If a Year Were Just a Second By The Fifth Grade Scientists in Mr. Gibson’s Class

If a Year Were Just a Second… It is very hard for our minds to imagine very large numbers, whether it is distances or time or money. In our class, we have tried to think about long periods of time by s h r in k ing them down. In fact, we decided to shrink each year of history down to just 1 second. Take a look…

If a year were just a second, the whole world would be watching Neil Armstrong take the first step on the moon… 43 seconds ago! (1969)

If a year were just a second, the amazing “I Have a Dream ” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that brought us all together, would only be… So 47 Seconds ago!!! (1963)

If a year were just a second then 20,000,000 people died in a fiery war called World War II… 62 seconds ago (1941)

If a year were just a second, the chaos of World War I would come to a close… About 95 seconds ago 95 years ago in 1917

If a year were a second, the Kitty Hawk was successfully flown … 1 min. and 49 seconds ago (1903)

If a year were just a second, the end of the Civil War would have been… 2 ½ minutes ago (1865)

If a year were just one second, then our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence and said absolutely NO! You’re not going to take over our land or boss us around. They said this and signed on… 236 seconds ago about 4 minutes (July 4 th 1776)

If a year were just a second, John Smith would be building cabins at the first European settlement in Jamestown,Virginia... About 7 minutes ago (1607)

If one year were just one second, then Christopher Columbus discovered North America… about 8 minutes ago In 1492

If a year were a just a second, the Chinese would have invented gunpowder not for guns, but for beautiful lights that cover the night sky that are called fireworks… 18 minutes ago (about 900 A.D.)

If a year were just a second, the Anasazi were living in their adobe houses in the North American deserts minutes ago (about 1200 years ago)

If a year were just a second, ye King Arthur ruled our land, Knights (like me) fought hard, and jesters juggled… In year 500 A.D., 25 minutes ago

If a year were just a second, the Romans would be busy building roads and watching gladiators fight in their Coliseum approximately….. 42 minutes ago (About 800 B.C.E.)

If a year were just one second, the Egyptians invented writing… One and a half hours ago (5200 years ago)

If a year were just a second, farming was invented… About 2 hours and 45 minutes ago (Or about 10 thousand years ago.)

If a year was just a second, cavemen discovered fire for the first time and also used it for cooking, fighting and warmth… 8 days ago (700,000 years ago) 0

If a year were just one second, Woolly Mammoths would have crushed their first plants stepping into the territories of North America… 9.5 days ago (800,000 years ago)

If a year were just a second, cavemen made their first tool for hunting… A month ago. (2.6million years ago)

If a year were just a second, ours and chimps’ ancestors would still be alive 2 months ago (2 million years)

If a year were just a second, dinosaurs would just begin to become extinct… About 2 years ago (65 million years ago)

If a year were just a second, the first mammal walked on the damp soil of the earth… So 9 years ago (about 250 million years ago)

If a year were just a second, the first fish would be flopping around… 18 years ago (500,000,000 years ago)

If a year were just a second, the first evidence of life appeared on our planet About 120 years ago (about 4.6 billion years ago)

If a year were just a second… You could see planet earth form by gases of a dead star that exploded. About 145 year ago ( About 4.5 billion)

If a year were just one second, the Big bang (the explosion that created the universe)was just … 500 years ago (13-19 billion years ago)