DR. JOSE P.

RIZAL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS

Earth & Life Science Week 1
Name of Learner: Section:

Grade Level: Date:

Science Reading Comprehension: How was the Earth made?

A. Background Information for the Learner:

How was the Earth made?

More than 4,500,000,000 years ago – before even the dinosaurs existed, before even the Earth existed – there was
space. And in one part of space, there was a huge collection of stars mixed in with massive clouds of gas and
dust, that today we call the Milky Way galaxy.

In a small corner of that huge galaxy, in an area that would later become our solar system, there was a big cloud
of gas that had been swirling around since the Big Bang. There were also some dusty remains of an old star that
had exploded long ago. The gas and dust were floating, swirling and spinning past each other - but they were all
quite far apart. But then… a nearby star exploded, in what we call a supernova.

This supernova sent a shockwave of light and energy rippling across space, pushing some of the gas and dust
towards each other. This gas and dust soon became a ball, which started to get bigger and bigger because of
gravity. Gravity makes everything in the universe move towards everything else - and when things get really big
(like, planet-size big), they start to pull all nearby things towards it.

As the ball of gas and dust got bigger, the gas and dust started to crush in on itself until something called a
“nuclear reaction” happened right in the middle of the ball. A nuclear reaction is super powerful, and this
particular one turned our Sun into a brilliantly shining star, throwing light across the rest of the gas and dust that
was still spinning around it.

Gas and dust started clumping together to form planets

Some of those other swirling, twirling chunks of gas and dust (that hadn’t been sucked into the Sun) were
bumping and clumping into each other. Soon, those clumps got big enough that gravity started pulling in all the
other gas and dust around it, all while still going round and round the giant shining Sun. Some of these twirling bits
clumped together to make our Earth. Others clumped together to make Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune – and all of their moons too.

All these baby planets swirled and spun, and pulled in all the nearby matter. They squished together to become
super-tight big giant hot balls of spinning stuff. Our own Earth was getting hit by rocks that were falling towards it. It
kept getting bigger and hotter until it was a giant ball of melted rock.
Then, a really huge rock smashed into Earth and made it even bigger. And a little bit of that rock flew off and
floated into space to make the Moon. So the Earth was just out there floating in space, near the Sun. But it looked
totally different to the Earth we live on today. There were volcanoes all over the place, with hot lava and gas
everywhere.

Cooling down

But slowly over many years, Earth started to cool down. Some rocks full of ice and gas hit it and melted to make
the sea. This is continuing today - every year more than three tons of space rocks hit the Earth.
But slowly, over many years, the top layer of the Earth was cool enough to harden. This is the ground we walk on
today. We call it the Earth’s crust, like a crust of bread. Deep down underground, the Earth is still full of melted hot
rock. And gradually, over a long time, plants started to grow, bugs started to live and life on Earth began to form
(which is a whole story on its own). Earth is really ancient, and humans have only been around for a tiny part of
that. All the buildings and the cars and the restaurants, and the phones and even everything that’s inside of
you… it all started with an exploding star, billions of years ago.

Written by Niraj Lal, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University for Sustainable Energy Systems, for The
Conversation, you can read the original article at https://tinyurl.com/y4e37tk3.
B. Learning Competency / LC code
S11/12ES-la-e-3 and S11/12ES-la-e-4
C. Directions/Instructions
Read the scientific article above and answer the questions that follow by choosing the letter of
the correct answer, and writing it on the blank spaces provided before each number. Refer to the
text to check your answer when appropriate.
D. Exercise/Activity
____1. Powerful and luminous explosion of a star ____6. The young Earth is characterized as:
A. Nuclear reaction A. Very hot and molten
B. Planetesimals B. Water world
C. Supernova C. Frozen world
D. Meteor shower D. A rocky desert world

____2. The article has implied that majority of the mass ____7. The solar system was formed from:
of the solar system are in the: A. A massive spinning cloud of dust and gas
A. Planets B. Dust from a dead star
B. Earth C. All of the above
C. Rocks D. None of the above
D. Sun
____8. The article has inferred that gravitational
____3. The Earth grew large to its present size because: strength is proportional to:
A. Its fast rotation speed inflated its crust A. Mass
B. Plants growing on its surface added a lot of B. Volume
mass C. Temperature
C. The Earth is the oldest planet in the solar D. Atmospheric Pressure
system
D. Its gravity has attracted space rocks to ____9. It is the prime driving force in the creation of the
crash into it solar system
A. Gravity
____4. The article has hinted that water on Earth came B. Supernova
from: C. Nuclear reaction
A. Comets made from ice and gas D. Spinning motion of the planets
B. Intense surface volcanic activity
C. Condensation as the Earth cooled ____10. The article has suggested that the origin of the
D. Ionized particles ejected from the Sun Earth’s moon can be explained by:
A. Collision with an asteroid
____5. How old is the solar system? B. Gravitational capture of the moon
A. 4.5 million years old C. Splitting of a larger planet in two, forming
B. 45 million years old the Earth and its moon.
C. 45 billion years old D. All of the above
D. 4.5 billion years old
E. Guide Questions (if necessary)
1. What was the major influence in the formation of the solar system?
2. Famous astronomer Carl Sagan once said that “We are made of star stuff.” What does he mean when he
said that the death of ancient stars helped to create us?
F. Rubric for Scoring

Reading Comprehension
Level of Mastery Proficient Level Developing Level Beginning Level Emerging Level

Multiple Choice Answers 9-10 Answers 6-8 Answers 3-5 Answers 2 or less
Points questions correctly questions correctly questions correctly questions correctly

G. Reflection
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made
in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of star stuff” – Carl Sagan
H. References
Encyclopaedia Brittanica: Origin of the Solar System (https://tinyurl.com/y28oyrxz)
Khan Academy: How our Solar System Formed (https://tinyurl.com/yy9zfpzq)
Curious Kids: How was the Earth made? (https://tinyurl.com/yy58pw36)
Study.com: The Solar System Questions and Answers (https://tinyurl.com/y6x2h63e)
I. Answer Key

Prepared by:
GERMAN JOHN T. SIPIN
Teacher II