QUARTER 2 - EARTH & LIFE SCIENCE

Lesson 1 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT OF LIFE

The Origin: Looking back to understand the present Life is amazing!

When can we say that a certain material can be classified as a living matter or a living organism? This
issue of what's living and what's not, is important! It helps us to think about the origin of life. No one knows how
or when life first began in our planet. Scientists think that it is extremely likely that life began and was wiped
out. Possibly even more than once! If there was life, it would have been wiped out by different catastrophes that
happened. But this doesn’t stop scientists to dig more and deeper to find answers to how life began in our
planet.
Life on earth began more than 3.5 billion years ago, based on the fossils that were discovered. It is
believed that complex organisms evolved from the most basic of microbes through time.
In the previous modules you have already known that Earth already has water, atmosphere, and gases. It also
has rock formation, volcanic and tectonic activities. These and more are seen as possible factors to how life
possibly started in our planet.
Theories have been formed to consider about the origin of life. The evolutionists particularly Charles
Darwin talked more about the process of evolution to explain how life developed. According to him, there was
growth from simple to complex life forms. Aside from Darwin, other scientists also added theories that possibly
explain how life started. Where did life come from? How did life start? How was it formed?

Theories on the Origin of life

1. Special Creation Theory

This emphasizes that the source of all creation and all the different life forms is God according to the Holy Scriptures. It is
God who created the universe, planets, plants, animals, and human beings in about six days.

2. Spontaneous Generation Theory/ Abiogenesis

A hypothetical belief that living organisms develop from non-living matter. The supporters of this theory were Aristotle,
Epicurus and Von Helmont. It is believed that insects arise from dew, fly maggots from meat. This hypothesis persevered
into the seventeenth century, when researchers attempted extra experimentation to help or discredit it. During this time
cell theory has not been known yet.

In 1745, an English Scientist named John Needham revived the theory of Spontaneous Generation. In his experiment he
briefly boiled broth infused with plant or animal matter, hoping to kill all preexisting microbes. He then sealed the flasks.
After heating some broth, he let a flask cool and sit at a constant temperature. He argued that the new microbes must have
arisen spontaneously from air and may have entered the flask.

3. Biogenetic Theory/ Biogenesis

In 1858 German scientist, Rudolf Virchow challenged spontaneous generation with his concept of
biogenesis. Virchow presented his idea to the scientific community, but could not back it up with a convincing
experiment that living organisms arise from pre-existing life.
Animals and plants produced their own kind. Microorganisms like bacteria can give rise to many bacteria.
Experiments of Francisco Redi and later by Louis Pasteur disproved and refuted the theory of spontaneous
generation through numerous experimentations. Redi’s Experiment
Francesco Redi is an Italian Scientist who have observed the developmental forms of flies and was intrigued on
how could flies eventually emerge from the observed maggots. Thus, he performed an experiment, as presented
below.
It is in this time that biologist considered the organisms’ biological structures and composition as a scientific birth of RNA
World theory.

4. The RNA World theory

states that all life started from a complex RNA. It explains that existence on Earth started out with a simple RNA molecule
that has replicated itself without the presence of the different molecules.
What is RNA? RNA, or known as ribonucleic acid, is a complex compound of high molecular weight that functions
in cellular protein synthesis. RNA, is quite similar to DNA. However, DNA molecules are typically long and double stranded,
RNA molecules are much shorter and are typically single stranded. The central dogma of molecular biology states that the
primary role of RNA is to convert the information stored in DNA into proteins.
From possible biological structures of organisms, they believed of where could these organisms thrive, and can safely
and abundantly reproduce its own kind. Knowing that Earth in the early days has high temperature and active volcanic
activities, they thought that life existed first in water. Thus, the next theory, the Primordial Soup Theory was born.

5. Primordial Soup Theory

Most biologist believe that life begun in primordial seas. It was proposed by Alexander Oparin and John Haldane.
According to Alexander Oparin, a Russian biochemist the first
organisms were probably formed out of organic chemicals and processes that were much
simpler than those that exists today.
This theory explains how the catalysts for nonliving things became living cells from the chemical compounds
abundant on the early Earth. Early atmosphere contains nitrogen, methane, ammonia gases but little oxygen. It is believed
that energy from the sun has fueled the chemical reactions to form organic compounds. Examples are amino acids, proteins
and lipids to form the first cells which could have thrived in oceans.
In 1953, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey did an experiment to test Oparin and Haldane’s ideas. They found that
organic molecules could be spontaneously produced under reducing condition thought to resemble those of early Earth.
Miller and Urey recreated the primitive Earth as defined in Oparin-Halden principle through simulating the formation of
natural molecules in early Earth.
The figure below shows the Miller-Urey setup in testing the Oparin –Haldane ideas.

6. Submarine hydrothermal vent or Deep-Sea vent theory

It is believed that organisms or living cells might have been living in water and find their way from the submarine
hydrothermal vent or deep-sea vent, like geysers, or warm springs, or the ocean floor.
Seawater circulates deep in the ocean's crust and will become super-heated with the aid of using warm magma. Study
suggest that life may have originated from within these vents.
7. Beneath the Ice
The Pleistocene Epoch is typically defined as the time period that began about 2.6 million years ago and lasted until about
11,700 years ago. The most recent Ice Age occurred then, as glaciers covered huge parts of the planet Earth. The Beneath
the Ice theory proposed that organisms thrive underneath the ice which may have compounds that support life. Some
evidences indicate that ice may have protected the compounds, allowing them to interact and, thereby creating life.

8. Clay Theory
A theory developed by organic chemist Alexander Graham Cairns-Smith at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, stated
that the first molecules of life could have come together on clay. Cairns-Smith suggests that mineral crystals in clay could
have arranged organic molecules into organized patterns which formed or evolved into organisms.

9. Panspermia (Cosmozoic theory)

Therefore, life begins because of what is already present on Earth. But wait there’s more. Some people believed that life
must have come from outside the Earth. This is where the Panspermia (Cosmozoic theory) begun.
The theory was proposed by astronomer Fred Hoyle in the 19th century. In this theory it states that probably life emerged
from other planet and travelled through space to Earth.
One argument that supports the panspermia theory is the emergence of life soon after the heavy bombardment of cosmic
particles on earth, between 4 and 3.8 billion years ago. Bacterial spores could potentially account for life on earth which
might have been transported from space to Earth. But this hypothesis has many loopholes that needs to be studied further.
From these theories and experiments, a clearer view on how life probably started in our planet. It gives us a hint on what
truly exist during those times when Earth was still young and no humans yet survived. Then through these studies and
experimentation, its clearer how possibly life started.

Lesson 2: ORIGIN OF THE FIRST LIFE FORMS

Finding and identifying the signs of early cells tells us that recent species have descended from the same cell and
that this cell may have lived as early as 4 billion years ago. A chronological relationship that relates geological strata to time
is utilized by geologists, paleontologists, and scientists to explain the timing and relationships of activities which have taken
place all through earth’s history. Scientists evolved a manner to categorize and explain earth’s history using the
GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE.
The time scale become advanced thru studying and examining rock layers and relationships in addition to the
instances when specific organisms appeared, advanced, and have become extinct thru its fossilized marks and imprints. As
you can remember the geologic time scale is divided into eons, eras, periods, and epoch. Each phase is characterized by
organisms that flourished, lived, thrived, and became extinct.
Starting with the earliest lines of existence, the fossil file opens a window to the past and gives glimpses of the
evolution over billions of years. It was through the imprints on rocks and other material that scientist was given a clue on
what were the firsts organisms in our planet. Paleontologists defined it as any trace of living creatures such as a
recognizable structure or impression of a structure of an organism like skeleton, trails or fecal remains that are embedded
in a very old rocks which are at least 500 years old.
Within the rock formations lie evidences that can never hide the history of Earth billions of years ago. The layer of
rocks may contain different kinds of fossils that can be used to trace the living creatures that has lived during those times.
One method considered in establishing the age of materials include the technique known as radioactive dating. Through the
said techniques, scientists were able to trace back the age of fossils recovered and discovered even if it’s buried for millions
of years.

Based on the timeline presented above, the firsts evidence of life where the prokaryotes or the single celled
organisms that may have lived 3.5 billion years ago.
First on the List: Prokaryotes
The earliest life forms we know of were microscopic organisms (microbes) that left signals of their presence in
rocks about 3.7 billion years old. These 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. Evidence of microbes
was also preserved in the hard structures they made, which date to 3.5 billion years ago.
Fig.7 shows the imprints of stromatolites in ocean. Stromatolites are microbial reefs created by cyanobacteria (formerly
known as bluegreen algae). This stromatolite fossils are known to be 3.7 billion years old. These were collected in 2017 by
researchers from hydrothermal vent precipitates in Quebec, Canada.
Prokaryotes 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 to survive.
The cyanobacteria are the first photosynthetic organisms to form. The term cyanobacteria came from the Greek
kyanós, meaning “blue” and bacteria. They lack a membrane-bound nucleus and have microcompartments. 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.

Scientists found that certain cyanobacteria also display circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is when the biological
clock of living creatures manifest change as a respond primarily to the light and darkness in an organism’s environment.
Increased amount of atmospheric O2 may have brought the rise of other complex organisms. This resulted to more
photosynthetic organisms to survive.
The earliest cells were probably heterotrophs. Most likely they got their energy from other molecules in the
organic “soup.” Until, about 3 billion years ago, a new way of obtaining energy evolved. This new way was through
photosynthesis where organisms could use sunlight to make food from carbon dioxide and water. These organisms were
the first autotrophs. They provided food for themselves and for other organisms that began to consume them. After
photosynthesis evolved, oxygen started to accumulate in the atmosphere. This has been dubbed the “oxygen catastrophe.”
Why? Oxygen was toxic to most early prokaryotic cells because they had evolved in its absence. As a result, many of them
died, few survived, and some evolved to take advantage of the oxygen. This second major innovation was cellular
respiration. It allowed cells to use oxygen to obtain more energy from organic molecules.

Eukaryotes
The oldest eukaryotic body fossils are the multicellular algae, Grypania spiralis. Coiled Grypania are
found as thin films of carbon in the 2.1-billion-year-old Negaunee iron formation at the Empire Mine near
Ishpeming, Michigan. The fossil are coiled forms of marine life that, if unwound, would stretch up to 9 cm (3.54
inches). They are larger than bacteria and have internal membranes and thicker wall. These findings marked the
beginning of eukaryotic organisms on Earth. Like prokaryotic cells, all eukaryotic cells are surrounded by plasma
membranes and contain ribosomes. However, eukaryotic cells are much more complex and contain a nucleus, a
variety of cytoplasmic organelles, and a cytoskeleton. The hypothesis that eukaryotic cells evolved from a
symbiotic association of prokaryotes as shown in the illustration below explains how it happens.
Lesson 3. UNIFYING THEMES IN THE STUDY OF LIFE
Biological System
A system is defined as an organized group where all its parts are related and interact to form a whole.
A biosphere is composed of smaller units called ecosystems. An ecosystem of a particular place includes all living and non-
living life forms including the natural habitat. It can be small or large. Grassland, a multistoried apartment, supermarkets,
ocean (aquatic ecosystem), zoo, and forest are all examples of ecosystems we find around us.

Figure 2, shows that a group of organisms forms a population. A population forms a community which in turn
make up the ecosystem. A population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in the same area
while community is composed of all the populations of different species that live in the same area and interact
with one another.
Energy Transfer and Transformation
For us to sustain life and make each living organism alive, energy needs to flow through an ecosystem. Energy
from sunlight is converted to chemical energy in plants, which is then passed on to consumers - carnivores, herbivores, and
omnivores. All organisms must perform work, which requires energy. Chemical energy is converted to mechanical energy.
Moving, growing, reproducing, and other biochemical activities require energy. How do living organisms use energy?
 Energy is the ability to do work. The sun is our main source of energy. Plants, through photosynthesis, produce
sugar and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. The sun provides the energy for photosynthesis. Cells, in turn, utilize
sugar as a source of energy. Cellular respiration is the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is the principal
molecule for storing and transferring energy in cells.

predators are present. Carnivores are organisms that feed on another animals while omnivores feed on either plant or
animals. Another group of consumers are called scavengers, detritus feeders, and decomposers. Scavengers, such as
vultures, flies, crows, hyenas, and some species of sharks, beetles, and ants, feed on dead organisms. Detritus feeders live
off parts of dead organisms. Crabs, carpenter ants, termites, earth worms, and wood beetles are detritus feeders.
Decomposers on the other hand, which include bacteria and fungi, does the breakdown of organic materials from the
remains of the organisms. All these organisms play a vital role in the food chain. As one goes up the trophic level, what
happens to the amount of energy? The amount of energy gained decreases.

Metabolism
It is defined as the process by which our body converts what we intake like food and drinks into energy. It is a
biochemical process which combines all nutrients with oxygen to release the energy our body needs to be able to maintain
vital body functions such as the function of the brain, breathing, and heart rate. Metabolism is related to nutrition and the
existence of nutrients through which the cells can obtain energy.
Cellular processes such as building and breaking down complex molecules occur through stepwise chemical
reactions. Some of these chemical reactions are spontaneous and release energy; whereas others require energy to
proceed. Just as living things must continually consume food to replenish what they have used; cells must continually
obtain more energy to replenish the energy used in chemical reactions that constantly take place. All of the chemical
reactions that happen inside cells, including those that use and release energy, are the cell’s metabolism.
This energy gained by organisms is very important to keep the cell alive and healthy. What is a cell?

The Cell: An Organism’s Basic Unit of Structure and Function

Since our body is a system, its basic unit is the cell. The cell (from Latin cella, meaning "small room") is the basic
structural, functional, and biological unit of all known organisms.
Cells are the "building blocks of life". The activities of organisms are all based on the activities of cells. Eukaryotic
cells contain membrane-enclosed organelles, including a DNA-containing nucleus while prokaryotic cells lack such
organelles. Below is a tabular presentation of the comparison between a eukaryotic cell from a prokaryotic cell.

Cells reproduce, they undergo mitosis and meiosis. What is the difference between these two?
Evolution
The term evolution is defined as “a process of change” which means that there are changes from
generation to generation due to the inherited traits that are passed on from one offspring to another. One
manifestation of evolution is the physical appearance of organisms over a period of time. An organism may
evolve to better cope with the changes to be able to survive.

Adaptation
How do organisms adapt? Animals adapt certain traits from their parents that made them able to
survive. Adaptation is linked to how organisms changed over generations to better survive in the environment.
Figure 12 is an example on how the beak of birds changed over generations to be able to survive.

Biology and Society

The study of biology has answered a lot of human questions and has brought a lot of knowledge to how
we as individuals must deal with other organisms to be living in harmony. The study of these living organisms is
important to better understand the world we live in, how each one of us can affect other organisms and the
environment, and how we support other organisms for survival.