EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET

Introduction to Life Science
Learning Competency:

Explain the evolving concept of life based on emerging pieces of evidence.

(S11/12LT-IIa-1)

Background Information for the Learners (BIL)

Life is usually easy to recognize, but it is often
much harder to define it. Life is believed to have existed
on earth for billions of years now. Scientists do not know
exactly when did life begin on Earth. However, they are
able to trace how life developed and evolved using some
pieces of evidence.
Image Credit: freepik.com

The Origin of Life

There are many theories about the origin of life. Some believed that
living organisms were put to Earth by some divine forces. Others say that
life did not originate from Earth but from other planets. But among
scientists, the most accepted theory is that life came from inanimate
matter.

Alexander Ivanovich Oparin, a Soviet biochemist was notable for his

theories about the origin of life and also for his book The Origin of Life. He
also studied the biochemistry of material processing by plants and
enzyme reactions in plant cell. Another scientist, John Scott Haldane, a
physiologist is famous for intrepid self- experimentation which led to many
important discoveries about human body and the nature of gases. Later,
they both came up with the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis which suggested
that if the primitive atmosphere was reducing (as opposed to oxygen-
rich), and if there was an appropriate supply of energy, such as lightning
or ultraviolet light, then a wide range of organic compounds might be
synthesized.
 Oparin (1924) Haldane (1929)
Hypothesized that: Hypothesized that:

 The Earth’s atmosphere was  The early stages of Earth’s

extremely reducing in its atmosphere was reducing,
early stages of development. which could catalyze
 This means that the reactions that would form
atmosphere more complicated organic
had an excess of negative molecules from simpler
charge
 and could cause reducing molecules.
reactions by adding electrons  The oceans served as a huge
to compounds. cooking pot where, powered
 These organic compounds by the sun or lightning,
could have undergone a series chemical reactions could
of reactions leading to more occur in an aqueous
and more complex molecules. environment to form a huge
 Organic molecules could diversity of organic
have formed from simple compounds.
inorganic molecules.  The primordial sea served as
 These molecules formed a vast chemical laboratory
colloid aggregates, or powered by solar energy.
‘coacervates,’ in an aqueous  The atmosphere was oxygen
environment. free, and the combination of
 These coacervates were able carbon dioxide, ammonia
to absorb and assimilate and ultraviolet radiation gave
organic compounds from the rise to a host of organic
environment in a way compounds;
reminiscent of metabolism  The sea became a ‘hot dilute
 They would have taken part soup’ containing large
in evolutionary populations of organic
monomers and polymers.
processes, eventually leading  Groups of monomers and
to the first lifeforms. polymers acquired lipid
membranes, and that further
developments eventually
led to
the first living cells

Artist’s depiction of primitive Earth. Important chemicals for life’s origin on Earth may have been
generated when meteorites landed in hot, acidic pools around volcanoes on the early Earth. Image
Credit: Copyright 2011 Don Dixon/cosmographica.com
 Haldane coined the term ‘prebiotic soup’ or ‘prebiotic
atmosphere’ that consisted of an abundance of methane, ammonia and
water. This term became a
 powerful symbol of the Oparin-Haldane view of the origin of life. According
to the primordial soup theory proposed by Alexander Oparin and John
Haldane, life started in a primordial soup of organic molecules. Some form of
energy from lightning combined with the chemicals in the atmosphere to
make the building blocks of protein known as the amino acids.

Early Forms of life

The first form of life is believed to have appeared some 3.5 billion years
ago.
The 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.

Fossilized skeletons of microscopic plants and animals-foraminefera. Image credit:

Micrograph copyright Eric Condlife, University of Leeds Electron Optics Image Laboratory
 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.

An electron microscope image of microfossil from

Stelley Pool. Image credit: Phys.org

Diversity of Cyanobacteria and examples

Image credit: link.springer.com

How did multicellular organisms evolve?

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.
Example of protozoa Global Diversity of Examples of fungi.
with detailed parts. Sponges. Image credit:
Image credit: Image credit: biologydiscussio.com
studyread.com www.researchgate.net

Dickinsonia, a 558-million-year-old oval-

shaped creature that borne a
superficial resemblance to a
segmented jellyfish. It was so well
preserved that they still contained
molecules of cholesterol. Image
Credit: bbc.com

Examples of animal adaptation. Image

Credit:
www.teachstarter.com
 Activity No. 1: Picture Analysis
Direction: Study and analyze the diagram shown below and answer the
process questions.

This timeline shows the history of life on Earth. Image credit: flexbooks.ck12.org
Process Questions:

1. What was the first form of life?

2. When in Earth’s history did life develop?

3. How long did it take for complex life to develop?

Activity No. 2: Be a Trackway Detective

Goal: Students will analyze a fossil trackway to draw conclusions about

what it reveals about nonavian dinosaur behavior.

Direction: Study the fossil trackway below. Color each animal track as
indicated in the key (the first one is done for you). Then answer the
questions.
1. How many
individual animals
were here?

2. Did the animal that

left the red tracks
move on two or four
limbs?

3. Can you
determine whether
any dinosaurs were
running? Why or
why not?

4. Which animal walked across the area first? How do you know?

5. Did the animals that left the yellow tracks travel together?

6. Why are the yellow tracks two different sizes? What made the larger
tracks? What made the smaller tracks?

7. How many different animals were here?

8. Can you tell whether or not the animals were here at the same time?
Why or why not?
Activity No. 3 : Test your understanding

Direction: Read and analyze each item. Encircle the letter

that corresponds to the BEST answer.

1. When did the early forms of life exist?

A. 1.5 billion years ago C. 3.5 billion years ago

B. 2.5 billion years ago D. 4.5 billion years ago
2. Where is the first form of life seen?

A. sediments
B. microfossils
C. oceanic crusts
D. layers of rocks
3. Which of the following is the first photosynthetic organism to
form?

A. algae
B. fungi
C. sponges
D. cyanobacteria
4. Which is NOT TRUE about prokaryotes?

A. They are simple in structure, small and unicellular.

B. They do not have nucleus.
C. They survive in extreme conditions.
D. They are not capable of making their own food.
5. Which of the following processes brought changes in the early atmosphere?

A. earthquake
B. extreme condition
C. photosynthesis
D. volcanic eruption
6. The following are multicellular organisms first evolved from colonial
aggregates EXCEPT .

A. fungi
B. protozoans
C. sponges
D. mollusks
7. Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

A. Photosynthetic organisms decreased the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.

B. Organisms change over time as a result of adaptation for survival.
C. Multicellular organisms evolved from unicellular eukaryotes.
D. The earliest forms of life were the prokaryotes.
8. All of the following statements are true about the evolution of
multicellular organisms EXCEPT .
A. They are formed from multicellular colonial aggregates through cell
specialization.
B. They are believed to have evolved from single-celled prokaryotes.
C. The process of continuous specialization brought more complex organisms.
D. The single-celled organisms that formed multicellular aggregates
were like the cells of algae.
9. Why do you think the emergence of plants and animals came later
than simple living organisms?

A. They are too big and take time to form.

B. They are the least important factor in the environment.
 C. Their cell structures are more complex.
D. They contain more nucleus compared to lower forms of
organisms.

10.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Very few living things can create complex organic

molecules out of carbon and other common elements.
B. Only microscopic organisms begin their lives as single cells.

C. Genes are segment of DNA molecules.

D. All living things get the energy need for growth,

repair and reproduction from sunlight.

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