4.3 Origin of Life Quiz

Who conducted an experiment demonstrating that several organic compounds could be formed spontaneously by simulating the conditions of Earth's early atmosphere?

• Sidney W. Fox

• Alexander Oparin

• Louis Pasteur

• Stanley Miller and Harold Urey

What did Alexander Oparin propose as the raw materials for the evolution of life on Earth?

• Hydrogen and helium

• Carbon-based molecules

• Oxygen and nitrogen

• Water and carbon dioxide

What did Pasteur observe in the curved-neck flask after several weeks?

• The broth turned green

• The broth evaporated

• The broth remained unchanged

• The broth became cloudy

According to the Serial Endosymbiotic Theory (SET), what evolved from small, free-living, respiring bacteria?

• Flagella

• Chloroplasts

• Mitochondria

• Nucleus

What did Sidney Fox and Kaoru Harada synthesize in their experiment using inorganic molecules and thermal energy?

• Proteins

• Amino acids

• Nucleic acids

• Carbohydrates

What did the Miller-Urey experiment simulate by delivering an electric current into the gas-filled chamber?

• Volcanic eruption

• Lightning

• Tornado

• Earthquake

What did Margulis believe was the first organisms on Earth?

• Plants

• Microscopic droplets of water containing a few genes and enzymes

• Fungi

• Animals

What did the Miller-Urey experiment conclude life formed from?

• Inorganic molecules, water, and electrical charge

• Sunlight and water

• Volcanic activity and heat

• Carbon dioxide and oxygen

What did Sidney Fox create using proteinoids and water?

• Protocell

• Proteins

• Amino acids

• Nucleic acids

What did Oparin suggest might have formed in the Earth's primordial ocean and been subject to a selection process, eventually leading to life?

• Coacervates

• Volcanoes

• Tornadoes

• Earthquakes