Dylan Peterson

Digital Story A Brief History of Everything Script

The past few months of teaching Astronomy and Geology in Alaska helped me draw connections
in my understanding of the universe and our world within it. The laws that govern our planet are
the same throughout the universe. Let me show you what I mean with a brief history of
everything.
All the matter in existence roughly 14 billion years ago was extremely compressed into a single
entity that after experiencing such high pressure reacted by exploding and shooting all matter in
all directions called the big bang.
After all matter was shot out over the course of billions of years, the matter began to lose the
energy it acquired during the big bang. As matter lost energy it cooled, allowing for the
formation of the particles from photons that make up all the known atoms in the universe,
electrons, protons, and neutrons. These charged particles fused together to make hydrogen,
helium, and lithium, the three lightest elements.
As time continued on and matter continued to spread away these elements grouped together due
to gravity and began forming gas clouds that would turn into galaxies. Within these Galaxies,
tightly packed elements formed large stars that created enough pressure in their center that they
fused more charged particles together and in doing so, created all of the other elements we see
today. In time, these stars would run the course of their lifespan, condense, and shoot their own
matter out into space.
In a tiny portion of the Milky Way Galaxy our sun was formed through the collection of light
elements. Every bit of matter in the area began to get pulled towards the sun due to its
gravitational pull. Bits moving, rotating towards the sun would collide and join together to form
planets. And here is where Geology comes into the understanding of the history of everything.
As our planet was being formed it was a highly volatile climate with rocky material and heavy
elements remaining in liquid state as the convection heat of all the material was so hot solids
could not form. Heavier elements such as iron, nickel and lead gravitated towards the center of
the gravitational pull and began to form our planets core. Over time the surface was allowed to
cool and solidify, with lighter gaseous elements forming our atmosphere.
Fast forward to modern day. We experience earthquakes and volcanic eruptions all because of the
elements in the core of our planet remaining warm from the time they collected in our planets
center. The energy contained within the heat of our planet can be traced back to when these
elements were formed in another star, and even further back still to when all matter was in a
single point smaller than a ball point pen. Tectonic plates move over the mantle of our planet due
to convection cells. As these plates move, bump, and interact, oceanic plates which are composed
of more recently formed rock always submerge under continental plates because of their density.
Oceanic plates are formed from more direct input of magma cooling rapidly on earths surface,
so they tend to be composed of heavier elements such as iron and magnesium that would
otherwise be found intrusively. These plates subduct under lighter continental plates, and the

water trapped within the plate being dragged down rises after it reaches a certain temperature,
and forces the creation of volcanoes. These plates also slip and release tension through
earthquakes.
So there you have it, an example of how science is always interconnected and why our
earthquakes and volcanoes are a result of the big bang.