Viewing Guide: Synthesis of Prebiotic Molecules in an Experimental Atmosphere

Viewing Guide: Synthesis of Prebiotic Molecules in an Experimental Atmosphere

1. What are the two hypotheses presented in the video?

1. What are RNA and DNA?

1. What were Stanley Miller and Harold Urey testing?

1. What was the ‘oceanic compartment’?

1. Why was the oceanic compartment heated?

1. Which gasses were contained in the ‘atmospheric compartment?’

1. Which gas, present in the atmosphere now, was NOT contained? (Not shown in video.)

1. What were the electrical sparks meant to simulate?

1. What do you think happened when the chemical gasses passed through the electrical sparks? Circle one.
2. The sparks alone had no effect on the chemical gasses in the atmosphere.
3. The sparks stimulated the formation of new compounds.

1. What do the results of this experiment suggest?

1. Why was ‘rain’ generated and tested?

1. What was found in the mixture?

1. What are amino acids, purines and pyrimidines?

Viewing Guide: Pasteur’s Experiment

1. What was Pasteur’s procedure aimed at testing?

1. What is meant by ‘microbial life’?

1. What was Pasteur’s experimental set up?

1. If left undisturbed, will the broth become cloudy with microbial growth?

1. What is meant by the broth being ‘sterilized?’

1. What did Pasteur do after the broth had been sterilized?

1. What do you predict will happen to the flask on the left (the broken flask)?

1. What was the difference between the two flasks in terms of dust? In terms of becoming contaminated?

1. What is spontaneous generation?

1. What did Pasteur conclude from his experiment?

Viewing Guide: Endosymbiosis

1. Which organelles have features in common with whole cells?

1. Name and describe two of the features mentioned.

1. What kind of cells do mitochondria and chloroplasts resemble?

1. What does mitochondria/chloroplast DNA have in common with prokaryotic DNA?

1. How do the ribosomes in mitochondria/chloroplasts compare to prokaryotic ribosomes? To eukaryotic ribosomes?

1. What was Lynn Margulis’ hypothesis about mitochondria and chloroplasts?

1. According to the theory, how were prokaryotes introduced into eukaryotes?

1. What could that prokaryote do, in terms of respiration?

1. What advantage did this confer for the eukaryote?

1. What is needed for aerobic respiration? What is produced?

1. What then happened to the prokaryote and eukaryote?

1. What organelles did those prokaryotes evolve into?

1. What did some of the ‘primitive’ eukaryotes then acquire?

1. What are cyanobacteria?

1. What did the cell with mitochondria AND chloroplasts evolve into?

1. What are two other pieces of evidence supporting endosymbiosis that are shown, but not directly stated, in the video?