AP BIOLOGY
DIVERSITY OF LIFE
ACTIVITY #1
NAME_____________________
DATE____________HOUR____
ORIGIN OF L IFE
HISTORY OF L IFE
ONE HYPOTHESIS
CONDITIONS ON EARTH
Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 1
SCENARIO
ABIOTIC S YNTHESIS OF O RGANIC MONOMERS
OPARIN & H ALDANE
ABIOTIC S YNTHESIS OF POLYMERS
Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 2
M ILLER & UREY
FORMATION OF P ROTOBIONTS
ORIGIN OF HEREDITY
MAJOR L INEAGES OF LIFE
OLD
Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 3
NEW
QUESTIONS:
1.
How old is the Earth?
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How old are the oldest fossils?
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Why are these fossils NOT considered to represent the first life forms on Earth?
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2.
Describe the conditions of Earth at the time life began.
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3.
Listed below are descriptions or supporting evidence of the four proposed steps
in the chemical evolution that lead to the first cells. Identify each of the following
as true of steps 1, 2, 3, or 4.
______ Abiotic production of the 20 amino acids, sugars, lipids, p urine and
pyrimidine bases under controlled laboratory conditions
______ Abiotic synthesis of organic molecules
______ Abiotic synthesis of polymers
______ Aggregates of abiotically produced molecules that are able to maintain
an internal environment different from the external
______ Charged sites on clay and or iron pyrite held monomers together long
enough for a bond to form between the monomers
______ Energy from UV radiation, lightning, and heat catalyzed the formation of
organic monomers from inorganic compounds
______ Formation of protobionts
______ Miller & Urey experiment
______ Origin of genetic material
______ Polymers synthesized by dehydration synthesis
______ Produce polymers by dripping a solution with monomers on hot clay or
sand
Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 4
______ Production of coacervates, microspheres, and liposomes
______ Protenoid synthesis
______ Ribozymes
______ RNA abiotically synthesized
______ RNA formed first then DNA
4.
Why was the origin of genetic material important to the origin of life on Earth?
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5.
How can an RNA molecule have both a genotype and a phe notype?
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6.
How did the structure of RNA provide a mechanism for natural selection?
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7.
Match the term with the correct description or definition.
______ Before life
A.
Abiotic
______ Without life; inorganic
B.
Prebiotic
______ Abiotically synthesized proteins
C.
Protenoids
______ Aggregates of abiotically produced
molecules that maintain an internal
environment different from the external
D.
Protobionts
Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 5
8.
Define Panspermia.
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What evidence, if any, supports Panspermia?
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9.
RNA may not have been the first hereditary system to develop. Explain.
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10.
Where, according to the current hypothesis, did life begin on Earth?
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Why is this hypothesis being challenged?
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What alternative is being proposed as to where life began on Earth?
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Diversity of Life Activity #1 page 6