Lesson 1: Formation of Earth and Early Earth Conditions
Duration of Days: 4
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to describe how Earth formed from the solar nebula, explain early Earth conditions, and use evidence from models and scientific data to infer how the planet changed over time.
-How did Earth form from material in the early solar system?
-What were the conditions of early Earth after its formation?
-How did Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and oceans develop over time?
-What evidence do scientists use to infer early Earth conditions?
-How does Earth’s early history compare to its present state?
-Accretion
-Proto-Earth
-Differentiation
-Core
-Mantle
-Crust
-Atmosphere
-Volcanic outgassing
-Impact events
HS-ESS1-4 – Use evidence from rock strata and fossil records to explain Earth’s history and changes over time.
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
-Patterns
-Cause and Effect
-Stability and Change
-Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
-Students will interpret diagrams of Earth’s formation and early differentiation.
-Students will analyze scientific models showing planetary development and early atmospheric formation.
-Students will construct explanations using evidence from simulations and data sets.
Students will investigate the formation of Earth from the solar nebula and the processes that shaped early Earth. Through modeling, reading scientific evidence, and analyzing simulations, students will explore how Earth’s internal structure and early atmosphere developed.
Activities may include:
-Modeling planetary formation and accretion processes
-Analyzing diagrams of early Earth structure
-Comparing Earth formation to other planetary bodies
-Interpreting evidence from meteorites and planetary data
Purpose: Build understanding of Earth’s origin and early development using scientific evidence and modeling
DOK Level: 3 – Strategic Thinking
-Connections to NASA planetary formation research
-Understanding Earth as a dynamic system shaped by natural processes
-Comparisons to other planetary bodies in the solar system
-Earth formed instantly in its current state
-Earth has always had oxygen-rich atmosphere
-Earth’s layers formed at the same time
-All planets formed in identical ways
-Visual models of planetary formation
-Chunked reading of early Earth evidence
-Graphic organizers for Earth’s layers
-Teacher-guided diagrams and annotations
-Sentence frames for explaining formation processes
-Formation sequence diagrams
-Exit tickets on Earth’s early conditions
-Short constructed-response explanations
-Model labeling activities
-Planet formation simulations
-Earth structure diagrams
-Meteorite and planetary data visuals
-Short readings on early Earth history