How the Earth Came to Be

The age old question of "how did we get here?", is a common thought that crosses everybody's mind.  To me, this represents the most interesting topic we cover in the fall.  We get to look into the past to peruse and postulate the processes performed that brought our planet to its current state.  We can even apply what we have learned to speculate our future.  Very exciting information! 

Trying to contemplate how long ago 4.6 billion years occurred blows my mind.  In my mind, I don't believe my 39 years on this Earth qualify as a long time, but my grandmother's 98 do.  Her life on Earth only amounts to 0.000002% of the entire time the planet has existed! Mind Blown.....If we just look at the time that recorded history has taken place that's still only 0.0002%! That's 10,000 years that man has been writing stuff down and it is insignificant in the amount of time that the planet and the surrounding solar system has existed!  

Does this make us insignificant?  Does what we do with our time on this rock matter?  These questions cross my mind on occasion, and I hope that they really don't cross your minds at all.  You should be focused on what college you want to attend (just remember the Eyes of Texas Are Upon You....Hookem \m/), what social gathering you should or should not attend, and completing the school year positively.  

I do contemplate these questions, though.  Personally, I believe we represent the most significant organisms to ever inhabit the Earth.  The time that we have does have meaning, no matter how small or large our impact may be.  I enjoy the opportunity I have in front of me to make an impact on students' lives.  I hope that I have an impact that benefits you.  I hope that somebody pays close enough attention to what I do to understand that everything I do is an attempt to educate and prepare you for whatever is next in your life.  Performing my job this way helps me know that I am doing something significant with my time.

To me, understanding how the world came to be is understanding how we came to be.  All the processes and events that have occurred over this time have helped the planet become a habitable place for us as well as other organisms.  Without all of the volatility and change our planet experienced before our existence, we have no existence.  

Whoa, Coach....you're getting too deep...I can hear it all as I write this.  Which leads me to ask you, what do you believe is the significance of Earth?  What makes this planet special? How has the development of Earth over the previous 4.6 billion years inspired life to evolve to our (human beings) level?  

Please respond to these questions in the comments.  Your response will be a daily grade.