Week One

Question 1

WHAT ARE STROMATOLITES

Answer 1

Layered rock that form when prokaryotes (like cyanobacteria) create sticky microbial amts which trap sediment

Question 2

WHEN WERE STROMATOLITES ABUNDANT

Answer 2

3.5 billion years ago

Question 3

HOW ARE STROMATOLITES FORMED

Answer 3

Layering of microbial mats, primary composed of cyanobacteria, and the trapping and binding of sediment in shallow aquatic environments

Question 4

WHAT IS THE OXYGEN REVOLUTION

Answer 4

When atmospheric oxygen significantly increased

Question 5

WHEN WAS THE OXYGEN REVOLUTION

Answer 5

2.4 billion years ago

Question 6

WHAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVOURABLE FOR LIFE

Answer 6

You need complex atoms, an energy source, and a medium in which molecules can interact (water)

Question 7

THEY CONTROL THEIR INTERNAL CONDITIONS

Answer 7

Homeostasis

Question 8

THEY MAKE COPIES OF THEMSELVES (WITH DNA)

Answer 8

Replication

Question 9

THEY NEED A SOURCE OF ENERGY….

Answer 9

Metabolism

Question 10

THEIR DNA CAN CHANGE OVER TIME

Answer 10

Evolution

Question 11

WHAT IS THE GOLDILOCKS ZONE

Answer 11

Origin and survival of life as we know it; occurs when the sun is just the right distance from a planet to allow liquid water and sustained energy at the same time

Question 12

WHAT IS THE EARLY EARTH TIMELINE

Answer 12

formation of earth (4.5), stable hydrosphere (4.2), prebiotic chemistry (4.2-4.0), pre-RNA world (-4.0), RNA world (-3.8), first DNA/protein life (-3.6), diversification of life (3.6-present)

Question 13

STEP ONE: ORIGIN OF LIFE

Answer 13

Abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules (no oxygen in atmosphere = stable)

Question 14

STEP TWO: ORIGIN OF LIFE

Answer 14

Small molecules join to make biological polymers (proteins, polysaccharides, lipids and nucleic acids)

Question 15

STEP THREE: ORIGIN OF LIFE

Answer 15

Molecules are packed into membrane-bound vesicles (allows contained and controllable environment)

Question 16

STEP FOUR: ORIGIN OF LIFE

Answer 16

Origin of self-replicating molecules (makes inheritance and evolution possible)

Question 17

EARLY EARTH ATMOSPHERE MOLECULES

Answer 17

mixture of gases: water vapor, hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide

Question 18

CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES

Answer 18

meteorites that contained organic compounds including building blocks of life

Question 19

BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE

Answer 19

Amino acids, fatty acids, sugars and nucleobases

Question 20

BIOLOGICAL POLYMERS

Answer 20

lipid membrane (compartmentalization), DNA/RNA (replication), and protein (metabolism)