Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
Worksheet in Earth and Life Science

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Quarter 2 Week 1
How Life Came to Be
Learning Competency:
Explain the evolving concept of life based on emerging pieces of evidence (S11/12LT-IIa-1).

Activity 1
Your mother bought some meat from the market one day. She placed the meat in a pan but forgot to place it in the freezer. After
some time, maggots were seen crawling from the meat. What can you say about these outcomes? What does this imply about how
life started? With this observation, do you think it is safe to leave our food uncovered? Write your 5-sentence answer in a separate
sheet of paper.

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Activity No. 2 Investigative Diaries

New evidence emerges on the origins of life

Date:
June 1, 2015
Source:
University of North Carolina Health Care

Summary:
New research shows that the close linkage between the physical properties of amino acids, the genetic code, and protein folding
was likely the key factor in the evolution from building blocks to organisms when Earth's first life was emerging from the
primordial soup.
In the beginning, there were simple chemicals. And they produced amino acids that eventually became the proteins necessary to
create single cells. And the single cells became plants and animals. Recent research is revealing how the primordial soup created
the amino acid building blocks, and there is widespread scientific consensus on the evolution from the first cell into plants and
animals. But it's still a mystery how the building blocks were first assembled into the proteins that formed the machinery of all
cells.
Now, two long-time University of North Carolina scientists -- Richard Wolfenden, PhD, and Charles Carter, PhD -- have shed
new light on the transition from building blocks into life some 4 billion years ago.
"Our work shows that the close linkage between the physical properties of amino acids, the genetic code, and protein folding was
likely essential from the beginning, long before large, sophisticated molecules arrived on the scene," said Carter, professor of
biochemistry and biophysics at the UNC School of Medicine. "This close interaction was likely the key factor in the evolution
from building blocks to organisms."
Their findings, published in companion papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, fly in the face of the
problematic "RNA world" theory, which posits that RNA -- the molecule that today plays roles in coding, regulating, and
expressing genes -- elevated itself from the primordial soup of amino acids and cosmic chemicals to give rise first to short proteins
called peptides and then to single-celled organisms.
Wolfenden and Carter argue that RNA did not work alone; in fact, it was no more likely that RNA catalyzed peptide formation
than it was for peptides to catalyze RNA formation.
The finding adds a new layer to the story of how life evolved billions of years ago.
Its name was LUCA
The scientific community recognizes that 3.6 billion years ago there existed the last universal common ancestor, or LUCA, of all
living things presently on Earth. It was likely a single-cell organism. It had a few hundred genes. It already had complete
blueprints for DNA replication, protein synthesis, and RNA transcription. It had all the basic components -- such as lipids -- that
modern organisms have. From LUCA forward, it's relatively easy to see how life as we know it evolved.
Before 3.6 billion years, however, there is no hard evidence about how LUCA arose from a boiling caldron of chemicals that
formed on Earth after the creation of the planet about 4.6 billion years ago. Those chemicals reacted to form amino acids, which
remain the building blocks of proteins in our own cells today.
"We know a lot about LUCA and we are beginning to learn about the chemistry that produced building blocks like amino acids,
but between the two there is a desert of knowledge," Carter said. "We haven't even known how to explore it."
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
The UNC research represents an outpost in that desert.
"Dr. Wolfenden established physical properties of the twenty amino acids, and we have found a link between those properties and
the genetic code," Carter said. "That link suggests to us that there was a second, earlier code that made possible the peptide-RNA
interactions necessary to launch a selection process that we can envision creating the first life on Earth."

Thus, Carter said, RNA did not have to invent itself from the primordial soup. Instead, even before there were cells, it seems more
likely that there were interactions between amino acids and nucleotides that led to the co-creation of proteins and RNA.
Complexity from simplicity
Proteins must fold in specific ways to function properly. The first PNAS paper, led by Wolfenden, shows that both the polarities
of the twenty amino acids (how they distribute between water and oil) and their sizes help explain the complex process of protein
folding -- when a chain of connected amino acids arranges itself to form a particular 3-dimensional structure that has a specific
biological function.
"Our experiments show how the polarities of amino acids change consistently across a wide range of temperatures in ways that
would not disrupt the basic relationships between genetic coding and protein folding," said Wolfenden, Alumni Distinguished
Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics. This was important to establish because when life was first forming on Earth,
temperatures were hot, probably much hotter than they are now or when the first plants and animals were established.
A series of biochemical experiments with amino acids conducted in Wolfenden's lab showed that two properties -- the sizes as
well as the polarities of amino acids -- were necessary and sufficient to explain how the amino acids behaved in folded proteins
and that these relationships also held at the higher temperatures of Earth 4 billion years ago.
The second PNAS paper, led by Carter, delves into how enzymes called aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases recognized transfer
ribonucleic acid, or tRNA. Those enzymes translate the genetic code.
"Think of tRNA as an adapter," Carter said. "One end of the adapter carries a particular amino acid; the other end reads the
genetic blueprint for that amino acid in messenger RNA. Each synthetase matches one of the twenty amino acids with its own
adapter so that the genetic blueprint in messenger RNA faithfully makes the correct protein every time."
Carter's analysis shows that the two different ends of the L-shaped tRNA molecule contained independent codes or rules that
specify which amino acid to select. The end of tRNA that carried the amino acid sorted amino acids specifically according to size.
The other end of the L-shaped tRNA molecule is called the tRNA anticodon. It reads codons, which are sequences of three RNA
nucleotides in genetic messages that select amino acids according to polarity.
Wolfenden and Carter's findings imply that the relationships between tRNA and the physical properties of the amino acids -- their
sizes and polarities -- were crucial during the Earth's primordial era. In light of Carter's previous work with very small active cores
of tRNA synthetases called Urzymes, it now seems likely that selection by size preceded selection according to polarity. This
ordered selection meant that the earliest proteins did not necessarily fold into unique shapes, and that their unique structures
evolved later.
Carter said, "Translating the genetic code is the nexus connecting pre-biotic chemistry to biology."
He and Wolfenden believe that the intermediate stage of genetic coding can help resolve two paradoxes: how complexity arose
from simplicity, and how life divided the labor between two very different kinds of polymers: proteins and nucleic acids.
"The fact that genetic coding developed in two successive stages -- the first of which was relatively simple -- may be one reason
why life was able to emerge while the earth was still quite young," Wolfenden noted.
An earlier code, which enabled the earliest coded peptides to bind RNA, may have furnished a decisive selective advantage. And
this primitive system could then undergo a natural selection process, thereby launching a new and more biological form of
evolution.
"The collaboration between RNA and peptides was likely necessary for the spontaneous emergence of complexity," Carter added.
"In our view, it was a peptide-RNA world, not an RNA-only world."
The National Institutes of Health funded this work. Dr. Wolfenden holds a joint appointment in the department of chemistry in the
College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Guide Questions:
Answer the following questions in 1-2 sentences only. (5 points each)
1. From the article that you have read, what was the new evidence that emerged about the origin of life?
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2. Which among the theories and hypotheses discussed (Theory of Special Creation, Biogenesis Theory, Abiogenesis Theory, etc.)
is the “new evidence” most related to?
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3. How did life start according to the older member of your family or community? Are there scientific evidences about their story?
Why or why not ?
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
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Quarter 2 Week 2

UNIFYING THEMES IN THE STUDY OF LIFE

Learning Competency:
Describe how unifying themes (e.g., structure and function, evolution, and ecosystems) in the study of life show the connections
among living things and how they interact with each other and with their environment (S11/12LT-lla-3)

The youth are considered as the hope of the fatherland as claimed by Dr. Jose Rizal. As an empowered youth, how will you use
your voice to influence others in preserving and conserving the living and non-living things in an aquatic and marine ecosystem?
Answer in 5 sentences.

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Quarter 2 Week 3

HOW ANIMALS REPRODUCE

Learning Competency:
Describe the different ways of how representative animals reproduce (S11/12LT-IIej-15).
Time allotment: one week

Activity 1. Concept map

Complete the concept map below.

Asexual Reproduction Animal Reproduction Internal Fertilization Sexual Reproduction Budding

Parthenogenesis External Fertilization Fission Fragmentation
Regeneration

Activity 2

As a student and an advocate in animal conservation and preservation. How can you better protect and conserve the animal
species in your own locality by applying your knowledge in different modes of animal reproduction. Write your 5-sentence
answer in a separate sheet of paper.
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
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Quarter 2 Week 4a
RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNOLOGY
Learning Competency:
1. Describe the process of genetic engineering (S11/12LT-IIej-17)
1.1. Define recombinant DNA or genetic engineering;
1.2. Give a description of how recombinant DNA is created ;
1.3. Explain how recombinant DNA is and can be used.

Activity 1: AT THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT TIME

Direction:
Sort the following statements into the correct order to describe how human insulin is produced.
Put number (1-7)
________ DNA is taken from a human cell.
________ A restriction enzyme is used to cut out the gene for insulin from the DNA.
________The same restriction enzyme is used to cut a section of DNA from the plasmid.
________An enzyme is then used to cut the plasmid (DNA) ring out of a bacterial cell.
________The plasmid with the insulin gene is inserted back into the bacteria.
________The bacteria are left to divide and reproduce.
________The insulin can be removed and purified and used by people with diabetes.
Activity 2

Write 5-sentence answer in a separate sheet of paper analyzing the importance of genetic engineering or rDNA Technology in
vaccine development and QR code development for contact tracing to fight Covid-19.

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Quarter 2 Week 4b
Benefits and Risks of Using Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Learning Competency:
- Evaluate the benefits and risks of using GMOs (S11/12LT-IIej-19)

Activity No.1- Reading Comprehension

Read the selection carefully and answer the questions that follow in 2-3 sentences. Write your answer on a separate sheet of
paper.

Unintended Impacts on Other Species: The Bt Corn Controversy

Excerpt from the article: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and Recombinant DNA Technology
By: Theresa Phillips, Ph.D. (Write Science Right) © 2008 Nature Education
One example of public debate over the use of a genetically modified plant involves the case of Bt corn. Bt corn expresses a protein
from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. Prior to construction of the recombinant corn, the protein had long been known to be
toxic to a number of pestiferous insects, including the monarch caterpillar, and it had been successfully used as an
environmentally friendly insecticide for several years. The benefit of the expression of this protein by corn plants is a reduction in
the amount of insecticide that farmers must apply to their crops. Unfortunately, seeds containing genes for recombinant proteins
can cause unintentional spread of recombinant genes or exposure of non-target organisms to new toxic compounds in the
environment.
The now-famous Bt corn controversy started with a laboratory study by Losey et al. (1999) in which the mortality of monarch
larvae was reportedly higher when fed with milkweed (their natural food supply) covered in pollen from transgenic corn than
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
when fed milkweed covered with pollen from regular corn. The report by Losey et al. was followed by another publication (Jesse
& Obrycki, 2000) suggesting that natural levels of Bt corn pollen in the field were harmful to monarchs.
Debate ensued when scientists from other laboratories disputed the study, citing the extremely high concentration of pollen used
in the laboratory study as unrealistic, and concluding that migratory patterns of monarchs do not place them in the vicinity of corn
during the time it sheds pollen. For the next two years, six teams of researchers from government, academia, and industry
investigated the issue and concluded that the risk of Bt corn to monarchs was "very low" (Sears et al., 2001), providing the basis
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve Bt corn for an additional seven years.

Guide Questions:
Q1. What are the benefits and risks of using GMOs specifically the BT corn as mentioned in the selection?
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Q2. Knowing the benefits and risks of the use of BT corn in the selection, what do you think are the impacts of this GMO in the
Philippine industry?
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Q3. If you were a farmer, would you choose to plant BT corn in your farmland after knowing the benefits and possible threats of
the GMO to biodiversity? Why or Why not?

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Quarter 2 Week 5a
ORGAN SYSTEMS
Learning Competency:
Describe the general and unique characteristics of the different organ systems in representative animals (S11/12LT-IIIaj-21).

Activity 1. Organ Systems of Different Animals

You are going to describe the unique characteristics of the different organ systems of the representative animals by giving brief
descriptions to complete the table below. Do not answer the shaded part of the table.
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL

Week 5b
FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF THE ORGAN SYSTEMS
Learning Competency:
- Analyze and appreciate the functional relationships of the different organ systems in ensuring animal survival (MELC
S11/12LT-IIIaj- 22)
- Time Allotted: 2 hours

Activity 2: RELATIONSHIP GOALS

Objective: Connect the relationship of one organ system to other organ systems.
Guide Questions:
Directions: Write your answers in three sentences only.
1. What will happen to the Endocrine System if the Nervous is not working well?
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2. What do the Digestive, Respiratory and Circulatory Systems have in common? Why?
 Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
Caraga Region
Division of Surigao del Sur
District of Lanuza
AGSAM INTEGRATED SCHOOL
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3. What systems of your body would be activated if you were surprised? Why?

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Week 6

Guide Questions
1. Do similar characteristics mean similar ancestry? Why? (2-3 Sentences)
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2. Why do you think organisms develop traits/characteristics different from another? (2-3 Sentences)
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3. Explain how classification of organisms important in understanding evolution. (2-3 Sentences)
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