#earthscie
small, indivisible, and indestructible
Earth Science
Lesson 1: Earth & Its Characteristics to Support
Life
In an effort to make sense of the universe,
humans used traditions, beliefs, religions, and
science to know its origin and structure.
The Book of Genesis
- one of the books of the Hebrew bible
and the Christian Old Testament
- describes how God separated light from
darkness, created sky, land, sea, and
stars, and every living creature in the
span of 6 days
Rigveda
- hindu text
- describes that the universe is an
oscillating universe
- has a specific beginning and a specific
ending
Brahmanda
- the cosmic egg that contains the
universe (includes the sun, earth, moon,
and other planets)
- this universe is believed to have existed
in a single concentrated point called
kindly. This point is believed to
eventually collapse again.
Famous Scientists that Theorized on the
Universe
1. Anaxagoras
- stated that the primordial universe
existed in infinitesimally small
fragments of themselves.
2. Democritus
- shared his views on the atomic theory
of the universe.
- stated that the universe is made up of
atoms
3. Ptolemy & Aristotle
- proposed a geocentric universe
- stated that the earth is the center of the
universe and all heavenly bodies
revolve around it.
4. Nicolaus Copernicus (1543)
- contradicted Ptolemy & Aristotle
- proposed the heliocentric universe
- stated that all motions of celestial
objects can be explained without
putting the Earth in the center of the
universe
- stated that the sun is the center of the
universe because even the Earth
revolves around the sun along with the
other planets.
5. Giordano Bruno (1584)
- stated that the solar system is not the
center of the universe
- argued that the solar system is just a
mere star system in an infinite
multitude of others
6. Sir Isaac Newton (1687)
- proposed the Newtonian Model of the
Universe
- stated that the universe is in a static,
infinite, and steady state. He argued
that the universe is gravitationally
balanced but essentially unstable.
7. Rene Descartes
- proposed the Cartesian Model of the
Universe
- most of its claims were in the
Newtonian Model of the Universe but
stated that all heavenly bodies including
 galaxies, earth, and star systems are
swirling in a vortex
- described the universe as swirling in
small and large vortices, and later on,
produce gravitational effects
8. Albert Einstein
- described a more convincing scientific
model of the universe
- Einstein's model of the universe is more
flexible because it warps space-time.
The Big Bang Theory
- states that the universe is expanding,
having originated from an infinitely tiny
and infinitely dense point around 14
billion years ago according to this
theory, matter was not present in the
beginning of time
- states that there was only a pure energy
compressed in a single point called
singularity. the big bang was a violent
explosion which caused the inflation
and expansion of the universe; at this
moment, the universe was extremely
hot that matter did not exist yet.
- In a fraction of a second, the four
fundamental forces of nature were
formed.
The Universe Through Time
1. Inflation - where high energy particle
reactions existed\
2. In the first few minutes, the first nuclei
was formed
3. After 300,000 years, the temperature
became cool enough for Hydrogen and
Helium atoms to completely form. At
this point, photons escaped and light
existed for the very first time.
4. After 300 million years, the first galaxies
and stars were formed as H and He
atoms coalesced
5. After 9 billion years, the solar system
was formed, and life on earth began
6. After 20 billion years, the sun expanded
to a red giant and ended life on earth
7. Eventually, the universe will be cold and
dark
Other Theories on the Origin of the Universe
1. Oscillating Universe
- cosmological model that combines the
Big Bang & Big Crunch
- if this theory is true, the universe is
between the Big Bang & Big Crunch
2. Inflationary Universe
- states that the universe expanded
exponentially fast for a fraction of a
second after the Big Bang during the
inflation, the universe expanded by a
factor of 1026 which is really fast
3. Steady-state Theory
- a view that the universe is always
expanding but maintaining a constant
average density
4. Multiverse
- a hypothetical group of multiple
universes
- these universes comprise everything
that exists which consists of space,
time, matter, energy, and information
- extremely controversial idea
3 Main Hypothesis of the Origin of the Solar
System
1. Encounter Hypothesis
- states that the sun is bigger than a
rogue star. They then pulled each other
and materials were flung into space in
the form of hot gas
- Since the material of the rogue star was
less dense, when they flung to each
 other, the materials of the rogue star
became the outer solar system. Hence,
the gaseous planets. The remains of the
sun was less dense and became the
terrestrial planets.
Problem:
- Hot gas expands, not contracts
- Encounters between stars are
extremely rare, so rare as to be
improbable in the lifetime of the
universe (13.77 billion years)
2. Nebular Hypothesis
- States that the whole solar system
started as a large cloud of gas
- This molecular cloud of Hydrogen gas
and interstellar dust was balanced by
two forces:
a. contracting force of gravity
b. expanding force of gas
pressure
Problem:
- 99% of the solar system's mass is in the
sun, but 99% of its angular momentum
is in the planets
- the disk turns into individual planets
3. Protoplanet Hypothesis
- this theory incorporates most of the
claims of the nebular theory and is
currently the preferred theory
Process:
- the Milky Way galaxy is filled with cold
(10K) clouds of molecular hydrogen gas,
also filled with dust
- the dust provides sites for the
condensation of gas
- clouds begin to collapse under self-
gravity and the dust begins to accrete
because of the coalescence and force of
gravity that holds them together
- the clouds collapse to a rotating disk
into two regions: the inner region
(denser, collapses faster; proto-Sun
forms before planets) and the outer
region (evolves slower into a thin disk of
particles and a thicker outer disk of
gases)
Characteristics of the Earth Necessary to
Support Life
1. Temperature
- affects the chemical and biological
processes in organisms
- low temperature slows down chemical
reactions and produces ice that makes
liquid water unavailable
- high temperature can cause the break
down of important biological molecules
- Earth is in the region where it is not too
hot nor too cold, called the "Goldilocks
Zone" or the “Habitable Zone"
- it influences how quickly atoms,
molecules, or organisms move
- in thermodynamics, the movement of
atoms are from a high temperature to a
lower temperature
- has two sources:
A. Internal heating of earth
B. External Heating from the Sun
- in the form of radiation
- heat from sunlight is trapped by a layer
of gases called the atmosphere
- the atmosphere is responsible for the
occurrence of the greenhouse
phenomenon
2. Water
- important in biological processes
- allowed the first photosynthetic
organism to thrive
 - two possible sources:
A. Volcanism
B. Icy meteors from the outer regions of
the solar system that bombarded the
earth

3. Nutrients

- it is an essential factor used to build and

maintain an organism's body structure
- volcanism also helps in cycling nutrients

4. Atmosphere

- provides significant insulation or

shielding from the sun and the impact
of small to medium-sized meteorites
- a vital part of photosynthesis, which
ensures the adequate amount of flow of
gases on Earth

5. Energy

- Living organisms like plants and

photosynthetic bacteria use light as the
source of their energy
- some chemosynthetic organisms rely on
chemical energy to support various
biological processes