ABBYGAIL DAVID

111-GLADIOLUS
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
2ND QUARTER WEEK 1

Learning Competencies
 Explain the evolving concept of life based on emerging pieces of evidence (S11/12LT-IIa-1)

Quarter 2/Week 1
Lesson: The Evolving Concept of Life

Brief Introduction
Earth is much older than life. Based on radioactive decay studies of rocks, it was revealed that Earth is
around 4.5 billion years old – 1 billion years older than the oldest fossils. So how did life begin? Where did it
come from?

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the learners should be able to:
1. Explain the evolving concept of life based on the emerging pieces of evidence

Let’s Recall
Read and answer the questions below.

1. In your own point of view, what is life?

Life is a journey of learning. Life is what you make of it. There is no destiny, there is no fate, or luck.
The purpose of life is just to live.
2. How do you think life started?
I know that life began at least 3.5 billion years ago, because that is the age of the oldest rocks with fossil
evidence of life on earth.

Let’s Understand

The Origin of Life

Nobody witnessed how life originated. However, there are possible explanations that attempt to provide
different possibilities on how life could have begun:
1. Theory of special creation – This theory states that living organisms were formed on our planet by
some supernatural power called God or Creator, so it believed in divine creation of life. These living
organisms were formed suddenly and out of nothing, thus created. This theory believes that there is no
inter-relationship between these organisms. In addition, living organisms have not undergone any
change since their formation (Life is immutable). This theory was proposed by Hebrew et. al. and was
very strongly supported by Father Suarez (1548-1671 A.D.). According to Christianity, the Bible states
that the creator formed all the living organisms about 4004 B.C. within six-natural days. According to
Hindu mythology, Brahma is the God of creation and created various forms of life in one stroke. Manu
and Shraddha were first man and woman on the earth. However, this idea has no scientific support. It is
further refuted by various evidences of evolution.

2. Cosmozoic or Panspermiatic theory – It was proposed by Richter (1865 A.D.) and was supported by
Arrhenius (1908 A.D.). It states that life came on the earth from some other planet in the form of seed or
spore called panspermia, so is also called spore theory. This theory proposes that life on earth did not
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actually originate on this planet. The theory believes that “protoplasm” reached the earth in the form of
spores or germs or other simple particles from some unknown part of the universe with the cosmic dust,
and subsequently evolved into various forms of life. Helmholz (1884) speculated that protoplasm in
some form reached the earth with falling meteorites.

3. Theory of Spontaneous Generation or ‘Abiogenesis’ - This theory states that life originated from
nonliving things in a spontaneous manner. This concept was held by early Greek philosophers like
Thales, Anaximander, Xanophanes, Empedocles, Plato, Aristotle, etc. In ancient Egypt, it was believed
that the mud of the Nile could give rise to frogs, toads, snakes, mice and even crocodiles when warmed
by the sun. Van Helmont (1577-1644) held that human sweat and wheat grains could give rise to
organisms. He placed a dirty shirt in a receptacle containing wheat bran and found that after 21 days the
gases from the shirt and wheat had formed living mice. These beliefs have no scientific grounds and
hence are discarded. According to Epicuris (342-271.B.C). Worms were produced from manure by the
action of warmth of sun and air. Anaxagoras (510-428 B.C) thought that life come in tiny seeds
(spermia) with the rainwater to fruitify the earth. According to Aristotle (384-322 B.C) living creatures
are born from like species no doubt, but they also arise spontaneously.

4. Biogenesis Theory – The biogenesis theory claims that all living things arise from living things. This
theory is completely opposite to the spontaneous generation theory. The law of biogenesis, attributed to
Louis Pasteur, is the observation that living things come only from other living things, by reproduction
(e.g. a spider lays eggs, which develop into spiders). That is, life does not arise from non-living material,
which was the position held by spontaneous generation. The biogenesis theory is summarized in the
phrase omne vivum ex vivo, Latin for "all life from life."
5. Oparin-Haldane Hypothesis - The Oparin-Haldane hypothesis suggests that life arose gradually from
inorganic molecules, with “building blocks” like amino acids forming first and then combining to make
complex polymers. In addition, according to their theory, life evolved in the oceans during a period
when the atmosphere was reducing - containing H2, H2O, NH3, CH4, and CO2, but no free O2.

The Urey-Muller Experiment

The Miller-Urey experiment provided the first evidence that organic molecules needed for life could be
formed from inorganic components.
Stanley L. Muller and Harold C. Urey performed an experiment to describe the origin of life on earth. They
were of the idea that the early earth’s atmosphere was able to produce amino acids from inorganic matter. The
two biologists made use of methane, water, hydrogen, and ammonia which they considered were found in the
early earth’s atmosphere. The chemicals were sealed inside sterile glass tubes and flasks connected together in a
loop and circulated inside the apparatus.
One flask is half-filled with water and the other flask contains a pair of electrodes. The water vapor was
heated and the vapor released was added to the chemical mixture. The released gases circulated around the
apparatus imitating the earth’s atmosphere. The water in the flask represents the water on the earth’s surface and
the water vapor is just like the water evaporating from lakes, and seas. The electrodes were used to spark the
fire to imitate lightning and storm through water vapor.
The vapors were cooled and the water condensed. This condensed water trickles back into the first water
flask in a continuous cycle. Miller and Urey examined the cooled water after a week and observed that 10-15%
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of the carbon was in the form of organic compounds. 2% of carbon had formed 13 amino acids. Yet, the Miller
and Urey experiments were condemned by their fellow scientists.

Early Life Forms

The first form of life is believed to have appeared some 3.5 billion years ago. The first evidence of life is
found in microfossils.
Microfossils are fossils that contain the remains of tiny plants and animals. They are very small and can
be measured in millimeters, and some could only be identified under a microscope. Some of the remains of
organisms do not have a nucleus so they were called prokaryotes. They are known to be the earliest forms of
life. They have survived the extreme conditions of the early environment. They started to make their own food
by utilizing the energy from the sun and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These are the photosynthetic
organisms. The process of photosynthesis produced more oxygen that changed the Earth’s early atmosphere.
This change in the atmosphere allowed oxygen-breathing organisms to exist.
The cyanobacteria are the first photosynthetic organisms to form. Their microfossils are among the
easiest to recognize. Their morphology remained the same and they left chemical fossils in the form of broken
products from pigments. The first microfossil that showed remains of organisms with differences in structure
from the simple form of life was seen in rocks about 1.5 billion years old. They are larger than bacteria and
have internal membranes and thicker wall. These findings marked the beginning of eukaryotic organisms on
Earth.
Evolution of Multicellular Organisms
Multicellular organisms are believed to have evolved from unicellular eukaryotes. Some single
eukaryotic cells, like unicellular algae, formed multicellular aggregates through association with another cell
producing colonies. From colonial aggregates, the organisms evolved to form multicellular organisms through
cell specialization.
Protozoans, sponges, and fungi came to being. The first fossilized animals which were discovered 580
million years ago were soft-bodied. The continuous process of cell specialization brought the emergence of
complex and diverse plants and animals, including human beings. Evidence from fossil layers proved that
different forms of life were present and have evolved through time. According to Charles Darwin, organisms
change over time as a result of adaptation to their environment in order to survive.
Let’s Apply
Choose one theory on the origin of life that you believe to be the one that truly explains how life started. Then,
briefly justify why you chose that theory. Write your short answer below.
I choose this because I believe in God that he created our world, man, and gave us life.
Let’s Try
Identify what is being described in each statement below. Choose your answer from the table. Write the letter
only.
A. Oparin-Haldane C. Theory of Special D. Miller-Urey
B. panspermia
hypothesis Creation experiment
E. Microfossils F. omne vivum G. prokaryotes H. Theory of
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ex vivo Abiogenesis
K. Cosmozoic or
I. eukaryotes J. protozoans L. cyanobacteria
Panspermiatic Theory
B 1. “Seed or spore”
F 2. All life from life
L 3. The first photosynthetic organisms to form
E 4. Fossils that contain the remains of tiny plants and animals
C 5. Believes that everything is created by a supernatural being
K 6. States that life on earth did not actually originate on this planet
F 7. Some remains of organisms that do not have a nucleus are called
H 8. States that life originated from nonliving things in a spontaneous manner.
D 9. States that life evolved in the oceans during a period when the atmosphere was reducing
D 10. First evidence that organic molecules needed for life could be formed from inorganic components
Let’s Create
Group yourself into 5. Choose one theory on the origin of life and create a poster of it or a one slide
presentation. The poster should be attractive and should contain important information about the theory you
have chosen. The poster should have the following details:
a. Theory:
b. Proponent/s:
c. Leading questions (based on the topic, pose very important question/s; it should be appealing to
audience such that they would be encouraged to read through); (e.g. When did the first life forms
emerged? Does life come from life or nonlife? Explain how the proponent proved the theory
d. Content/details of the theory
e. References/sources of the information provided in the poster
You may use Google slides so that you can collaborate in creating your poster. The following rubric will be
used to rate your work.

References
https://www.slideshare.net/badshah77/special-creation-theory
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https://byjus.com/biology/miller-urey-experiment/
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/ap-biology/natural-selection/origins-of-life-on-earth/a/hypotheses-about-
the-origins-of-life#:~:text=The%20Miller%2DUrey%20experiment%20provided,life%20was%20self
%2Dreplicating%20RNA.&text=Simple%20organic%20compounds%20might%20have%20come%20to
%20early%20Earth%20on%20meteorites.