7. The article concludes:
Apart from its scientific use, the animation also resonates with people on a visceral level.
“It’s quite hypnotic,” said Dr. Pérez-Díaz said, “even to me, and I see them all the time.”
“A lot of people like dinosaurs and volcanoes and supercontinents and stuff like that,” said dr. Merdith said. “Maybe it’s a little childish joy.”
What is your reaction to the article and the new simulation of the last billion years of our planet’s history? What was the most surprising, most striking or most memorable? Does it fit your ‘childlike pleasure’? How does this change your thinking about the earth and our place in its history? Does it make you more interested in geology, plate tectonics and the earth? Why or why not?
Go on
Option 1: Study further.
What else do you want to know about plate tectonics, geology or the history of the Earth? What questions remain? If the continents of the earth, for example, are still drifting, will they ever collide? Why are there so many earthquakes in California and not in New York or Florida? Will we ever be able to predict them? How exactly are volcanoes formed?
A good place to start your research is The Times’ Earth or the Geological Survey pages of the United States, or start with the previous articles on plate tectonics and other deep earth discoveries:
The peel of the earth has burst and we are floating on the pieces
Beneath the Ice of Antarctica is a Dead Sea Cemetery
Continents divide at the same rate fingernails grow. And it’s fast.
The 40,000-mile volcano
Earth’s Hidden Ocean
The deadliest earthquake of 2018 was one of the fastest ever
What 50 years of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions look like
After researching, think about what you learned: how can you best explain the information to others? You can use information from the article or your own research to create a video, drawing, map, infographic or poster.
Another option? Use your questions and research as a basis for entering our second annual STEM writing contest, in which we challenge students to choose an issue or science, technology, engineering, math, or health, and then write an interesting 500-word explanation. . . The match runs until March 2, 2021.