By Sergio Blandon
Professor Alistair V. Moretti, a wise old scientist with gray hair and twinkling eyes, stepped into his grandson Leo’s classroom with a mysterious grin. Today, he had something incredible to share with Leo’s classmates—a story of adventure, mystery, and the Earth itself.
“Have you ever wondered why the Earth is so warm inside?” Professor Moretti asked, his voice full of excitement. “You see, the Earth’s core is like a giant oven. And, believe it or not, what keeps it from overheating might be something we all know very well: oil.”
The class gasped. Oil? Like the stuff in cars?
“Exactly! But oil is much more than just fuel for cars. It’s a substance that’s been hiding deep under the ground for millions of years. And guess what? I believe that oil was doing something very special down there. It was helping keep the Earth cool, like a secret built-in air conditioner!”
“For billions of years, Earth and its layers worked together like a well-oiled machine,” Professor Moretti continued, leaning forward as the kids watched, wide-eyed. “Oil wasn’t just sitting around—it helped cool things off down in the deep, dark underground.”
The students were hanging on his every word, their imaginations ignited. “But then,” he said, “something happened. We humans came along, and we started pulling that oil out faster and faster. We thought it was just fuel for our machines, but we didn’t realize it was part of what kept Earth steady.”
“Now, the Earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years. That’s an incredibly long time. But humans only started using oil a little over 100 years ago—a blink of an eye in Earth’s timeline! Imagine a tree growing for thousands of years and someone chopping it down in seconds. That’s how quickly we’ve changed things. It’s like the Earth’s cooling system has been turned off.”
One student raised her hand. “So, does this mean we’re hurting the Earth by taking out the oil?”
Professor Moretti nodded thoughtfully. “We might be. The Earth is strong, but even the strongest things need balance. Imagine your body without water or food—it wouldn’t work well, would it? That’s why we have to think carefully about what we take from Earth.”
Professor Moretti smiled at the class. “My job now is to share what I’ve learned. And who knows? Maybe some of you will find new ways to protect our planet. Earth has been our home for millions of years, and it can be for millions more if we take care of it.”
As the bell rang, the students left with a new appreciation for the planet beneath their feet. Leo grinned up at his grandpa, proud to have such a cool scientist in the family.