looks smooth and round.

Up close, the Earth has many landforms. A
landform is a natural feature on the Earth’s surface.

the continents. Some of the most common kinds of

landforms are mountains, rivers, lakes, beaches, and
plains.

landforms near you? What do they look like?

A dry area of land where there

plants or animals.

A tall landform that rises high

above the land around it.
A long, low area in between
mountains or hills.
An underground area big
enough for a person to enter.
A small piece of land sur-
rounded by water.
An opening in the Earth that
allows hot lava to escape.
A landform along the shore-
line of an ocean, lake, or river.
It is usually made of sand.

a lake or ocean.
A landform that rises above
the land around it, but is
smaller than a mountain.

answers: 1. c, 2. j, 3. b, 4. h, 5. i, 6. f, 7. e, 8. a, 9. g, 10. d

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 E A RTH E X TR E MES
Highest Point on Earth
Lowest Point on Earth

T a tiny planet in an ever- Hottest Recorded Temperature

expanding universe, the Earth is an amazing Coldest Recorded Temperature
place! Check out some of the most extreme Most Isolated Island
places on the planet. Rainiest Place on Earth
Driest Place on Earth
Country with the Most People for its Size
Country with the Least People for its Size
Oldest Material Found on Earth
fame. Use clues in the text to help you.

Macau, with 541,200 people in just 11.3 square

mile!

Tristan da Cunha Island, 1,700 miles from

Atacama Desert, Chile, where some areas

The Challenger Deep, estimated to be almost

Ocean.

Mawsynram, India, which gets about 465

inches of rain every year.

Mount Chimborazo, Ecuador, which is 6,268

miles above sea level (the Earth bulges around
the Equator, which gives it a boost).

134 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in Death

Greenland. Greenland is 840,000 square miles

-135 degrees Fahrenheit, recorded in Vostok

Zircon, found in Australia and dated to 4.4

billion years old.

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 T H E CON T I NEN TS

C are described as large

landmasses on earth that are separated

to have seven continents (Asia, Africa, North

America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and
talk about continents they are talking about large
sections of rock under the Earth’s crust called

are several of these giant plates of rock and they

Australia), but most of these don’t fit that defi- are always moving, though very slowly. Because
nition. North and South America are connected they are always moving the Earth looked much
by land, and so are Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Earlier in U.S. history, we actually considered
North and South America one continent called in the Earth’s history the tectonic plates moved
America, and many countries still do. around in a way that all of the dry land on Earth was
connected as one giant island.
has as much to do with cultural history as it does
geography. Europe, Asia, and Africa were originally
considered separate continents because of their very many countries can you place?
different cultures. North and South America were
broken up much later for this same reason.
Geologists–people who study the Earth and
the rocks it’s made of–use the term continents

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 T H E O CE A N

A surface is
covered by water. Most of this is one large
body of salt water we call the ocean.

ent smaller oceans: the Arctic, Atlantic,

Indian, Paci
based on the landforms they separate.
Unlike most lakes and rivers, the ocean is salt

in its rocks, and when the ocean washes against

these deposits, or rivers run over them and empty
into the ocean, the salt is dissolved into the water.
Most running water eventually empties into the
ocean, and all this dissolved salt eventually makes
its way there.
est life on Earth started in the oceans
and there are millions of species still living in it.
Most of the ocean is still a mystery to humans, and
there are many more species living there than we
know of. The ocean is so large and deep that it has
been impossible for us to explore all of it.

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 W H O L IVES O N IT ?

P depend on the Earth to survive. You can

W available
on Earth, we wouldn’t be able to survive.
Everything we use comes from materials found
a person, plant, or animal? Careful: Some can be more
than one!
here. We breathe the air that surrounds us and stay
warm thanks to the heat from the Sun. We eat the
plants that grow out of the ground and build our
homes from materials made from the Earth. We
fuel our homes and vehicles with oil found deep
underground and coal from rocks.

P , too, but other animals

other animals that live on earth. Herbivores eat

the plants that grow out of the ground. Omnivores
eat both. Animals make their homes in or on the
ground, under the sea, or in plants. Animals have

can have cold blood to keep them cool, fur to keep

need to drink water to survive.

P from the
soil, the light of the sun, and elements from
the air to grow. Plants go through a process called
photosynthesis, where they absorb the light from
the Sun and elements from the air and soil and turn
answers: 1. person 2. person and animal 3. all three! 4. animal
them into their own food.

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 P ERCEP T I O NS O F
TH E E A RTH
-

W understood
everything about the Earth. In the past,
there have been many misconceptions
about the Earth’s shape, size, its place in the Uni-
verse, and what lived on it.
You may have heard that Christopher Colum-
bus thought the Earth was flat–that’s not true! The
round shape of the Earth was known as early as the
-
ing to be explored, one of the biggest misconcep-
tions people held was that the planets all revolved
around the Earth. Based on his observations, a man
named Copernicus guessed that the planets, includ-
ing the Earth, actually revolved around the Sun. At

able to prove his theory. We now know that the Sun

is the center of our Solar System.
When we began exploring the Earth, some-
times our maps came out wrong. On some old
maps, Australia is almost a rectangle on one end,
Africa is shown to have a mountain range going
through the middle of it, and California is a huge
island! For many years, map-makers would draw
strange sea creatures over parts of the ocean to illus-
trate animals they thought might live there, which
made many people think that the sea was full of
dangerous monsters. Even today, we are still making

Earth.

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 MAKE A MAP

M aking an accurate map isn’t

easy! Look at a picture of
your home state and try to draw it
by hand (no tracing!). Add labels
for your state capital, at least three
major cities, and your hometown.
Mark the location of at least three
major landforms and label them.

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 NAT URA L
R ESO U RCES
Water Wind
T he Earth contains an
abundance of natural
materials that we use to survive, to
: Drink

make our lives easier, and also just : Shower/Bathe

for fun. Water, dirt, oil, rock, wind,
and sunlight are all things that the : Swim
Earth provides for us, and that we
use every day. Wood Find a new way to use one of the natural resources listed
above.
We use our natural resources in
three ways:

: A resource needed
for survival is one that we could
not live without. For example, we
need to drink water to stay alive. Oil
: A resource that
is convenient provides us with
things that are nice to have, but
we don’t need. For instance, if we
didn’t have oil to fuel our cars, our

we wouldn’t be in danger. Stone

: A resource used
for recreation is one that we use
just for fun. We can go boating
on water or use sand and grass to
make a golf course.

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 FACTO R S A FFECT I NG Procedure
SEED GER M I NAT I ON To set up the experiment, you’ll prepare four

from each batch so you can use it later.

another “Wet,” and another “Soaked.”

part can go into the cup labeled Dry.

until it is damp to the touch. Place this in the cup

W hat do plants need to grow? In this

experiment, you’ll explore one of the

of water a seed receives changes how quickly it

labeled “Moist.”

wet and slightly muddy to the touch. Place this

batch of soil into the third cup.
germinates.
A seed contains the beginnings of a new baby
plant. To grow, this plant needs water. Water helps should be soaking wet: When you squeeze it in
your hand, water should come out. Place this
allows the plant to move nutrients from the soil into batch of soil into the fourth cup.
its cells.

gently on top of the soil near the edge of each

cup. You should be able to see the seeds from
Problem the outside of each cup. Try to place them equal
distances from each other. Cover them with ¼
inch of soil from the appropriate dry, moist, wet,
germination? or soaked pile.

Materials what is going to happen. Will the seeds from the

Plant mister seeds may begin to germinate. Use your notebook

Permanent marker and pencil to take notes on what is going on with
Distilled water your bean plants from day to day.
Notebook
Pencil Do some seeds germinate more quickly than
others? Do some not germinate at all? Why?

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 H O W W E C A N TA KE
C A R E O F TH E E A RT H

resources and keep the Earth safe!

Use public transportation, ride your bike, or

walk.
amounts of carbon dioxide that cause the Earth
to warm. Too much warmth on the Earth can be

contributes to this warming. Sharing a bus with

other people or not using a car at all can help
make the air cleaner and safer.

Plant trees. Trees help clean the air by absorbing

elements in it that may be harmful to us, and

Use reusable bags. Plastic grocery bags use a lot Recycle and compost! If you must use a one-
of energy and emissions to make, and they take time use item, make sure to recycle it if you can.

cloth bag to the grocery store and ask the clerk to

put your items in there instead. printed on the package. Most natural items, like
food, dirty paper plants and even dryer lint, can
even be composted. Check to see if your town
Even if or city has a composting program, or start a
compost pile if you have a backyard.
when they’re plugged in. Electricity is powered by
fossil fuels, which can be harmful to the air in large
Put your lunch in reusable containers. Plastic and
amounts. Same goes for lights: if they’re on, they’re
paper lunch bags usually aren’t recyclable.
appliances when you’re done using them.
Buy used items. It takes energy to make
practically every new item. If there’s something
Even if it’s recyclable,
store before buying it brand new.
into something new. Skip that step altogether by
Use reusable utensils instead of plastic ones, and
cloth napkins instead of paper. Going on a picnic?
Bring regular utensils from home and wash them
Only print what you need. Paper is made from when you get back. At home, try using cloth
trees, and trees help keep the air clean and Earth napkins–when they get dirty, throw them in
beautiful. If you want to print something, think with your laundry.
about whether you really need it on paper. If
it’s something that can be emailed or sent in an
online message, do that instead.

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 TH E BIG, BLU E
M A R BL E

Blue Marble.” Can you guess why?

Imagine you’re an astronaut looking at the Earth from

feel about your home planet?

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Great job!
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 Answer Sheets
Earth: You are Here
Introducing … the Earth

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 Answer Sheet
I N TRO DU CI NG...TH E E A RTH
W OR D SE A RCH A NS W ER SH EET

C N N H U I X A X A Y P
A P O Y N W O T V Y A L
H O O K I Q W M Z B W A
J T M D V F C O F D Y N
H S U N E J T S L D K E
J T Y R R J G P V L L T
X F R H S G E H R H I I
G X L A E R U E N B M P
Z Q E Z E R Z R E F I L
Z K F H L Z X E E E W E
M E T S Y S R A L O S X
R S V Q Q P M B M Z M U

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