Earth and Life Science 1 Term; SY 2020 - 2021

st

PONTIFICAL AND ROYAL

UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITYOF THE PHILIPPINES
Senior High School – Science Learning Area

1st Term / SY 2020-2021

PERFORMANCE TASK NAME OF MEMBER/S:
GROUP NUMBER: __________ SECTION: __MAD4__
Amiel Moira C. Bernardo ______________________
PeTa 1: ______________________ ______________________
SPONTANEOUS GENERATION OF MAGGOTS ______________________ ______________________
Date of Implementation Date Submitted ______________________ ______________________
___August 28__ _____September 4____

ANALYTIC RUBRICS

Category 4 3 2 1 Weight TOTAL

Showed accurate Showed accurate Showed Showed NO
and thorough understanding of inaccurate and understanding of
understanding of most of the limited the activity’s
Scientific
the activity’s activity’s understanding of scientific 3 12
Concepts scientific scientific the activity’s concepts.
concepts. concepts. scientific
concepts.
Measurements Measurements Measurements NO
are complete, are complete, are incomplete, measurements
accurate and mostly accurate inaccurate and presented.
precise. and precise. imprecise. NO observation
Data Collection 2.5 10
Observations are Observations are Observations are presented.
very clear, clear and NOT clear and
thorough and generally are incomplete.
complete. complete
ALL questions SOME questions Only a FEW NO questions are
are answered are answered questions are answered
Data Analysis correctly with correctly with answered correctly. 3 12
accurate accurate correctly. NO questions
explanations. explanations. answered.
Clear, accurate Drawings/ Some drawings/ Needed pictures/
and neatly Pictures/ pictures/ drawings/
Drawings/
labeled drawings/ Diagrams are diagrams/ are diagrams are
Pictures/Diagra 1 4
pictures/ included and are missing or are missing.
ms diagrams are labeled NOT labeled
included. accurately. accurately.
ALL necessary ALL necessary SOME necessary ALL necessary
materials are materials are materials are materials are
Materials and present. present. missing missing.
1 4
Set-up Set-up are placed Set-up was Set-up was NOT
accurately. generally placed placed accurately.
accurately.
Worksheet is Work is neat and Work is Work is NOT
very neat and organized. somehow neat neat and is
well organized. Workstation was and organized. disorganized.
Neatness and Workstation was left generally neat Workstation was Workstation was
1 4
Organization left very neat and and clean. left with SOME left in a state of
clean. items not disarray.
cleaned.

Submitted Submitted Submitted Submitted

activity sheet on activity sheet 1 activity sheet 2 activity sheet 3
Submission 1 4
time. day after the days after the days after the
deadline. deadline. deadline.

TOTAL
50

University of Santo Tomas, Senior High School Page 1 of 4

 Earth and Life Science 1 Term; SY 2020 - 2021
st

PETA 1:
Spontaneous Generation of Maggots

INTRODUCTION:
In the 16th century, people had believed in spontaneous generation also called abiogenesis.
It is the belief that some living things can arise suddenly, from inanimate matter, without the
need for a living ancestor to give them life. Even the great Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) thought some
of the simpler invertebrates could arise by spontaneous generation.
Through the centuries, the notion of spontaneous generation gave rise to a wide variety of exotic
beliefs, such as that snakes could arise from horse hairs standing in stagnant water, mice from
decomposing fodder, and even mice from cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a corner.
This view finally was challenged by the Italian physician Francesco Redi (1626–1697), who
carried out a series of experiments on decaying meat and its ability to produce maggots
spontaneously. Redi placed meat in three containers. One was uncovered, a second was covered
with paper, and the third was covered with a fine gauze that would exclude flies. By the end of the
investigation, maggots had appeared in the jars with no gauze covering. How did he do it?
In this activity, your group is also going to take on the challenge in disproving the theory of
spontaneous generation using different materials.

OBJECTIVES:
1. Explain the theory of spontaneous generation and why scientists proved its existence.
2. Discuss how Francesco Redi disproved the theory of spontaneous generation.
3. Disprove the theory that maggots could be spontaneously generated from different materials
such as meat and fruits.

MATERIALS:
3pcs. bottles or jars (same size)
Clean stockings or gauze
Rubber bands
3 slices of any of the following: (to be assigned by your Learning Facilitator)
• fresh meat (pork, beef, chicken, fish)
• fruits (mango, banana, papaya)
• oatmeal (cooked)

PROCEDURES:

NOTE: Each member of the group will make his/her own experimental set-up.

1. Clean and dry three glass jars or bottles.

2. Put a piece of fresh meat or fruit at the bottom of the three jars.
3. Keep the first jar open and leave it outside the room where it will be exposed to flies. Label this
as Jar A.
4. Seal the mouth of the second jar with clean stockings or gauze using a rubber band. Label this
as Jar B.
5. Tightly put the cap and seal the third jar. Label this as Jar C.
6. Place the jars in a safe and undisturbed place, out of direct sunlight, until maggots or fly eggs
are visible on the meat or fruit. Note: The jars may be placed outside in a sheltered area where
flies are likely to locate them. The life cycle of a fly is 7–10 days in warm weather.
7. Record the date and initial condition of the meat or fruit in the jars on the first day.
8. Observe the appearance of maggots after several days to two weeks. Continue the observations
until you observe the growth of maggots.
9. Record the date and the daily observations of the jars.
10. Collate all data from all member of the group and summarize results on the table provided for.

University of Santo Tomas, Senior High School Page 2 of 4

 Earth and Life Science
DATA and RESULTS
A. SET-UP on DAY 1:
JAR A
Jar/Container holds cooked
oatmeal and is left open.
The oatmeal looks the same.
Oatmeal has not changed.
Oatmeal was becoming more dry and
was starting to smell odd after I put a
teaspoon of milk since nothing changed
in the previous days.
Some flies were appearing on the
sample.
Eggs were laid and some had already
hatched
Maggots are inside the jar
1 Term; SY 2020 - 2021
st
JAR B JAR C
PICTURE
DESCRIPTION
Jar is completely sealed. It is foggy
Jar with oatmeal is covered with inside since the oatmeal is still hot
thin cloth and taped(since we and soggy.
don’t have rubber bands)
DAY 2
The oatmeal looks the same. The oatmeal looks the same.
DAY 3
Oatmeal is untouched. The oatmeal still looks edible.
DAY 4
Oatmeal dried up and still untouched. The oatmeal looks mushy and is starting
to age but nothing big is happening.
DAY 5
Ants are trying to go inside the cloth- The oatmeal is still in the same condition
sealed jar
DAY 6
The jar is still untouched by flies The oatmeal for some reason got soggier
than before. It got watery.
DAY 7
Oatmeal is dry but still untouched by Oatmeal was still close to its initial
insects condition but made a foul odor
B. Summary of Results:

RESULTS JAR A JAR B JAR C

Maggots are present There are no maggots There are no maggots

but only a small spawn present present
Presence of
of them
maggots

There is a sour odor- There is also a sour odor It smells odd, almost
similar to spoiled milk similar to Jar A. spoiled as well but isn’t
Smell of Set-up but it is kind of mild for as bad compared to Jar
its age. A.

The color looks slightly The color remains the The color of the food
darker compared to Day same, it just dried up. remains the same as its
Color of the 1. condition.
meat or fruit/
oatmeal

There is a slight growth No growth of fungi for I think a mold grew but
of cotton like mold or some reason it was unrecognizable.
fungi
Presence of
fungi

University of Santo Tomas, Senior High School Page 3 of 4

Earth and Life Science 1 Term; SY 2020 - 2021
st

GUIDE QUESTIONS

1) Explain in your own words the “Theory of Spontaneous Generation”.

The Theory of Spontaneous Generation is an idea that is obsolete proposed by Aristotle. This
theory claims that new life forms are spawned from non-living matter. Organisms like worms
and flies were believed to be formed without relation to similar organisms—more likely
unrelated inanimate things such as dust.

2) Why did 16th century scientists think that life had “spontaneously” appeared?

The scientists believed this idea of life spontaneously appearing when they observed that
maggots would appear in decaying meat without any source to trace and besides this, mice
would appear days or weeks later when they’d leave food wrapped in cloth in a corner.

3) How did Francisco Redi disprove this theory?

Francesco Redi disproved this theory by doing this experiment I have conducted wherein pieces
of meat are placed in 3 jars-one sealed, one covered with cloth, and the other left wide open.
The result was that the jar left wide open had maggots and flies surrounding it while the two
covered jars with were unaffected despite being in the same environment and age.

4) In your experiment, in what jar did maggots appear? What could be the reason why
there are maggots in the jar?

Maggots appeared in Jar A in my experiment since it was exposed and vulnerable to the
organisms in the environment therefore flies have laid maggots here. It is impossible for these
flies to do the same to the meat in the two covered jars since they cannot directly go to the
meat to feed and lay on.
5) In your experiment, in what jar were the maggots absent? What could be the reason
why there are no maggots in this jar?

Maggots were not present in Jars B&C since they were sealed. In order for the meat to be
contaminated by flies, it must be directly touched or landed on by the organism. It would seem
that the jar covered with cloth could form maggots however, the cloth is still a boundary that
separates the flies that lay eggs of maggots.
6) Were you able to disprove the “Theory of Spontaneous Generation” like Francisco
Redi?

I was able to disprove this theory like Francesco Redi. It is a simple experiment that is
observable and has legitimate facts that were built into it unlike the Theory of Spontaneous
Generation. It just took a while for maggots to appear since our house was often kept and
cleaned to prevent any kind of insect appearing even outside.

CONCLUSION:
The theory of Spontaneous Generation is obsolete because of the experiments conducted by
Francesco Redi as well as Louis Pasteur. Life does not come out of thin air or from inanimate
objects but they come from pre-existing life forms and should at least be of similar specie. This
experiment simply shows how life is reproduced and the conditions that must be set in order for
them to appear.

University of Santo Tomas, Senior High School Page 4 of 4