SO HERE YOU ARE, LIVING ON A PLANET WE CALL…
EVERYTHING AROUND YOU ALL THE WAY UP TO THE TOP OF THE CLOUDS IS PART OF EARTH.
THAT BIG BRIGHT HOT BALL IN THE SKY DURING THE DAY IS
THE
OUR EARTH GOES AROUND THE SUN.
EVERY TIME YOU HAVE A BIRTHDAY, THE EARTH HAS GONE ALL THE WAY AROUND THE SUN SINCE YOUR LAST BIRTHDAY!
THE SUN IS A . SO ARE THE OTHER TWINKLING DOTS OF LIGHT IN THE SKY AT NIGHT.
THE BIG GLOWING CIRCLE IN THE SKY AT NIGHT? THAT IS THE
THE MOON IS LIKE A PLANET, BUT IT GOES AROUND THE EARTH. THE SUN SHINES ON IT TO MAKE IT BRIGHT.
SOME OF US HAVE WALKED ON THE MOON!
SOME OF THE BRIGHT SPOTS IN THE NIGHT SKY ARE PLANETS TOO. THEY DON’T TWINKLE, BUT THEY DO GO AROUND THE SUN
THE SUN AND OTHER STARS GO AROUND THE MILKY WAY. THE MILKY WAY IS A .
GALAXIES HAVE HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF STARS IN THEM.
ON A PLANET…
GOING AROUND A STAR…
GOING AROUND A GALAXY…
YOU CAME FROM INSIDE YOUR MOMMY. YOUR MOMMY CAME FROM INSIDE YOUR GRANDMOMMY. YOUR GRANDMOMMY CAME FROM INSIDE YOUR GREAT GRANDMOMMY. ON AND ON, BACK THROUGH TIME…
100 BA* 200 BA 1700 BA 2200 BA 3300 BA 25,000 BA …GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT… OVER 100,000 GREAT-GRANDMOMMIES AGO TO A MOMMY WHO LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS:
3,000,000 BA *BA = "Birthdays Ago"
BUT IT DOESN’T STOP THERE! SHE CAME FROM INSIDE HER MOMMY, WHO CAME FROM INSIDE HER GRANDMOMMY, WHO CAME FROM INSIDE HER GREAT-GRANDMOMMY… ONE MOMMY LOOKED LIKE THIS… …ANOTHER MOMMY LIKE THIS… …AND ANOTHER LIKE THIS
20,000,000 BA 60,000,000 BA 210,000,000 BA
ON AND ON… …BACK THROUGH TIME… …CHANGING AND CHANGING
295,000,000 BA 375,000,000 BA 480,000,000 BA
GETTING MORE AND MORE SIMPLE OVER HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS
530,000,000 BA 550,000,00 BA 1,500,000,000 BA
A SINGLE CELL 3,500,000,000 BA
FOR 2,000,000,000 BIRTHDAYS ON EARTH, ALL LIVING THINGS WERE SINGLE CELLS.
THEN SOME CELLS STARTED WORKING TOGETHER. THIS MADE THEM STRONGER THAN THE SINGLE CELLS, SO THEY MULTIPLIED
SOME TEAMS OF CELLS FORMED PLANTS THAT EAT SUNLIGHT
OTHERS FORMED ANIMALS, THAT EAT PLANTS.
DIFFERENT THINGS WORKED FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF LIFE.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS KEPT ON CHANGING, TRYING OUT DIFFERENT THINGS.
SOME ANIMALS, LIKE CRABS, WORE THEIR SKELETONS ON THE OUTSIDE.
OTHER ANIMALS, LIKE FISH, WORE THEIR SKELETONS ON THE INSIDE.
DIFFERENT THINGS WORKED FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF LIFE.
ALL OF THIS WAS HAPPENING IN THE EARTH’S OCEANS, WHICH WERE GETTING PRETTY CROWDED… SO SOME PLANTS AND ANIMALS GREW TO LIVE ON THE LAND.
CRABS AND OTHER ANIMALS FISH AND OTHER ANIMALS WITH OUTSIDE SKELETONS WITH INSIDE SKELETONS BECAME BUGS AND INSECTS. BECAME AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
SOME LIZARDS BECAME DINOSAURS AND BIRDS AND TINY MAMMALS.
SOME TINY MAMMALS BECAME ELEPHANTS, DOGS, CATS, WHALES, AND MONKEYS.
SOME MONKEYS EVENTUALLY BECAME HOMO SAPIENS!
A FEW HOURS LATER YOU YOU HAD A TAIL LIKE THIS WAS YOU YOUR GREW UP TO BE THIS A LIZARD ONCE! NUMBER OF BIRTHDAYS AGO (PLUS NINE MONTHS INSIDE YOUR MOMMY.)
YOU HAD GILLS LIKE A FISH ONCE TOO! AND EYES ON THE SIDE OF YOU YOUR HEAD LIKE A MOUSE! GREW
AND AND AND GREW GREW GREW
AND AND AND GREW GREW GREW
BIG BRAIN!
LOTS OF TEAMS OF CELLS! OPPOSABLE THUMBS!
WARM BLOODED!
SKELETON ON THE INSIDE!
WALKS ON TWO FEET!
THERE ARE OVER 7,000,000,000 HOMO SAPIENS ON PLANET EARTH
(PLUS A FEW OUT IN SPACE) AND ANOTHER FOUR ARE BORN EVERY SECOND!
BUT WE ARE ALL PART OF A TEAM CALLED
NEW YORK DUBAI
RIO DE JANERO HONG KONG
OUR CIVILIZATION ISN’T PERFECT BUT WE ARE ALWAYS WORKING TO MAKE IT BETTER
EVERY BIRTHDAY WE ARE SMARTER THAN WE WERE ON THE LAST BIRTHDAY, JUST LIKE YOU GET SMARTER TOO
AS YOUR GUARDIAN MY PURPOSE IS TO HELP YOU GROW UP TO BE AS GOOD AS ME AT LIFE AND CONTRIBUTING TO CIVILIZATION.
HOPEFULLY THIS BOOK HAS FILLED YOU WITH QUESTIONS HERE’S SOME OF MY FAVORITE QUESTIONS • WHERE DID THE DINOSAURS GO? (HINT: LOOK UP IN THE SKY AND TREES) • WHY DOESN’T THE MOON ALWAYS LOOK ROUND? • CAN YOU FIND YOUR HOUSE ON GOOGLE EARTH? • IS THERE LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS? (HINT: SETI, EXOPLANETS) • DOES THE EARTH HAVE A BIRTHDAY? (HINT: EQUINOXES, SOLSTICES) • WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT FOUR HOMO SAPIENS ARE BORN EVERY SECOND? (TRY COUNTING IN MULTIPLES OF FOUR) • CAN YOU FIND THE PLANETS ON GOOGLE SKY? • CAN YOU FIND AND NAME THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS IN THIS BOOK? • EVERYTHING ON EARTH IS POWERED BY THE SUN, EVEN YOU. CAN YOU FIGURE OUT HOW YOU ARE POWERED BY THE SUN? CAN YOU FIGURE OUT HOW A CAR, LIGHT BULB, OR RIVER RUNS ON THE SUN? • WHAT MAKES IT COLD IN THE WINTER AND WARM IN THE SUMMER? • ANIMALS AND PLANTS CHANGING OVER BILLIONS OF YEARS IS CALLED "EVOLUTION," IS LIFE STILL EVOLVING TODAY? ARE PEOPLE EVOLVING STILL? • WHERE DID THE FIRST CELL COME FROM?
