earth facts for kids
Earth Facts for Kids
Our planet Earth was formed more than 4.54 billion years ago and since then, tremendous amount of geological changes have occurred. Here, we will take a look at some interesting facts about our planet.
Did you know?
The radius of the Earth is greater at the equator than at the poles? This is because the Earth is not perfectly spherical, but an oblate spheroid.- The Earth is the third planet from the sun and it is the fifth largest planet in the solar system.
- The water bodies cover nearly 70% of the Earth's surface and the oceans are at least 4 kilometers deep.
- The Earth rotates around its own axis that tilts at around 23 ½ degrees. It is because of this angle of inclination of 23 ½ degrees that we have the four seasons.
- The Earth is spinning at the speed of 1670 kilometers per hour on its own axis.
- The planet Earth is around 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old and the oldest known living organism is less than 3.9 billion years old.
- The polar ice caps contains about 70% of the Earth's freshwater reserve.
- The Earth has a diameter of 12,756 kilometers.
- The volumetric mean radius of the Earth is 6371 kilometers. The volumetric mean radius is the distance from the center of the Earth to the surface.
- The interior of the Earth is composed of four layers, out of which one is liquid and the other three are solid.
- The most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust is aluminum.
- Earth is the only planet in the solar system that does not derive its name from Greek or Roman mythology.
- It is the only planet in the solar system that has plate tectonics. The tectonic plates are regions that are floating on top of the magma of the Earth and can move against each other.
- The Earth is not a perfect sphere but is slightly flattened at the north and south poles. Its shape can be described as an oblate spheroid and the Earth's rotation causes the central portion to bulge out.
- The internal temperature of the Earth i.e. the Earth's core is as high as 7500 Kelvin, which is hotter than the surface of the sun.
- The core of the Earth is surrounded by the mantle which has a thickness of 2900 kilometers.
- The Earth's molten iron core creates a magnetic field, that extends several kilometers from the surface of the Earth. The Earth itself is like a giant magnet with the magnetic poles near the actual north and south poles.
- The Earth's magnetic field which is called magnetosphere, is responsible for protecting us from the sun's solar wind, which would otherwise expose the Earth's surface with radiations.
- The Earth has only one natural satellite, the Moon and 2 co-orbital satellites called 3753 Cruithne and 2002 AA29.
- The Earth's atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other elements.
- The supercontinent, Pangaea formed about 270 million years ago. Due to the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates, Pangaea broke apart around 200 million years ago.
- By the end of the Permian period, 248 million years ago, 70% of all terrestrial vertebrate species and 96% of all marine species became extinct. It was the greatest mass extinction to be ever recorded in the history of the Earth.
- Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth and its peak is 8848 meters above sea level.
- Sahara desert that covers around one-third of the continent of Africa, is considered as the largest desert in the world. By definition, a region that receives less than 250mm rainfall is a desert. Thus, Antarctica becomes the world's largest desert.
- The Earth's atmosphere goes up to 10,000 kilometers from the surface of the Earth. Beyond this point any particle is free from the Earth's gravitational force and can escape into the space.
- The escape velocity of Earth i.e. the speed at which an object has to travel to break free from Earth's gravitational pull so as to escape into space is 11.2 km/sec.
- The average distance of the Earth from the sun is 149,597,870 kilometers.
- Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth as the Moon and Sun's gravitational pull acts on the water bodies.
- Of all the oceans on Earth, the Atlantic ocean is the saltiest ocean.
- Volcanic eruptions occur due to the movement of plate tectonics. When two plates diverge or converge, volcanic eruptions takes place.
- Because of the movement of plate tectonics, Hawaii is moving towards Japan at the speed of 10 cm a year.
- Due to gravitational effects, a person weighs slightly less when the moon is directly overhead.