How Was Earth Formed?

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Commercial: Hey parents, Trusty Narrator here and I’m super excited to tell you about a brand new podcast from the creators of Who Smarted? called Mysteries About True Histories. It’s full of adventure, riddles, jokes. We even snuck some secret math into each episode, including the title of the show. If your kid likes to laugh and learn, then they’re going to love Mysteries About True Histories, out now wherever you listen to podcasts.
Narrator: Psst. Hello Smarty Pants. As you can hear, I’m rocketing through the cosmos in my state-of-the-art spacecraft, the USS SmartyAnts. Welcome aboard. Since we started smarting together, we’ve explored the far reaches of our solar system, visited the dwarf planet Pluto, as well as all the big gas giants. Come on, sound guy, we’re not still doing that joke, are we?
Sound guy: Sorry. Couldn’t help it. Won’t happen again.
Narrator: Anyway, we’ve also met Venus and Mars and dodged a few asteroids along the way. Today though, we’re not venturing very far. In fact, I don’t even need the USS Smarty Pants.
Sound guy: Losing the spacecraft.
Narrator: Nope. Today I just need my car.
Sound guy: Chewing car.
Narrator: Because today we’ll be looking at Mother Earth.
Mother Earth: Who? Me?
Narrator: Yep. You Mother Earth. While it’s fun to visit other planets, Earth will always be our home sweet home in the universe.
Mother Earth: Well, maybe not always, but I should be good for another 1.5 billion years.
Narrator: Great. Now the first question I have is why is Earth called Earth?
Mother Earth: What are you saying narrator? Is Earth too basic a name for you? Sorry, it’s not a cool name like Jupiter, Saturn or Uranus.
Narrator: Hey.
Sound guy: Sorry. It’s like a reflex.
Narrator: No, I’m not saying Earth is too basic a name, but it is different than the other planets. Smarty Pants do you remember what the planets are named after? Is it:
A. Exotic plants and flowers.
B. Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.
C. Ancient Egyptian rulers.
If you said B, you’re right. The planets are named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.
Mother Earth: Every planet that is except me.
Narrator: Exactly. So Smarty Pants, do you know where the name Earth comes from? Is it:
A. An Arabic word meaning beauty.
B. A Chinese word meaning life.
C. A dramatic word meaning the ground.
The answer is C.
Mother Earth: I get it. All the other planets get named after all powerful gods and goddesses, but I’m named after mud. Not that I’m complaining my dirt and soil is magical. I can grow plants and trees that provide oxygen and food to feed humans and animals.
Sound guy: Ooh.
Mother Earth: Well, I won’t feel bad about being named after my magical dirt.
Narrator: Nor should you. In fact, Earth shouldn’t feel bad about anything because it is indeed a magical place in the universe. But Smarty Pants, just how much do you know about your fascinating home planet? How was Earth formed and what is it actually made of? What part of it is as hot as our sun and why are Earth’s days actually getting longer? It’s time for another whiff of science on…
Theme song: Who Smarted? Who Smarted? Who’s smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science or history? Listen up everyone. We make smarting lots of fun on Who Smarted?
Narrator: Smarty Pants, no doubt you know the Earth is unique. In our own solar system. Earth is the only planet with oceans, and as far as we know the only planet that supports life. This has a lot to do with where the Earth is located in the solar system. Smarty Pants, do you remember what we call the area near the sun that’s not too hot to evaporate all our water, but not too cold to freeze it? Is it:
A. The habitable zone
B. The life zone.
C. The twilight zone.
Go ahead and shout out your answers.
Mother Earth: That’s right, Smarty Pants. The reason I have liquid water covering 70% of my surface is because I live in the habitable zone. I could spend an entire episode telling you all about this perfect spot for life.
Narrator: Actually, we’ve already done an episode on the habitable zone. Smarty Pants if you haven’t listened to it already, I recommend you check it out later.
Mother Earth: Oh, I see you already talked about the habitable zone without me. It looks like you don’t need dear old mother Earth, do you?
Narrator: Mom! I mean Mother Earth. Of course we need you. We wouldn’t be here without you. Trust me, you’re the most important planet in the whole universe. And even though humans have lived on earth for a long, long time, scientists are still learning more about you every day.
Mother Earth: Aw, you’re so sweet. But you’re wrong.
Narrator: You’re not the most important planet?
Mother Earth: No, that’s right. It’s the part where you said humans have been on earth for a long, long time. Face it Trusty Narrator, humans are a pretty new part of my history. To put it in perspective, let’s shrink time and say I was born yesterday, exactly 24 hours ago. Based on that, how long ago do you think humans appeared?
Narrator: What an interesting question. Smarty Pants what do you think? Maybe 12 hours ago, four hours ago or an hour ago?
Mother Earth: Uh-uh.
Narrator: 45 minutes? 30 minutes? The length of an episode of Who Smarted?
Mother Earth: Nope. Nope and nope. Try 34 seconds.
Narrator: 34 seconds? That’s how long it takes me to eat a slice of pizza.
Mother Earth: Like I said, humans really are newcomers. In actual time, humans first appeared 1.8 million years ago, which sounds like a lot until you consider the earth AKA me has been around for more than four and a half billion with a “B”years. So please forgive me if I’m still getting used to you all.
Narrator: Yeah, humans can be a little much. What was that?
Mother Earth: Satellites? You all keep launching satellites into space to buzz around me, taking pictures, studying weather, helping you go online, watch TV, and talk with friends. Less than 70 years ago, zero satellites. Now there’s thousands of them and I hear there’s plans to launch at least 30,000 more in the next 10 years, but of course that doesn’t bother me. I mean, you humans like to have insects buzzing around your heads, right?
Narrator: Whoops. Sorry.
Moon: Look at me Ma, look at me.
Mother Earth: Speaking of satellites
Moon: Over here, ma, look at me. I’m glowing.
Mother Earth: I know, dear. You reflect the sun at me almost every night.
Narrator: Hey, that’s the moon.
Mother Earth: Yep. My firstborn. Funny you should call it “The moon” as if it’s the only one. I mean every planet in our solar system except Mercury and Venus has them, and every other moon gets a fancy name like Phobos, Ganymede or Titan. My moon is just called “The moon.” A lot of thought went into that name, huh? Also, I’m the only major planet in the solar system with just one moon, which I guess is a good thing. I can only imagine, a second moon would just be called moon two.
Moon: Hey ma, over here. Look at me, look at me.
Mother Earth: I got to say a moon can be pretty exhausting. It keeps tugging at me all day, changing my ocean tides and whatnot.
Moon: Look at me.
Mother Earth: It’s also slowing me down. I don’t spin like I used to.
Narrator: Really?
Mother Earth: It’s true. You know how a day is about 24 hours now, can you guess how long it was when I was first created about four and a half billion years ago?
Narrator: Smarty Pants, what do you think? How long was a typical Earth day then? 20 hours, 12 hours or six hours?
Mother Earth: Honey, it was six hours long. The young me could twirl like an Olympic figure skater, but then something happened. I got hit by a massive rock and a chunk of me came out and that became this moon. It’s been circling around me ever since. And as its gravity pulls on me and creates ocean tides, it slows me down. Not that you’d notice. It took about 620 million years for my day to increase from 22 to 24 hours. It’s going to take several million more to add just a minute or two, but I’m definitely slowing down.
Moon: Ma, you’re not looking. Look at me.
Mother Earth: I see you. You’re really hard to miss dear. You’re the fifth largest moon in the solar system and about a quarter of my size. No other major planet has a moon that close to its own size. Narrator, have you done an episode on the moon yet?
Narrator: Yeah.
Mother Earth: Of course you did.
Narrator: And that’s when we learned that the moon contains a lot of the same material as the Earth, which is why scientists believe the moon came from you.
Mother Earth: Uh-huh. We’re both rocky spheres, though I’m not perfectly round. I actually bulge a little bit at my equator. Though not enough for you to notice compared to the gas giants. Oh my. Was that you?
Narrator: No, just a recycled joke. . It’ll always be funny.
Mother Earth: Like I was saying, compared to planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, I’m pretty small, but I’m actually the largest of the rocky terrestrial planets. Bigger than Mars, Venus and Mercury. You know, the planets closest to the sun. Oh, and speaking of the sun, when the solar system formed from hot, swirling gas and dust, eventually I cooled, but not all of me. There’s a part that remains as hot as the sun.
Narrator: Wow. Smarty Pants, do you know what part that is? No. Not Florida. The answer after this quick break.
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Narrator: Smarty Pants you hear that cold wind? There are some places on earth that are brutally cold where you’ll need more than just a coat and mittens to survive the elements. One such spot has temperatures lower than minus 133 degrees Fahrenheit or 92 degrees below zero Celsius. It’s a continent known for its snow and ice. That’s right, Antarctica. But what about the other end of the thermometer? Where are some of the Earth’s hottest temperatures? If you said the desert, you’re right. The Death Valley Desert in the United States is home to the highest surface temperature ever recorded. A whopping 134 degrees Fahrenheit or 56.7 degrees Celsius. But that’s not Earth’s hottest spot. Not by a long shot.
Mother Earth: Huh?
Narrator: So what is?
Mother Earth: You’re standing on it, everyone is. That’s because my hottest part is my center.
Narrator: You see, the earth is made up of four main layers. The top layer is the crust. That’s where you and I live, and it contains everything from mountains to oceans. Beneath that is a thick layer of molten rock called the mantle. Go farther down and you’ll reach a hot liquid layer that’s mostly made up of the metals, iron and nickel. This is called the outer core. Then at the center of the earth is a solid blazing hot ball of nickel and iron called the inner core. Remember, I said the hottest temperature recorded on Earth is 134 degrees Fahrenheit. Well, the temperature at the Earth’s inner core is believed to be about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which also happens to be the temperature on the surface of the sun.
Mother Earth: Whoa. Oh my. You wouldn’t want a vacation there. Better to stay on the surface where my atmosphere of mostly nitrogen and oxygen provides the perfect temperature for all my creatures, including people. Though with all your trash and pollution, you’re not taking very good care of me.
Narrator: You’re right. We shouldn’t harm our planet because there’s nothing else like it. Scientists have found more than 5,000 planets outside our solar system, and so far they haven’t found one perfect for life like Earth. Our home is unique and it’s the only one we have.
Mother Earth: So clean your room. Clean your planet, and always listen to your Mother, Earth. Is someone crying?
Narrator: It’s not me.
Sound guy: Sorry. I love you mom.
Narrator: A super shout out to Hallel in Atkins Park, Pennsylvania. We’re so glad you love listening to Who Smarted? while building with Lego bricks in your room, and that your teacher lets you listen as part of science class in school. What better place is to smart than that?
This episode, “The Earth” was written by Dave Beaudry and voiced by Charlotte Cone, Gia Davis, Adam “Tex” Davis, and Jerry Kolber. Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn. Who Smarted? is recorded and mixed at The Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam “Tex” Davis. Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam “Tex” Davis and Jerry Kolber. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
Theme song: Who Smarted?
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