Before technology most people believed the Earth was round, like a ball. It is round, but squished. The equator bulges out and the poles look flattened. It's round enough, but not perfectly round. Astronomers call this an "oblate spheroid" shape. The poles are flattened slightly and the equator bulges slightly. I know, this seems kind of picky because the Earth still looks very round! But with technology today, scientists can measure the shapes of many celestial objects. Technology allows us to know Earth's mass... The Earth's mass is 13,190, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds or 5.9 sextillion tons. Another unique feature of the shape of the Earth is the atmosphere. To us it looks like it goes on forever, but the atmosphere clings to Earth kind of like an onion skin. Again, technology has been able to capture what Earth's atmosphere looks like. The air in the atmosphere keeps getting thinner and thinner the greatest distance from the Earth. About 300 miles above the Earth satellites and spacecraft don't feel any wind or resistance at all. Air molecules are spread so far apart that humans can't breath at that height. The atmosphere, though thin, can protect us from "space stuff" that gets pulled into the Earth because of Earth's gravity.
The Earth is a perfect place for all living things. Because there are so many inquiring minds on Earth, scientists, biologists, astronomers, they keep asking questions and trying to solve the mystery...are we the only planet that has life on it, in the solar system? That's the big question...
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |