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A Big History of Everything – H2
A Big History of Everything – H2
Clip 0:00 – 8:20. Big History isn't just a great course, it's a TV series on H2. We're going to watch a few clips of the season finale over the course of Unit 1. This one sets the stage.
As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
Think about the following questions as you watch the video
What is so important about the placement of the Earth in relationship to the Sun?
Why is the Moon so important to our Earth?
What does Jupiter’s location do for the safety of the Earth?
What kind of timeline does Big History follow? In other words, how is Big History’s timeline different from the ones we usually see that are just a straight line?
What is a threshold moment?
: >> THIS IS THE EPIC STORY OF OUR
: WORLD...
: BUT IT'S NOT THE ONE WE'RE
: USED TO.
: IT'S THE STORY OF HOW WE ALMOST
: DIDN'T HAPPEN.
: WE TURN BACK TIME 4.5 BILLION
: YEARS...
: TO OUR SOLAR SYSTEM STILL
: FORMING AROUND THE SUN.
01.566: THIS PLANET IS EARLY EARTH.
06.433: IT'S AT A CRITICAL DISTANCE FROM
08.200: THE SUN.
17.633: IT IS IN THIS ZONE THAT LIQUID
20.000: WATER WILL BE ABLE TO EXIST.
23.300: ANY CLOSER AND OUR FUTURE CITIES
26.433: WOULD BURN AND OUR OCEANS BOIL.
30.466: ANY FURTHER OUT AND OUR FUTURE
33.433: FREEZES OVER.
40.666: EARTH'S LOCATION IS JUST ONE OF
43.166: MANY LUCKY BREAKS.
46.266: THE NEXT COMES IN THE FORM OF
49.033: COSMIC DISASTER.
59.133: A MASSIVE OBJECT THE SIZE OF
: MARS COLLIDES INTO EARLY EARTH.
: IF THE COLLISION WERE HEAD-ON,
: OUR PLANET WOULD HAVE SHATTERED.
: INSTEAD, THE DEBRIS FORMS OUR
: MOON.
: THE MOON IS A COUNTERBALANCE,
: STABILIZING EARTH'S ROTATION,
: WHICH WILL PREVENT CATASTROPHIC
: SWINGS IN CLIMATE.
: ANOTHER LUCKY BREAK.
: AS EARTH COOLS, THE HEAVIEST
: METALS SINK AND FORM A SPINNING
: CORE...
: SENDING A GIANT INVISIBLE FORCE
: FIELD AROUND THE PLANET,
: A MAGNETIC FIELD THAT WILL ONE
: DAY PROTECT US FROM DEADLY
: RADIATION...
: AND KEEP OUR ATMOSPHERE FROM
: BLOWING AWAY.
: BUT SINCE MOST HEAVY METALS SANK
: TO THE CORE, EARTH'S SURFACE IS
: DEVOID OF THE VITAL MATERIALS--
: THE IRON, TIN, LEAD, AND GOLD--
: THAT WE WILL ONE DAY NEED.
: THAT IS, UNTIL JUPITER AND
: SATURN STEP IN TO HELP.
: MILLIONS OF MILES AWAY, THESE
: MASSIVE PLANETS SHIFT IN THEIR
: ORBITS...
: SENDING BILLIONS OF METAL-RICH
: ASTEROIDS THROUGH SPACE...
: SHOWERING EARTH AND REPLENISHING
: OUR SUPPLY.
: THEN, ANOTHER LUCKY BREAK.
: JUPITER'S ORBIT STABILIZES, AND
: ITS MASSIVE GRAVITY BEGINS TO
: VACUUM UP MOST OF THE REMAINING
: ROCKS, KEEPING OUR FUTURE HOME
: SAFE.
: WITHOUT A GIANT NEIGHBOR LIKE
: JUPITER, EARTH WOULD STILL BE
: UNDER CONSTANT ASTEROID ATTACK.
: IF JUST A SINGLE ONE OF THESE
: THINGS HAD NOT HAPPENED IN
: PRECISELY THE RIGHT WAY, OUR
: STORY WOULD UNFOLD DIFFERENTLY,
: OR NOT BEGIN AT ALL.
: EARTH WOULD NOT HAVE
: THE MINERALS AND METALS,
: THE STABILITY...
: THE SEASONS TO SUPPORT THE
: AMAZING SAGA THAT IS TO COME.
: IN THIS SPECIAL PRESENTATION,
: WE'LL SEE THAT EVERYTHING IS
: CONNECTED.
: [plane flying overhead]
: >> YOU CAN'T LOOK AT THIS AS
: TINY, LITTLE REMOTE EVENTS.
: THESE ARE HUGE, COUPLED ASPECTS,
: EVENTS THAT THEMSELVES ARE PART
: OF A LARGER HISTORY.
: THEY ARE BIG HISTORY.
: >> WE THINK OF HISTORY AS A
: TIMELINE, A SERIES OF EVENTS
: STRETCHING A FEW THOUSAND YEARS
: INTO THE PAST.
: IT'S TIME TO THINK BIGGER.
: INSTEAD OF A LINE, IMAGINE A WEB
: OF INFINITE CONNECTIONS
: INTERACTING OVER BILLIONS OF
: YEARS, LINKED TOGETHER TO CREATE
: EVERYTHING WE'VE EVER KNOWN:
: OUR UNIVERSE, OUR PLANET, AND
: US.
: HISTORY AS WE KNOW IT IS ABOUT
: TO GET BIG.
: >> BIG HISTORY TAKES EVENTS ALL
: OVER THE COSMOS, ALL OVER THE
: SOLAR SYSTEM, ALL OVER OUR
: PLANET, AND CONNECTS THEM
: TOGETHER INTO A SEAMLESS WHOLE
: AND THEN CONNECTS THOSE EVENTS
: IN HUMAN HISTORY INTO THE
: CONTEXT OF THE PLANET, THE SOLAR
: SYSTEM, AND THE UNIVERSE.
: >> THE STORY WE JUST SAW, THE
: SERIES OF LUCKY BREAKS THAT LED
: TO THE FORMATION OF THE EARTH,
: IS WHAT BIG HISTORY CALLS A
: THRESHOLD MOMENT.
: >> THE IDEA IS BASICALLY THAT
: THE EARLY UNIVERSE, IN ALL SORTS
: OF WAYS, WAS REALLY QUITE
: SIMPLE--NO STARS, NO LIFE, NO
: PLANETS, AND THEN, GRADUALLY,
: OVER 13 BILLION YEARS, NEW
: THINGS APPEAR.
: AND THAT IDEA PROVIDES A GREAT
: SHAPE AND STRUCTURE AND A SORT
: OF PLOTLINE.
: WE FOCUS ON A NUMBER OF MOMENTS
: WHEN SOMETHING CRITICAL
: APPEARED, AND THAT'S WHAT WE
: MEAN BY THRESHOLD MOMENTS.
: >> IN THE STORY OF BIG HISTORY,
: THERE ARE A TOTAL OF EIGHT
: THRESHOLD MOMENTS, MOMENTS WHEN
: THE UNIVERSE CROSSES A LINE AND
: CAN NEVER TURN BACK.
: THE CREATION OF THE EARTH IS THE
: FOURTH THRESHOLD.
: WE'LL REVEAL THEM ALL AND
: UNCOVER THE SURPRISING SECRET