5 Times Life on Earth Almost Ended

What wiped out almost all life on Earth, not once but five times? In this science video for kids, we solve the 5 mass extinctions (the "Big Five") like detectives, learn the scientific name of each one, and find the cause behind every case. Can you guess which one was the biggest? (It wasn't the asteroid!) Take the 10-second challenge at 3:58. CHAPTERS 0:00 Five killers: can you name them? 0:15 How scientists name extinctions 0:28 Case 1: End-Ordovician (ice) 1:10 Case 2: Late Devonian (plants) 1:50 Case 3: End-Permian, the Great Dying (volcanoes) 2:36 Case 4: End-Triassic (cracking continents) 3:14 Case 5: End-Cretaceous (the asteroid) 3:58 Your turn: 10-second challenge 4:27 Case closed: all 5 suspects THE FIVE CASES End-Ordovician, about 444 million years ago. About 86 out of 100 kinds of living things lost. Cause: an ice age that made the seas shrink. Late Devonian, about 372 million years ago. About 75 out of 100 kinds lost. Cause (scientists are still debating): the first forests pulled carbon dioxide out of the air and cooled the planet, and mud washed into the sea took away its oxygen. End-Permian, "the Great Dying", about 252 million years ago. About 96 out of 100 kinds lost, the biggest of all. Cause: huge volcanoes in Siberia heated the planet and made the oceans sour. End-Triassic, about 201 million years ago. About 80 out of 100 kinds lost. Cause: lava pouring out as the supercontinent Pangaea cracked apart. The dinosaurs survived and took over. End-Cretaceous, about 66 million years ago. About 76 out of 100 kinds lost. Cause: the Chicxulub asteroid, about 10 km wide, which hit Mexico. Birds are the dinosaurs that survived! WHERE THE NAMES COME FROM Ordovician: the Ordovices, an ancient tribe in Wales · Devonian: Devon, England · Permian: Perm, Russia · Triassic: "three", for three layers of rock · Cretaceous: "creta", Latin for chalk FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS Made for curious kids aged 8 and up. Pause at 3:58 and let your child answer before the countdown ends. Notes: the numbers are scientists' best estimates of the share of species lost. The Late Devonian cause is still debated. At the end of the Cretaceous, huge volcanoes in India (the Deccan Traps) were also erupting; the video keeps the asteroid as the single suspect to keep it simple. Figures from Our World in Data (ourworldindata.org/mass-extinctions). #massextinction #scienceforkids #dinosaurs