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LAB 3 Environmental Science

Students Name

Department of Study

Course Number

Professor Name

Date
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Lab 3: Basic Needs of Living Things

ENVS 1401L
Name: _

Pre-Lab Activity

Pre-video best guesses

Fill in the table below, using complete sentences.

• What does life require?

• When did life evolve on Earth? (Resist the urge to look it up if you don’t
know)
• Where did life begin on Earth? Where does life exist?
• Why is Earth unique? Why do we have life here?

What: Life essence will only be complete if there is a very compatible combination of life
elements such as the liquid medium, organic matter, and an apt source of energy. These
conditions are the basis for life in which living organisms either originate or continue to develop.

When: According to scientists, life science evolved approximately 3.5 billion years ago on
Earth. Fossils of micro life forms preserved as early as this prove that the remains we have are
during a time when life was coming to be, and its monadal forms took.

Where: Where and how life on the earth originates is quite a mystery and a topic of research in
science. But, since it is believed that life was generated in old water forms, and the signs point to
presumptive microbial anterior life form in areas like hydrothermal vents. Organisms on earth
are diverse and they form ecological environments in oceans as well as rivers, soil and others
harbor organisms inside living organisms.

Why: One of the peculiar qualities possessed by our planet is being a supporting habitat
necessary for the life. Some of these critical factors include the presence of a habitable zone
around our Sun, an atmosphere that is suitable, and capable of retaining vital gases, molten core
to provide geothermal energy; furthermore liquid water. Moreover, the earth is geologically
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stable due to some regularities of its structure and also has many interpreting habitats for various
forms of life. The presence of all these factors makes the earth an amazing planet, and a habitable
one for other formations of living organisms.

• Conditions that Support Life

a. Post-video facts
Fill in the table below, using complete sentences.

• What does life require?

• When did life evolve on Earth? (Resist the urge to look it up if you don’t
know)
• Where did life begin on Earth? Where does life exist?
• Why is Earth unique? Why do we have life here?

What: Life essence will only be complete if there is a very compatible combination of life
elements such as the liquid medium, organic matter, and an apt source of energy. These
conditions are the basis for life in which living organisms either originate or continue to develop.

When: According to scientists, life science evolved approximately 3.5 billion years ago on
Earth. Fossils of micro life forms preserved as early as this prove that the remains we have are
during a time when life was coming to be, and its monadal forms took.

Where: Where and how life on the earth originates is quite a mystery and a topic of research in
science. But, since it is believed that life was generated in old water forms, and the signs point to
presumptive microbial anterior life form in areas like hydrothermal vents. Organisms on earth
are diverse and they form ecological environments in oceans as well as rivers, soil and others
harbor organisms inside living organisms.

Why: One of the peculiar qualities possessed by our planet is being a supporting habitat
necessary for the life. Some of these critical factors include the presence of a habitable zone
around our Sun, an atmosphere that is suitable, and capable of retaining vital gases, molten core
to provide geothermal energy; furthermore liquid water. Moreover, the earth is geologically
stable due to some regularities of its structure and also has many interpreting habitats for various
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forms of life. The presence of all these factors makes the earth an amazing planet, and a habitable
one for other formations of living organisms.

• Website exploration “Conditions that support life”

• Life has survived on Earth through more than _(x.)_ years of radical
changes
x. 3.5 billion years

• To sustain life as we know it, all you need are three ingredients: _(x.)_,
_(y.)_, and _(z.)_.
x. Liquid medium
y. Organic matter
z. Energy source
• A liquid medium provides an environment where _(x.)_ can take place.
x. Chemical reactions

• What keeps our water from boiling away and drifting into space?
Earth's atmosphere

• What are the top three organic elements found in humans? Include the
approximate percentage of each element in the human body.
#1. Oxygen (about 65%)
#2. Carbon (about 18%)
#3. Hydrogen (about 10%)
• True or False: Scientists searching for life on other planets
(astrobiologists) hypothesize that life on other planets may not be based on the same
elements as life on Earth.
True
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• What three things does Earth’s molten core provide for on the surface of
the Earth?
1. Geothermal energy
2. Cycling of raw materials
3.Magnetic field protection from radiation
• Life in the Extremes

• Extreme environments on Earth

• From the globe, choose three extreme environment locations on Earth to
describe in the table:

Location Description
Environmental Conditions
Lifeforms present
Ex.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
Superheated (near-boiling) pools that varies widely in temperature, pH, and chemical content.
Archaea
1 Death Valley, California, USA:
Cryogenic desert landscape with extremely high temperatures, low precipitation; and salt flats of
Tabernacle.
Xerophytes, extremophiles.

2 Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean:

It strains strives to describe the deepest part of all world’s oceans, the place with extreme
pressure and freezing temperatures
Abyssal fauna, extremophiles.
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3 Atacama Desert, Chile:

The driest desert with very low rains and cool heights.
Halophiles, extremophiles.

• Extreme environments on other planetary bodies

• Explore the other three planetary bodies shown and fill out the following
table about each:

Description of Surface
Special Features that may Harbor Life
Mars
- Dry, rocky surface with polar ice caps.
- Potential underground water sources, past evidence of liquid water.
Europa, Moon of Jupiter
- Ice-covered surface with subsurface ocean.
- Possible subsurface ocean, potential for liquid water beneath ice.
Titan, Moon of Saturn
- Cold, methane lakes and rivers on the surface.
- Hydrocarbon lakes, thick atmosphere.

• The _(x.)_ was probably fueled by processes that are similar to the ones
used by extremophiles today.
x. Earliest life on Earth
• True or False: Bacteria and Archaea have a common ancestor separate
from Eukaryotes.
True
• True or False: The collective mass of bacteria on Earth weighs much more
than all of the animals on Earth.
True
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• _(x.)_ have larger, more-complex cells than bacteria or archaea. This

domain of life includes microscopic, single-celled organisms like _(y.)_ as well as multi-
cellular organisms like fungi, plants, and animals.
x. Eukaryotes
y. Protists

• The Ecological Niche

After walking through the forest with the ecologist, how would you characterize the niche
differences of the two different tree ferns found there, which allow them to coexist in the same
forest? Include each species’ inferred requirements and habitat in the descriptions.

-Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree fern):_

Requirements: This grows well in areas that get partial shade and experience medium rainfall
levels.
Habitat: Shadow, that is under the forest where it gets filtered sunlight.
-Cyathia australis (rough tree fern):_
Requirements: Well-drained soils, less shade.
Habitat: Sunny areas, canopy gaps or edges.