Our Fascinating Earth

By Saanvi Biswal, Logynne Cochran, Simra Haque, Sanjna Srivastava, Kaylin Park

(Intro) This article delves into the fascinating story behind Earth. Discover the origins and inspiration that sparked its creation, and explore the people and societies who made invaluable contributions to its development. Learn about the major milestones that shaped its evolution and the timeline that highlights its progress. Understand the significance of Earth in today's world and explore related topics that shed further light on its relevance and impact.

(1) Earth, the planet of life, has a rich and fascinating history. It traces back to its formation around 4.5 billion years ago from dust and gas in the solar system. Its unique position provided ideal conditions for life. This leads to a rich biodiversity resulting from millions of years of evolution, adaptation, and extinction events. Geologists, paleontologists, and astronomers played crucial roles in understanding Earth's origins. They contributed to discoveries like plate tectonics, fossil records, and the origins of the solar system. Today, Earth's significance is more crucial than ever as people work to protect its fragile ecosystems and maintain its habitability. In the meantime, scientists explore related topics such as climate change, conservation, and the search for Earth-like exoplanets. Understanding this planet's origins, history, and relevance helps people learn to appreciate its uniqueness. It can also show the importance of preserving it for future generations.

(2) In recent Earth history, humans have made a great impact on the Earth. Humans have changed ecosystems, and learned more about our planet than any creature on Earth ever has.Think about it, has any animal’s creation been visible from space? The only answer you can think of is humans. We’ve come so far and, and expanded so much that our homes and cities are visible from space. But, we didn’t just magically get here. There are so many leaders who impacted our overall society in various ways. Isaac Newton, Einstein, and George Washington are just a few people who went down in history for changing society and our perspective of the world. But there were also societies that impacted our civilization now. Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient India, Ancient China, the Americas, renaissance Europe, and so much more. There were and still are so many people who make the world a better place, but sometimes humans can have a negative impact. Through things like farming, building and waste, we release lots of gas, oil, and waste, which disrupts the ecosystems around these activities. These things are all morally wrong, but do not pose a threat to the actual earth; in the sense that whenever there is a mass extinction(which could happen if we continue to treat nature poorly) Earth in time develops new organisms that are best suited to thrive in the new ecosystem that has been created. An ecosystem changing after a mass extinction could be the air changing, plants dying, or simply just drastic climate change. I think one of the great things about humanity is that we have conscious decisions. We as humans can all give lasting contributions through our choices whether they are good or bad. 

(3)      Earth is very old and is still developing today. Earth was created about 4.5 billion years ago and became the third planet from the Sun. The Earth is made out of gas and dust from when gravity pulled them together. Now, Earth is known as a terrestrial planet and has a central core, rocky mantle, and a solid crust. Earth is also the only planet that currently has life on it. Earth has only been developing since it was first formed. Around 252 to 66 million years ago was when dinosaurs lived. They later went extinct 65 million years ago due to asteroids hitting the Earth. That area was known as the Mesozoic Era or the “Age of Dinosaurs.” Humans were introduced during the Prehistoric Era, from 2.5 million to 1,600 BC. Earth has helped different species and organisms develop during the time it has been made and will continue to do so.

(4) The Earth has a profound impact on today’s world, shaping our world and evolving throughout time such as, the way of living, technology, living species, healthcare, the environment, and behavior. An example of the way of living, people back then have made it all about wars and battles. Earth has changed now and still does have wars, but not constantly. An example of the way of technology, there weren’t any cell phones back then which made it difficult to communicate and even know the meaning of a word. But now, people have an electronic device to do this stuff. Also, the understanding of climate and space have been more advanced due to cameras and monitors. Next, an example of the way of living species is that many species have become extinct which changes  the life of other animals too. An example of the way of healthcare is that back then, there weren't any special medicines to use to feel better and surgery was a difficult task, now a surgery is more advanced. Then, an example of the environment would be how much it has changed. During the times when dinosaurs lived on earth, there weren’t any buildings or structures, but in today’s world, there are many structures. Lastly, an example of behavior would be how back then, there were constant wars and battles, but now life still does have battles, but more in a peaceful manner. Also, murdering wasn’t such a big deal back then but now, they have consequences. 

(5) Out of all eight planets in our solar system, Earth is the only planet with organisms. Although Earth may seem contrasting to the other planets, Earth is related to them in many ways. One example is the structure or material of Earth. Earth is a terrestrial planet in addition to Mercury, Venus, and Mars. The remaining planets are classified as "Gas Giants", these planets include Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus, and Saturn. Terrestrial planets are created from rock, metals, water, carbon, and silicate. The materials are solid, allowing objects to land on the surface of planets. The website, "science.nasa.gov", claims, "In our solar system, Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus are terrestrial, or rocky, planets." Furthermore, the website continues, "Terrestrial planets (Earth sized and smaller) are rocky worlds, composed of rock, silicate, water and/or carbon." This indicates that terrestrial planets are solid rock creations, and remain closer to the sun. On the other hand, Gas Giants are planets formed from games such as helium or hydrogen. Unlike terrestrial planets, gas planets are not solid except for the core. Website, "science.nasa.gov" writes, A gas giant is a large planet mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. These planets, like Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system, don’t have hard surfaces and instead have swirling gasses above a solid core. 

In summation, Earth has its relations and its differences to other planets.

That is some information about Earth’ origins, inspirations, its key people and their contributions, the timeline and its development, the relevance it has today, and the other planets in its solar system.