ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of life

Alright kiddo, let me take you on a journey through the history of life.

So, a long, long time ago, there was no life on Earth. There were just rocks, water, air, and some chemicals. But then, some really tiny things started happening in the water - these were called "cells". Cells are like tiny little factories that help make up living things. There were lots of different kinds of cells, and some of them could even make their own food!

Over time, these cells started joining together to form bigger and more complex things, like plants and animals. They also started changing and evolving, so they could better survive in the environment they were in. Some animals grew fins and became fish, and others grew legs and became land animals like dinosaurs.

But then, something really big happened - a huge rock from space crashed into the Earth, causing a massive explosion that wiped out most of the dinosaurs. This was really sad, but it also gave some animals a chance to evolve and become the ones we know and love today, like birds and mammals.

And that's just the start of the story! Over millions and millions of years, life continued to evolve and change, and new species came and went. Humans didn't even come along until really recently in the grand scheme of things - we've only been around for a tiny fraction of Earth's history.

So, that's the history of life in a nutshell. It all started with tiny cells in the water, and then evolved and changed over millions of years to become the amazing variety of plants and animals we see today. Cool, huh?