How did life begin? Describe Spontaneous generation; Who disproved it? How?

What did Pasteur Tindall do? Oparin and Haldane?

What was the atmosphere like on primordial earth? Define primordial.

When were organic molecules first produced in the lab? What are the main constituents of OMs, what is TOXIC? Name some organic molecules.

What are ribozymes, microspheres? Why are they important for the development of OMs.

When was the Precambrian era? What were the earliest organisms like?

What does O2 do to iron? What does O2 do to other molecules? Why is O2 considered ‘toxin’ and very dangerous to living things?

What happens to the energy released during aerobic cellular respiration when O2 is used as a metabolic reactant? How does this affect the competitive ability of aerobic organisms?

What selective pressure likely drove the development of multicellularity?

What is the endosymbiont theory? Which organelles are involved? Describe the two theories about membranes. How old are the ‘first’ multicellular fossils?

What obstacle was overcome in the move from an aquatic environment to dry land? How was reproduction accomplished in the aquatic system? How is it accomplished in land animals and plants? What mechanisms/structures did land animals and plants develop? List the original sperm vector (pollinator), list the current pollintors.

Which group were likely the first organisms to move to dry land? What structure helped them move first? What selective pressure pushed the move to dry land? Relate to coevolution.

What were the lobfins? What is their latin name?

How are amphibians and mosses/ferns still ‘tied’ to an aquatic environment?

When did reptiles first show up in the fossil record? What was the name of that period? What structurs did they develop that allowed them to move away from an aquatic environment?

What condition favored the development of large organisms? What time period?

What structural development(s) retains heat in birds and mammals? Why is this an advantage? Define homeothermic, poikilothermic.

Why do small organisms loose heat faster to the environment? What role does insulation play in heat retention?

With the large reptiles out of the way, what physical characteristics of mammals were useful?

What is ‘plate tectonics’?

What did the Alvarez brothers propose in the 1980’s?

Your book suggest which animal as a likely human ancestor? Describe its modern members.

Describe the advantages of Grasping hands, flexible shoulder joint and opposable thumb, Binocular vision, Large brain, bipedal.

Who were/are the Dryopithecines, hominids, pongids,

Draw a timeline and put the various hominids and their current progeny on it. Draw a timeline with ONLY modern man and his supposed ancestors on it. Include tool development in the timeline.

How did tool development influence hominid development?

Describe the effects of multiple migrations of Homo erectus from the ‘homeland’ in terms of speciation.

What are the cultural aspects of human behavior and why are they difficult to study? What does the ‘written’ word mean to these studies? Describe the first writings.

How is cultural evolution different from genetic evolution? How is modern man evolving?