1. Magnetic Earth A few years ago, I read a book by Clive Cussler entitled, “Polar Shift.” The story deals with a diabolical scientist who wants to send some form of energy into the Earth’s magnetic field that will speed along a shift of the poles of the planet. Dirk Pitt, of course, saves the planet, but it really got my mind racing. Since then, I have been amazed to discover that the fiction book is based on a very real event. The Earth’s magnetic field does shift, and when it does, troubles of many forms follow.

2. Magnetic Earth Planet Earth is the only place where ALL of the conditions necessary for life to exist occur. While most people know of the value of water, and oxygen, few know why these two key molecules are able to exist here in abundance.

3. Magnetic Earth Planet Earth is like a giant magnet, with a positively- charged North Pole and a negatively-charged South Pole. You will learn more about this in the movie. Now, the magnetic field allows current to flow down through the North Pole, out the South Pole, and then in sweeping arcs around the outside of the planet before plunging back into the North Pole.

4. Magnetic Earth You do not notice this magnetic field, but a compass does, and so do many animals that migrate north and south along the “lines” of this giant magnetic field. So, the magnetic field is good for navigating, whether you have a compass or whether you are an animal with an internal one.

5. Magnetic Earth The Sun, meanwhile, is a huge ball of seething energy, and billions of tons of particles are blown into space in all directions as a result of the violence that exists inside the Sun. These particles of energy and radiation shoot out of the Sun at a speed of 1.5 million km/hr, and do so in all directions all of the time.

6. Magnetic Earth Sometimes, the Sun erupts violently and a huge burst of material jets outward, as seen in the series of images to the right. These events are called “solar flares” and their power is almost unimaginable. The amount of matter shot outward in these images is greater than the entire mass of Mt. Everest.

7. Magnetic Earth Normally, the solar wind blows on the Earth’s magnetic field and pushes it toward the Earth on the “sunward” side, and pushes the magnetic field far away from the Earth on the shadowed side. While the flattening of the magnetic field nearest the Sun is significant, as long as the field holds together, the Earth is protected from the harmful energy of the Sun.

8. Magnetic Earth But if the Earth did not have a magnetic field, the energy of the solar wind would strip the Earth of all of its atmosphere as well as its water. The planet would go from a living world to a dead one.

9. Magnetic Earth This movie is actually one that the students have liked last year, and I hope you will learn from it. It deals with a very interesting phenomenon called a polar shift, which happens when the magnetic field of the planet shifts direction. The result is that the north pole becomes the south pole magnetically. The Sun experiences such polar shifts every 11 years on average. Based on geologic records, the Earth’s magnetic field shifts every 200,000 years on average.

10. Magnetic Earth While the shift of the Sun’s field is very quick, it appears that the shifting of the Earth’s magnetic field takes a lot longer, and that many years might pass when there is no magnetic field on the planet at all! The movie will try to explain all of this, and the dire consequences of a lengthy delay in reestablishing the magnetic field.

11. Magnetic Earth I have just a few questions for you to think about, and write down your thoughts on a sheet of paper. You can turn in one sheet for each planet reporting group, but please put the names of all of the group members on the paper. Here are the questions:

12. Magnetic Earth 1) Does anyone know how the Earth’s magnetic field started? 2) What is some of the evidence that we might be experiencing the beginning of a polar shift? 3) What do scientists think will happen when the poles do shift? 4) Since migratory birds fly along magnetic fields, where will they go? (this question is not addressed in the movie) 5) Why doesn’t Mars have water or air, when there is evidence it was there in the past? Thanks for your work while I have been away … and I will see you all tomorrow.