Earth as a Planet

We don’t often think of earth as a planet. It’s hard to see the big picture when we are standing on this giant ball of dirt and water. But we have the benefit of over 80 years of space missions that have captured images of the earth from space. Check out this NASA Gallery as well as my brief video, Earth Selfies, that highlights these amazing images.
This Rocket Launch as Seen from Space video (which is real!) paints a beautiful picture of humanity reaching out from earth into the cosmic ocean.
Explore 8.1 The Global Perspective to understand Earth’s interior composition, structure, magnetic field generation, and the characteristics of its crust.
Living on a giant ball is really weird. In fact, I don’t think we fully comprehend just how weird it is. Watch the video Living on a Sphere to see a few examples of how some simple questions lead to some surprising conclusions. If you like, you can play with the Antipodes Explorer and read the Across the Ocean article for yourself.
The earth has got it all! We have a beautiful atmosphere, a regulated climate, complex weather, mountains and volcanos, earthquakes and craters. Earth provides a valuable example of what happens on a planet when everything goes right. As we continue to explore the solar system, we will see some of these features on other planets as well. In order to compare and contrast the planets, we will need to have some foundation in earth science topics. Read through the following sections of the textbook.
Review 8.2 Earth’s Crust to learn about terrestrial rock classifications, plate tectonics, and surface geological features driven by crustal movement. These will be important as we compare and contrast the geology of other terrestrial planets in our solar system.
Read 8.3 Earth’s Atmosphere for insights into Earth’s atmospheric composition, structure, circulation patterns, and its role in climate variations.
Explore 8.4 Life, Chemical Evolution, and Climate Change to understand the origins of life, the impact of photosynthesis on atmospheric composition, and the role of greenhouse gases in climate change.
Watch the MinutePhysics video, How Do Greenhouse Gases Really Work?
Review 8.5 Cosmic Influences on the Evolution of Earth for insights into the effects of cosmic impacts on Earth’s history, including mass extinctions, and current efforts to predict and understand these events.
Explore this List of Impact Craters on Earth and follow some of the links to see images of the craters.