Now for the place that is what all of us call home, the Earth. It’s a nearly perfect planet when you think about it. It’s the third planet from the sun so it is in what scientists call “the habitable zone”. This is an area where the sun isn’t too close(too hot) or too far(too cold) to the planet so life is able to flourish. Earth is the only known planet to have life. It is believed that it formed 4.5 Billion years ago, and it is one of the four rocky planets in the solar system.

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, about 93,000,000 million miles away, and it makes it’s rotation at approximately 19 miles per second. Therefore it has the third largest orbit, taking about 365 days for one revolution. In addition, it takes Earth around 24 hours to spin on it’s own axis(1 day). In addition, as we know, it has a moon(Or as scientists call a satellite). This moon causes the oceans of Earth to have tide shifts as the moon rotates around. Earth is the only planet in the solar system to have a large amount of liquid water on it’s surface.

Since the Earth has been around for so long, it’s been through a lot of changes. For example, Earth didn’t always have an oxygen rich atmosphere like it has today. Microorganisms are to thank for the breathable air we enjoy. Also, not a lot is known about exactly how such an abundant amount of liquid water got here. Some scientists speculate that many comets, containing large amounts of ice crashed into the planet early in our history and supplied the water.

Earth is made up of a crust, mantle, and core. The crust is divided into sections called tectonic plates and these cause Earthquakes and Volcano eruptions to occur. The core of the planet is made up of mostly iron. This is how we get our magnetic field that protects us from the Sun’s very dangerous electromagnetic radiation and how we can see the beautiful northern and southern lights if conditions are right!

About 7 Billion people inhabit Earth thanks to it’s near perfect climate, chemical composition, and resources. It is the only planet we know of to have such characteristics. Something so novel is also very delicate so it is all of our duties to take care of the place that is all most of us have ever known, the planet Earth!