In this Earth’s Formation reading, students learn about the formation of Earth from a cloud of dust and are introduced to how early Earth changed over time. The middle school-level article focuses on the changes to early Earth itself, not the geologic time scale. Applicable in several units: NGSS MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-4, HS-ESS1-6.
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In this activity, students will:
- READ the article “History of the Earth”
- ANSWER 11 text-dependent questions (no prior knowledge required)
- COMPLETE a simple timeline from information in the text
This resource includes:
- 2-page informational text
- 2-page of text-dependent questions
You may also be interested in our similar Formation of the Universe and Solar System Reading.
Teacher Notes:
Related Standards:
- NGSS MS-ESS1-2: Develop and use a model to describe the role of gravity in the motions within galaxies and the solar system.
- NGSS MS-ESS1-4: Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history.
- NGSS MS-ESS2-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s surface at varying time and spatial scales.
