| The Origin of Life |
| 1. | Describe the four stages of the hypothesis for the origin of life on Earth by chemical evolution. |
| 2. | Describe the contributions that A. I. Oparin, J.B.S. Haldane, and Stanley Miller made toward developing a model for the abiotic synthesis of organic molecules. Describe the conditions and locations where most of these chemical reactions probably occurred on Earth. |
| 3. | Describe the evidence that suggests that RNA was the first genetic material. Explain the significance of the discovery of ribozymes. |
| 4. | Describe how natural selection may have worked in an early RNA world. |
| 5. | Describe how natural selection may have favored the proliferation of stable protobionts with self-replicating, catalytic RNA. |
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| Introduction to the History of Life |
| 6. | Explain how the histories of Earth and life are inseparable. |
| 7. | Explain how index fossils can be used to determine the relative age of fossil-bearing rock strata. Explain how radiometric dating can be used to determine the absolute age of rock strata. Explain how magnetism can be used to date rock strata. |
| 8. | Describe the major events in Earth’s history from its origin until 2 billion years ago. In particular, note when Earth first formed, when life first evolved, and what forms of life existed in each eon. |
| 9. | Describe the mass extinctions of the Permian and Cretaceous periods. Discuss a hypothesis that accounts for each of these mass extinctions. |
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| The Major Lineages of Life |
| 10. | Describe how chemiosmotic ATP production may have arisen. |
| 11. | Describe the timing and significance of the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. |
| 12. | Explain the endosymbiotic theory for the evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Describe the evidence that supports this theory. |
| 13. | Explain how genetic annealing may have led to modern eukaryotic genomes. |
| 14. | Describe the timing of key events in the evolution of the first eukaryotes and later multicellular eukaryotes. |
| 15. | Explain how the snowball-Earth hypothesis explains why multicellular eukaryotes were so limited in size, diversity, and distribution until the late Proterozoic. |
| 16. | Describe the key evolutionary adaptations that arose as life colonized land. |
| 17. | Explain how continental drift explains Australia’s unique flora and fauna. |
| 18. | Explain why R. H. Whittaker’s five-kingdom system has been replaced by a new system with three domains. |
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