The Origins of Life

Select all the options that are reasonable explanations for how life began on earth

• life began in the ocean

• life began in outer space and was transported to earth from meteors

• life began on land

• life began in deep sea vents

Earth's primordial atmosphere most likely included:

• carbon dioxide, water vapor, sulfur dioxide, and methane.

• hydrogen, helium, and oxygen.

• nitrogen, ozone, and sulfur dioxide.

• all of the above.

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What is the role of water as a solvent in the origin of life?

• It allows the ingredients to comingle and react with each other

• It provides energy for autotrophs

• It protects from UV radiation

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What is the significance of hydrothermal vents in the origin of life?

• Hydrothermal vents provide a unique environment that supports the growth of chemosynthetic bacteria, believed to be one of the earliest forms of life on Earth.

• Hydrothermal vents are a common habitat for deep-sea fish.

• Hydrothermal vents release large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere.

• Hydrothermal vents are a result of volcanic activity.

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The theory that the first cells came from non-living matter (in the right conditions) is

• Abiogenesis

• Cell theory

• Endosymbiosis

By discharging electric sparks into a laboratory chamber atmosphere that consisted of water vapor, hydrogen gas, methane, and ammonia, Stanley Miller obtained data that showed that a number of organic molecules, including many amino acids, could be synthesized. Miller was attempting to model early Earth conditions as understood in the 1950s. The results of Miller’s experiments best support which of the following hypotheses?

• The molecules essential to life today did not exist at the time Earth was first formed.

• The molecules essential to life today could not have been carried to the primordial Earth by a comet or meteorite.

• The molecules essential to life today could have formed under early Earth conditions.

• The molecules essential to life today were initially self-replicating proteins that were synthesized approximately four billion years ago.

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What was the product of the Miller-Urey Experiment?

• Simple amino acids

• Simple nucleotides

• Simple lipids

• Simple monosaccarides

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A group of scientists have set up an experiment simulating the conditions of early Earth. This experiment produced a cell with DNA that used RNA to synthesize proteins from amino acids just like modern cells do. What conclusion could they draw from this experiment?

• Under the conditions of the experiment, it is possible to create cells similar to modern cells.

• Modern cells developed from inorganic compounds in the conditions that existed on early Earth.

• The conditions of their experiment exactly replicated the conditions found on early Earth.

• The way modern cells function is the only way a cell could be constructed and survive.

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Origin of life took place around _____

• 2.5 billion years ago

• 3.5 billion years ago

• 4.5 billion years ago

• 5.5 billion years ago

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Abiogenesis explains

• the origin of prokaryotes

• how bacteria lives

• the origin of eukaryotes

• how species develop