The Archean Eon of Precambrian Time: Chapter Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should:

1. Appreciate the immense time span of the Archean Eon: 2 billion years, or almost half of Earth's entire history.
2. Know how we determine the approximate age of the planets and of the universe itself.
3. Be able to explain how our sun originated.
4. Understand how Earth and the other planets formed.
5. Be able to explain how the early Earth was differentiated into core, mantle, and crust.
6. Know how our moon formed.
7. Understand the basic characteristics of Earth's early atmosphere and oceans.
8. Be able to explain how the earliest continents formed and why they remained small until late in the Archean.
9. Know where most Archean sediments were deposited and where we find most Archean rocks today.
10. Know what organisms are represented by the earliest fossils.
11. Be able to explain Miller and Urey's landmark experiment.
12. Understand the processes that are thought to have produced the earliest life and where they occurred.