Origins : Part 1 - Earth is Born (A NOVA Miniseries)                               Name ___________________________

Study Guide  (Answer the following questions as you watch the video tape or DVD)

1. If Earth's entire history were condensed to a 24 hour day, humans first appear:
a. about 1 am
b. about 4 am
c. at 9:05 pm
d. 30 seconds before midnight

2. If Earth's entire history were condensed to a 24 hour day, life first appears
a. about 1 am
b. around 4 am
c. at 9:05 pm
d. 30 seconds before midnight

3. What important event (given in the show) which preceded Earth, eventually led to our existence?
a. supernovae
b. the big bang
c. formation of galaxies
d. formation of white dwarfs

4. The planets formed by a process of:
a. smaller pieces collected together forming larger and larger objects
b. large planetesimals were attracted by magnetic forces
c. electrostatic charges attracted large planetesimals, ... forcing them to combine
d. centrifugal forces forced all the mass around the sun to combine

5. Earth formed:
a. 4.5 million years ago
b. 13-14 billion years ago
c. 7.5 billion years ago
d. 4.5 billion years ago

6. Records from the first 100 million years of Earth's history are:
a. easily obtained from rock samples on the ocean floor
b. found with great difficulty and only from rocks found at the tops of mountains
c. lost because the entire Earth was molten
d. written on stone tables left by the ancient Egyptians

7. What event occurred on September 8, 2000 (and reported by Peter Jennings from ABC news)?
a. a huge comet destroyed a city in China
b. an asteroid hit the moon, ... forming a huge impact crater
c. astronomers found evidence that life exists on another planet
d. a meteorite struck a frozen lake in Canada

8. The data from this event tells us that:
a. the planets formed quickly
b. no one is safe from an asteroid impact
c. there may be abundant life in the universe
d. the moon formed rather slowly

9. Heat was being generated in the early Earth by:
a. radioactivity in the interior
b. impacts at the surface
c. friction as Earth continued to shrink
d. both b and c
e. both a and b
f. both a and c

10. Iron migrated to the center of Earth because:
a. it was attracted by magnetic forces
b. plate tectonics forced the iron downward as continents collided
c. Earth was molten, which allows it to separate by density
d. solar activity repels iron

11. Swirling masses of iron in the core are responsible for:
a. solar flares
b. our gravitational field
c. movement of the continents according to plate tectonics
d. our magnetic field

12. Charged particles constantly streaming from the sun are known as:
a. solstice action
b. the solar wind
c. helio-acceleration
d. photonic expulsion

13. If not for the magnetic field of Earth, these solar particles could possibly:
a. erode the surface much more than the atmosphere is capable of doing
b. strip Earth of its atmosphere
c. allow more water to form at the surface
d. prevent water from forming at the surface

14. An example where this may have already happened is:
a.  Mercury's moon, Vulcan
b. Jupiter
c. Mars
d. Pluto

15. Life as we know it was impossible on the early Earth (when it was only 50 million years old) because:
a. life can only exist if it is cold
b. the gravity of Earth was too low at the time
c. we had no atmosphere
d. the early atmosphere lacked oxygen and ozone

16. Analysis of moon rocks show:
a. the moon must have formed in the outer solar system
b. they have similar chemical properties as Earth rocks but also have very little iron in them.
c. they contain gas pockets of nitrogen and argon
d. it is impossible for the moon to have liquid water because water molecules are absorbed by the moon rocks

17. Bill Hartmann proposed a theory which claims:
a. the moon formed because Earth was spinning so fast that a blob of it flew off, ... forming the moon
b. the moon landing was faked
c. the moon formed from ejected material after two large planet sized objects collided
d. the moon must have formed somewhere else because the density of the moon rocks are so different from the ones we see on Earth

18. When first proposed in 1974, the reaction by his peers was:
a. it was immediately accepted
b. the idea was accepted by half of all astronomers, producing a huge debate at the time
c. it was not accepted then and it is still not accepted today
d. he was not taken seriously for 10 years

19. In the first 50 million years of Earth's history:
a. huge amounts of mass were constantly being exchanged between Earth and the moon (back and forth)
b. Earth spun much faster on its axis
c. the moon was much closer to Earth
d. both b and c
e. both a and b
f. both a and c

20. By examining laser beams bounced off reflectors placed on the moon we know:
a. the moon is slowly moving away from Earth
b. the moon is moving closer to Earth
c. the moon is spinning faster on its axis
d. the moon has no atmosphere, water, or gravity

21. Another by-product of the moon is:
a. the moon gives us our gravity
b. it shields us from harmful cosmic rays
c. it stabilizes Earth's axis of rotation in space
d. without the moon, Earth would slowly migrate to the outer solar system and the oceans would freeze

22. New evidence suggesting Earth had a crust as early as 4.4 billion years ago comes from:
a. dating zircons found in Australia
b. looking at quartz crystals in meteorites
c. examining the moon rocks
d. seeing the same thing happening on other planets

23. In addition, the data suggests:
a. it was impossible for water to exist at this time because there was too little oxygen present
b. water was present but only in the form of ice at the poles
c. liquid water was present on Earth at the same time
d. water was radioactive at this time so it was impossible for life to exist

24. The source of our water on Earth could come from:
a. volcanic outgassing
b. nuclear reactions at local "hot spots" at the surface
c. impacts by comets
d. both b and c
e. both a and b
f. both a and c

25. Michael Mumma's idea has problems.  Specifically:
a. we had more water than his theory predicts
b. most of the water on Earth should be frozen at the poles
c. the oceans have too little "heavy water" to support his theory
d. his theory predicts it should be raining much more than we currently observe