You can count numbers all around you, from the eight legs on a spider to the one nose on your face. But can you count the stars in the sky or the fish in the Amazon? Find out all about PLANET EARTH in THE BIG COUNTDOWN, including types of rock and how they are formed, the longest river and smallest mountain, earthquakes and volcanoes, the water cycle and Earth's atmosphere and how we can really count the grains on sand on our planet.

The Big Countdown looks at popular topics and investigates the great many numbers that make them fascinating. From the mind-bogglingly large to smallest and most precious, this series helps us understand that it's not just our days that are numbered.

This book is part of a book series called The Big Countdown .

This book is aimed at children in primary school.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a reference book. This book was published 2016 by Hachette Children's Group .

Mark Ruffle studied graphic design and then worked as an art editor for Oxford University Press, before becoming a freelance illustrator and designer. When he's not drawing animals or spaceships, among other things, he enjoys walking his dogs and cycling in the Cotswolds, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. Since landing on planet Earth, Paul Rockett has spent much of his time reading up on the adventures of human life, while also experiencing a few of his own. In his quest to find out more about his chosen home planet, Paul has travelled, doodled, eaten a lot of food, plundered dusty libraries and gazed out of windows. Having gathered together a vast amount of fascinating data, it is now his mission to present as much as he can in interesting ways, so that any passing Martian can see how brilliant life is on Earth.

This book has the following chapters:

• 1: Counting down planet Earth
• 1: 200 tredecillion atoms in Earth's atmosphere
• 1: The Earth has a surface area of five hundred ten quintillion, seventy-two quadrillion mm(2)
• 1: Seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand on planet Earth
• 1: Hurricanes can release 2. 4 trillion gallons (9 trillion litres) of rain a day
• 1: Over seven billion people on planet Earth
• 1: 11, 030 metres down to the deepest part of the ocean
• 1: The longest river measures 6, 650 km
• 1: 1, 510 active volcanoes in the world
• 1: There are 16 tectonic plates
• 1: Smallest mountain is 148 metres high
• 1: Three types of rock
• 1: One core at the centre of the Earth
• 1: Big numbers and further information
• 1: Glossary
• 1: Index