The Origins of Life

What is the most favored candidate for the cradle of life?

• Lost City on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

• Black smokers on the ocean floor

• Hydrothermal vents close to the surface of the ocean

• Volcanic areas on land

Why is it unlikely that the first organisms were photosynthesizers, living close to the ocean's surface or on land?

• The UV radiation was too weak

• The UV radiation was too strong

• There was not enough chemical mixing

• There were too many predators in those regions

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS4-5

The Miller-Urey experiment of 1953 was designed to test the hypothesis that lightning supplied the energy needed to turn atmospheric gases into organic molecules such as amino acids. Which of the following describes why the Miller-Urey theory is widely accepted today?

• Amino acids spontaneously form from molecules in the atmosphere today.

• Organic molecules are present today in extremely high concentrations.

• The process of synthesizing organic molecules from a mixture of gases has been successfully modeled in the laboratory. 

• No other alternative hypotheses have been introduced.

These scientists proved that organic molecules formed from inorganic molecules present in the Earth’s early atmosphere when given energy from lightening.

• Lennon and McCartney

• Einstein and Newton

• Watson and Crick

• Miller and Urey

One of the accepted scientific theories describing the origin of life on Earth is known as chemical evolution. According to this theory, which of the following events would need to occur first for life to evolve?

• onset of photosynthesis

• origin of genetic material

• Synthesis of organic molecules

• formation of the plasma membrane

Which types of organisms developed first due to the early environmental conditions on Earth?

• prokaryotic and aerobic

• prokaryotic and anaerobic

• eukaryotic and aerobic

• eukaryotic and anaerobic

Which of the following was presumably absent from Earth Early atmosphere based on the conditions present at the time?

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

• Methane (CH4)

• Oxygen (O2)

• Water(H2O)

• Cyanide (CN-)

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-6

Which of the following explains why cells that contained mitochondria-like organelles had an evolutionary advantage?

• They were able to photosynthesize

• They had more DNA

• They were able to make more use of available energy

• They were immune to bacterial invasion.

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS1-7

NGSS.HS-LS2-3

What is the most favored candidate for the cradle of life?

• Lost City on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

• Black smokers on the ocean floor

• Hydrothermal vents close to the surface of the ocean

• Volcanic areas on land

Why is it unlikely that the first organisms were photosynthesizers, living close to the ocean's surface or on land?

• The UV radiation was too weak

• The UV radiation was too strong

• There was not enough chemical mixing

• There were too many predators in those regions