Lesson 15.

The Evolving Concept of

Life
Objectives enumerate theories
1 that explain how life
At the end emerged on Earth; and
of this
lesson, you explain how life formed
should be 2 and evolved.
able to:
 Learn about it!

Life Science
● This is a collection of
disciplines that is made
up of theories and
principles that tackle
living organisms.

A mangrove swamp has many

organisms in it
 Learn about it!

Characteristics of Organisms

• They respond to their environment.

• They grow and develop.
• They are capable of reproduction.
• They exhibit metabolism.
• They maintain homeostasis.
• They are made up of cells.
 Learn about it!

Response to Environment
● Living things respond to changes around them to survive.

Plants respond to changes in the environment

 Learn about it!

Growth and Development

● Growth is an increase in size, development is the differentiation
of cells for specialization.

Humans grow and develop from the womb.

 Learn about it!

Capable of Reproduction
● Reproduction refers to the creation of offspring.

Sperm and egg cell

 Learn about it!

Exhibit Metabolism
● Metabolism refers to the total chemical reactions in an organism.

Chemical structure of myoglobin

 Learn about it!

Maintain Homeostasis
● Homeostasis is the body’s state of equilibrium.

Huddling for warmth

 Learn about it!

Made of Cells
● All organisms are made of cells which are the basic units of life.

Blood cells
There are several theories as to how life on
Earth began.
 Learn about it!

Spontaneous Generation
● The theory of spontaneous
generation described that life
comes from lifeless or
nonliving material through a
mysterious process.

Spontaneous generation
 Learn about it!

Panspermia
● This states that life on Earth was seeded from a celestial
source.

A meteorite
 Learn about it!

Primordial Soup Theory

● According to this theory, life
started in a primordial soup
of organic molecules.

The primordial soup theory

Key Points

Life science is a collection of disciplines that tackle

1
living things.

2 An individual living creature is termed as an

organism.

All living organisms are capable of reproduction,

3 growth and development, adaptation, movement,
exhibiting metabolism, and maintaining homeostasis.
 Check Your Understanding

Using the Venn diagram below, compare the three

prevailing theories on the origin of life.
 Challenge Yourself

Do you agree with Louis

Pasteur’s experiment in
disproving spontaneous
generation theory? Why?
 Bibliography
Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin. 2003.The Origin of Life. Massachusetts: Courier Corporation.

Matthew S. Dodd, Dominic Papineau, Tor Grenne, John F. Slack, Martin Rittner, Franco Pirajno, Jonathan
O’Neil & Crispin T. S. Little. 2017. Evidence for early life in Earth’s oldest hydrothermal vent
precipitates. Nature: 543, pages 60–64.

Larry L. Hench. 2001. Science, Faith, and Ethics.Singapore: World Scientific.

Lisa A. Shiel. 2009. The Evolution Conspiracy, Vol 1: Exposing Life’s Inexplicable Origins and the Cult of
Darwin.Texas: Jacobsville Books.

Sandra Alters. 2000.Biology: Understanding Life. Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Shri Hemant Roy. 2005.Comprehensive MCQs in Biology.New Delhi: Golden Bells.

Rakesh Kumar Rastogi. 2007. Concepts of Biology XII. New Delhi: Rastogi Publications.
 Photo Credits

Slide 9: Smallhuddle.jpg by Blalonde, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
 Bibliography

Peter J. Russell, Paul E Hertz, and Beverly McMillan. 2016. Biology: The Dynamic Science, Boston:
Cengage Learning.

Jason P. Schrum, Ting F. Zhu, and Jack W. Szostak. 2010. The Origins of Cellular Life. Cold Spring Harbor
Perspectives Biology.