Explore Early Earth | Part 1: Meet a NASA Scientist

Full Episode description

What was early Earth like? How did life start on Earth? And what’s up with plate tectonics?

In part one of this two-part episode, we meet NASA scientist and Blue Marble Space Institute of Science founder Dr. Sanjoy Som. We learn about early Earth, stromatolites and how we can care for the planet that gave us life.

As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. 

Ask Dr. Universe is a service of Washington State University curated for an 8- to 13-year-old audience. Listeners working on the Middle School History of Earth Next Generation Science Standards may particularly enjoy this episode:

| 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.

| MS-ESS2-2. | Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.

| MS-ESS2-3. | Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. 

As always, submit burning questions at askdruniverse.wsu.edu. Who knows where your questions will take us next.