It's About Time
How long ago did the big bang happen?
The movement of heat from one object to another such as when a hand gets hot because it touches a hot pot
What is conduction?
The Age of Reptiles
What is the Mesozoic Era?
The supercontinent that eventually broke apart into today's supercontinents
What is Pangaea?
What is the crust?
About 60 million years ago
When did the Cenozoic Era begin?
The movement of heat through space
What is radiation?
What is the Cenozoic Era?
The theory that 'rescued' the theory of continental drift - it provided the much-needed mechanism!
What is sea-floor spreading?
The innermost, very dense layer of the Earth
What is the inner core?
About 4.6 billion years ago
When did Precambrian Time begin?
The movement of heat through a fluid - such as hot air rising and cool air sinking
What is convection?
Life during this time was VERY simple - such as single celled organisms.
What is Precambrian Time?
The idea that the Earth is divided into many of these pieces that are in constant motion
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
This layer is made of mostly iron and nickel and is the reason for the Earth's magnetic field.
What is the outer core?
About 250 million to 60 million years ago
When did the Mesozic Era begin and end?
Convection currents in the mantle
What causes the tectonic plates to move?
Life moved primarily from water to land during this ancient era
What is the Paleozoic Era?
Plates that slide by each other and cause a great release of energy
What causes an earthquake?
Indirect evidence such as seismic waves from earthquakes and direct evidence such as volcanic material from the mantle
How did scientists figure out what the Earth is made of?
About 540 million years ago
When did the Paleozoic Era begin?
The heat from this very hot layer of the Earth warms the mantle through conduction
What is the outer core?
Humans evolved during this era
What is the Cenozoic Era?
This important scientist observed that the continents drifted, but he could not provide a reason why.
Who was Alfred Wegener?
Mostly solid but molten layer of the Earth, heated by the outer core. It's convection currents cause the Earth's plates to move.
What is the mantle?