Death, Evolution, DNA and plate tectonics

Let me set the stage: One tired mom who has been studying almost all day. One kid very very awake.


I was rocking Violet to sleep last night and she said, "Why do people have to die?"
Mom: "Because our cells are programmed to die at a certain point. It's in our DNA."
Vi: "We should just go in an switch that so that people can live 100 years."
Mom: Some people do live for 100 years."
Vi: "Would we all die if like a big rock hit the Earth?"
Mom: "Like a meteor? Yeah, if a really big meteor it the Earth, we would all die. Like how the dinosaurs all died."
Vi: "But not a little meteor?"
Mom: "No, we wouldn't die if just a little meteor hit."
Vi: "When there were dinosaurs, there weren't any humans." (Long pause and thinking) "How did that happen? How did humans get here?"
Mom: "That is an excellent question. We came from other animals like primates. We used to be like the apes...gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees. Then, over millions and millions and millions of years, we changed into humans."
Vi: "Oh, like metamorphosis!!?"
Mom: "YES! it's like metamorphosis because we change, but it is called evolution. It means when one animal changes over a long long time. Do you remember about DNA? We share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees!!! That means we are almost exactly the same!!! Like they have 4 fingers and a thumb and we have 4 fingers and a thumb."
Vi: "No, we have 5 fingers."
Mom: "that's true."
Vi: "And they can climb trees and we can climb trees."
Mom: "But we lost all the hair on our bodies."
Vi: "How did our skin get white?"
Mom: "Excellent question. People think that all the pieces of the Earth used to be together and that we all started out in Africa. And then, there were Earthquakes and the Earth broke up into pieces and people went to different places on the Earth."
Vi: "Like the Earthquake in Haiti."
Mom: "Yes, that's how the Earth keeps changing and breaking up. We all used to have brown skin like Erickson and Love and we all came from Africa. Then, we lost our hair and some people's skin changed to all different colors."
Vi: "Mom, mom....
Mom: "It's time to go to sleep. I have to go study."
Vi: "No, I want to stay here and learn more." (She seriously said that!)
Mom: "OK, one more question."
Vi: "How do giraffes get long necks?"
Mom: "Well, over millions and millions of years, their necks got longer so they could reach the leaves on the trees."
Vi: Their necks started off short?
Mom: "I think they did."
Vi: Are they as tall as our house?
Mom: No. They are about as tall as 2 mommies.
Vi: 2 Mommies stacked up? on the deck?
Mom: "Not stacked up on the deck, just on the ground. If a giraffe was standing on the ground, we could stand on the deck and feed it. Now it's time for bed!"

I'll have to introduce Natural Selection later!! I wonder what this kid will turn out to be?