The Birthday of Our Earth(The Earth Beneath)

Millions and millions of years ago, so very many that no one can even begin to count them, there was no earth at all. Of course, when there was no earth, there were no tall mountains. There were no green hills and valleys.

There were no deep blue oceans or flowing rivers. There was no soft grass, no beautiful flowers or tasty vegetables and fruits. No birds sang, and no animals roamed through forests. There were no people anywhere. Our earth had not been born. The sun was shining, and the stars twinkled long before our earth came to be.

No one knows exactly when our earth took its pla

ce in the great Universe. The important thing to us is that it did. God made something big and wonderful happen at one time long, long ago. Perhaps He created our earth from a mass of hot gases. Scientists think this may have happened. No one really knows. After the earth’s birthday, millions of years passed. The outside cooled into a crust of stone and metals many feet thick.

Shut inside, were hot steam and gases struggling to be free. More millions of years went by, and many changes took place. The steam and gases were always heaving and pushing. They heaved and pushed so hard and so long that great folds and wrinkles appeared in the earth’s crust. Piles of rock and stones rose into the air. They tumbled and rolled over and over each other.

They bumped and ground together. They skidded and slid this way and that. These twisting, tumbling piles of rock were the first mountains of our earth. Between them were the valleys. Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the heavens. Great earthquakes shook and split the earth’s crust. Volcanoes spouted fire, smoke, stones, and lava. This went on for many years. It was not easy to become an earth.

In the air, all around the crust, there was a thick, warm blanket of gas. Clouds of mist filled this blanket. As the warm clouds met the cooler crust, drops of water formed. The drops huddled and snuggled together and made rain. Down upon the mountains of the new earth rainstorm after rainstorm poured its waters. Down the mountain sides rushed great rivers. All of the low places were filled.

All of the deepest pits were filled. These became the oceans and seas and lakes of our earth. So, then, there was an earth of land and water. As more millions of years went by the crust of the earth went on changing and changing. The winds and the rains, the running rivers and spouting volcanoes all helped to make these changes. The inside strained and pushed the first mountains about . New hills and valleys were made.

Earthquakes helped to shuffle the lands and waters. These changes went on for many long years. But at long last our earth became almost as it is today. It has been a long, long time since our earth was born. Since its first birthday it has had many, many others.Like a great, great, great grandparent it is now very, very old. As it has aged, it has become this beautiful, wonderful earth of ours. Even today it is often changing its form and face. Deep inside, the hot steam and gases still push and struggle. Maybe they are getting old and tired, too.

Our Earth Is Round

Folks who lived long ago knew very little about our earth. They only knew what went on right around them. Other parts of the world were mysterious, unknown places. How could these people know as much as we do today? There were no books to read, no newspapers, radios, movies, or television. Travel was very slow and dangerous.

However, the people of long ago often wondered about the earth. How big was it? What lands lay beyond their own? They wondered about its shape. Some thought that it was flat, like a large pancake, and one might fall off the edge. Others said that it must be held up by big posts.

People in Greece believed that a man, named Atlas, held the world on his back. Christopher Columbus was one who believed that the earth was round. This made people laugh, and they said that Columbus was crazy. Ferdinand Magellan thought that maybe Columbus might be right. He set out from Spain with five small ships to sail around the earth. Magellan didn’t finish the voyage.

But one of his ships did and returned to Spain after three years. Today, great airplanes fly around the earth in a few days, and no one gets very excited about it. How do we  I know  that our earth is round or sphere? Here is one proof that it is: The first part of a ship you see sailing toward you is the tip of the tallest mast. Next the smoke-stacks are seen. Then the hull comes into view. If the earth were straight or flat  , you would see the whole ship at once.

Here is another way to tell that the earth is round : Suppose that you left your home and traveled straight ahead.  If you kept going, you would finally return to your starting point. In that way you would have traveled around our earth.

Some more lines around the earth

Besides the equator there are four other make-believe lines around the earth that you should know about. Around the North Pole there is a line called the Arctic Circle. Around the South Pole there is one called the Antarctic Circle. Between the Arctic Circle and the equator is the Tropic of Cancer

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Between the Antarctic Circle and the equator is the Tropic of Capricorn. These four lines divide the earth into regions. There are five of these regions. Looking between the lines we find two polar regions, two middle regions, and the tropics. The tropics are between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

The equator is  running through the middle of the tropics. Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle and between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle are the middle regions. Within the Arctic and the Antarctic Circles are the polar regions.

Plants and animals grow best in the soil of the tropics. It is always warm there. The tropics have two seasons, one wet and one dry.

Things also grow well in the middle regions, that is, in the spring and summer. In the fall and winter growing things sleep. In the Polar Regions there are very few plants and animals. Inside the artic and Antarctic circles there is mostly ice and snow .these regions have a night six month long and then a day six months.