EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES - EPOCH 5

Molecular Models and the Origin of Life (PDF file format—requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Atoms in the universe share a fundamental architecture. Formed in the birth of stars since the Big Bang many billions of years ago, groups of atoms called molecules compose all of matter, including living things. Life's atomic structure is not fundamentally different. By creating models of organic and inorganic compounds students recognize that it is the number, type, and arrangement of atoms that gives each compound its unique set of physical and chemical properties. Life is merely the most splendid of all atomic creations.

 

 


 

Questions for discussion or short essays:

Students will find these exercises akin to a pre-test, largely evaluating one's understanding either based on prior knowledge or on the brief presentation in the Prologue. They are therefore meant to provoke critical thinking. Much more information regarding each of these questions will be developed in greater detail in the principal epochs of this Web site.

 

1. Try to come up with a characteristic special to living organisms. Compare it with stars, galaxies, computers, flames, and other types of non-living matter. Can they be seen to exhibit this characteristic in some general way? What limitations does your criteria for life place on possible extraterrestrial life, which may be radically different from life here on Earth?

 

 

 

2. Briefly explain how Louis Pasteur disproved the spontaneous generation theory of the origin of life.

 

 

 

3. When did the Earth form? When did the surface first solidify? How old are the oldest fossils?

 

 

 

4. What is the theory of chemical evolution? How long did it take for life to evolve from non-life on the early Earth? What are the steps needed in the evolution of life from non-life?

 

 

 

5. Are viruses alive? Give arguments for or against.

 

 

 

6. What are the two basic building blocks of life? How do they differ? Where are they generally found within living organisms?

 

 

 

7. Where in cells are proteins generally found? What are proteins made of? Where are nucleic acids usually found in a living cell, and what are they made of?

 

 

 

8. Explain briefly how proteins are manufactured in living cells.

 

 

 

9. What experimental evidence is there that complex organic molecules could have arisen naturally in the environment of the early Earth?

 

 

 

10. Is a proteinoid microsphere alive? Give arguments for and against.

 

 

 

11. Explain why the mere chance reactions between gases is not enough to create amino acids. What else needs to be added, and why?

 

 

 

12. How does the Miller experiment attempt to model the conditions on primordial Earth, and what criticisms might be made of these experiments?

 

 

 

13. What is the main feature that distinguishes the spontaneous generation of life from the chemical evolution of life? Explain.

 

 

 

14. If the building blocks of life formed naturally via the action of ultraviolet energy and simple gases, why don't we see these greasy organic materials floating on the surfaces of today's lakes, rivers, and oceans?

 

 


 

 

True or False:

1. True or False: Modern scientists have a good handle on how to define both matter and life. _____ Explain your answer.

 

 

 

2. True or False: Panspermania is the theory that life originated within the Earth's core. _____ Explain your answer.

 

 

 

3. True or False: Cells are the fundamental unit of life. _____ Explain your answer.

 

 

 

4. True or False: Oxygen was extremely important in helping the first complex organic chemicals to form on the Earth. ______ Explain your answer.

 

 


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