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General Biology 2: Quarter 1 - Module 2: History of Life On Earth
General Biology 2: Quarter 1 - Module 2: History of Life On Earth
Quarter 1 – Module 2:
History of Life on Earth
General Biology 2 – Grade 12
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 2: History of Life on Earth
First Edition, 2020
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Education Program Supervisor, LRMDS : Edgar E. Garcia, MITE
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Education Program Supervisor, Science : Edwin R. Bermillo
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educators both from public and private institutions to assist you, the teacher or
facilitator in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Curriculum
This learning resource hopes to engage the learners into guided and
independent learning activities at their own pace and time. Furthermore, this also
aims to help learners acquire the needed 21st century skills while taking into
In addition to the material in the main text, you will also see this box in the
As a facilitator you are expected to orient the learners on how to use this
module. You also need to keep track of the learners' progress while allowing them to
manage their own learning. Furthermore, you are expected to encourage and assist
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For the learner:
The hand is one of the most symbolized part of the human body. It is often
used to depict skill, action and purpose. Through our hands we may learn, create
and accomplish. Hence, the hand in this learning resource signifies that you as a
learner is capable and empowered to successfully achieve the relevant competencies
and skills at your own pace and time. Your academic success lies in your own hands!
This module was designed to provide you with fun and meaningful
opportunities for guided and independent learning at your own pace and time. You
will be enabled to process the contents of the learning resource while being an active
learner.
What I Need to Know This will give you an idea of the skills or
competencies you are expected to learn in the
module.
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Assessment This is a task which aims to evaluate your
level of mastery in achieving the learning
competency.
1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises.
2. Don’t forget to answer What I Know before moving on to the other activities
included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.
6. Return this module to your teacher/facilitator once you are through with it.
If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not
hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator. Always bear in mind that you are
not alone.
We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and
gain deep understanding of the relevant competencies. You can do it!
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What I Need to Know
This module is designed for you to solve the mystery of the origin of life on
Earth by learning about the history of LIFE on Earth. You will learn about the
theories on what, when, and where did life on Earth begin? This module will take
you back in time and will help you travel from the past to the present of the
exhilarating story of Life on Earth. You will learn about the different dominant
creatures on Earth from different times and you will try to understand why these
accepted dates and sequence of the geologic time scale characteristics of major
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What I Know
Hello! Let us check what you already know about the History of Life on Earth.
Complete the following story by supplying the correct words to describe the general
features of the history of life on Earth. Choose from the box below and write down
your answers on the space provided.
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Lesson
Earth is the only known planet to have sustained and cater life. But have you
ever wondered how did life begin on its surface? What are the features and
characteristics of the first life on Earth? Where and when did exactly life begin?
Are humans the first life found on Earth? If not, when did humans begin to
populate the Earth? What are the organisms that walked before humans and with
humans on Earth?
There are a lot of scientific questions that we have when it comes to the History
of Life on Earth, but there’s no more waiting for these inquiries to be answered
because you now have this module to enjoy and learn from!
What’s In
Previously on Module 1: You have enjoyed the wonders and the many
possibilities of the application of the central dogma of molecular biology which is
genetic engineering. You have learned also about the many benefits and applications
of recombinant DNA technology to the society.
By way of a review, you need to complete the following outline of DNA Recombination
Technology:
As you have learned, these steps are the basic procedure in trying to alter or
change a specific trait of an organism such as the size and length of the bone, the
shape, and structure of its lips and more. You need to remember that these
differences are caused by the codes of genes on DNA. Keep this detail in mind as we
will try to connect this concept to our new learnings from this module.
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Notes to the Teacher
This module aims to help learners understand and describe the
general features of the history of life on Earth. Point out the role of
the DNA in the cell and how can we associate this function of DNA
on the different characteristics of the major group of organisms
found on each period from the accepted geologic time scale.
What’s New
Can you explain the origin of life? Is it necessary for you as a human being to
understand how did life begin on Earth? Complete the maze below.
Like completing a maze, knowing one’s origin and the path is important to
know the destination. You must learn about the history of life on Earth so that we
may understand better how humans ended the way they are today and to where are
humans headed as modern species of life.
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What is It
You already know that Earth is still the only known planet with the existence of life.
This means that the earth can provide the necessary ingredients and conditions for
life to exist. But is this how simple the equation is?
Life is complex because life is a genius. Yes, you read it right, life has its ingenuity.
Life thrives not only on favorable conditions, but also it adopts and challenges itself
to fit in its environment. Having mentioned the environment let us now try to answer
the question: where did life begin?
Let us consider the condition of primordial or “young” Earth. It is not the same as its
structure today, there are still no plants, trees, and breath-taking sceneries. There
are only an atmosphere and places for water and ground. The condition is still too
harsh because the earth is only starting to develop its landmasses and structures.
But the scientists were sure that at the beginning of life on Earth, there are
atmospheric events taking places such as storms and thunders. This is because of
the chemical reactions occurring between the surface, atmosphere, and inner part of
the very active “young” Earth.
Because of these given conditions, scientists narrow down into 3 (three) probable
places where life FIRST appear on Earth: land, shallow pond, deep-sea vents. Let us
check each one of them and eliminate the two less likely place of origin of life on
Earth.
1. The land is very unlikely because during “young” Earth time, there is still not
enough oxygen on its surface and UV rays are too strong for molecular
bonding to occur and make life possible.
2. A shallow pond is a bit likely because it is full of organic materials and when
evaporated, the organic materials present in it will have a higher concentration
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that will lead to more favorable conditions for organic materials to combine
and make life possible. But the experiments cannot prove it.
3. We are now left with deep-sea vents. Deep-sea vents are highly likely the exact
place of origin of life on Earth because DNA evidence suggests that early life
forms can survive on high-temperature conditions like those in deep-sea
vents. The high temperature also provides high chemical energy which makes
deep-sea vents the most accepted hypothesis among the three given places
above.
It is likely proven in theory and DNA evidence correlation that deep-sea vent is
WHERE life began, but can scientists prove it through experiment?
The answer is YES! Miller and Urey are scientists who conducted a simple
experiment, that yielded very helpful findings in answering questions about how life
began on Earth.
They have set up the experiment, as shown in the diagram above. Flask A
represents the earth’s primitive ocean; Flask B with the presence of methane and
ammonia represents the primitive atmosphere. The connecting tubes between the
flasks represent the water cycle processes (i.e., evaporation, cloud formation,
condensation, and precipitation), which are already occurring during the early days
of “young” Earth. Certain conditions such as heating/boiling of the primitive ocean
and providing electricity from the power supply to create a spark that may be like
thunders in the actual earth’s atmosphere were found to be important in the success
of the experiment.
The heat from the boiling flask and the spark from the power supply in the
atmospheric flask have given the necessary boost or starting point for organic
compounds to materialize in the experiment. The experiment yielded amino acids
and complex organic materials throughout the process. This experiment showed that
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high chemical energy from chemical interaction and heat are needed for such a
process to take place.
How did Life begin and What is the earliest life form on Earth?
You have learned from the experiment of Miller and Urey that because of the
chemical reactions occurring between the sea and the atmosphere of the “young”
Earth, organic compounds such as amino acids developed and became present along
with different water areas on Earth through the water cycle.
The early atmospheric events and conditions of Earth favor the creation of
complex organic compounds such as amino acids.
You can now say that these complex ORGANIC COMPOUNDS or MOLECULES
are the predecessors of life on Earth. The occurrence of these materials on the surface
of the Earth became the earliest sign of a high chance of developing the presence of
life on Earth.
Why? Because these compounds are like the key ingredients to life; with the
correct “cooking” method, these compounds will bring forth the first living organism.
Problem: After the synthesis of organic molecules, the earth has what is
likened to an “organic soup” which are the organic compounds found in the seawater
and other surfaces of the earth where water was found. But this soup is too diluted
or weak to evolve into another life structure.
The solution: laboratory experiments showed that when hot clay, sand, or rock
were placed in the dilute organic soup, the molecules self-assembled. These
molecules stick to the hot surface which increased their density and likelihood of a
reaction. This had led to the following evolution of the early life presence on Earth.
At this point, let us trace the development of the most likely earliest life form on
Earth:
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1. Organic Compounds-these are molecules linked with life and developed
through reactions between atmospheric processes and the watery area of
Earth.
2. RNA-the resulting molecule when organic compounds self-assembled into a
self-replicating molecule.
3. Pre-cells-resulted when self-replicating RNA enclosed itself in a membrane to
protect itself from the outside environment.
4. Primitive Cells-these are pre-cells with improved function through the
process of evolution
5. Modern Cell-as the cells choose to fit itself for survival, it developed into a
structure which is familiar to us today, a cell with a DNA genome.
This modern cell had led to the development of the first classification of life form
on Earth: the bacteria or the prokaryotes. After some time, as the oxygen level on
Earth increases the next archetype of cells has developed: The Eukaryotes.
Take note of how life chooses to adapt to the existing conditions that it is in, and
how it changes and evolves through the process. From the simplest to the most
complex. Life is like learning. It starts from the basics until it becomes an expert in
dealing with the challenges that its environment posits.
Pieces of evidence suggested that if Earth is 4.5 billion years old from radiometric
dating of the oldest rock found on it, life on Earth began most probably 3.5 billion
years ago.
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Another line of shreds of evidence is the microfossils
found in western Australia. These are fossils that were
first thought to be minerals, but later studies using
advanced techniques of dating and investigation proved
that these are fossils of microbes who have lived 3.5
billion years ago.
We have learned that life had first appeared as simple microbes and bacteria,
which have their point of origin from the chemical reactions and building of organic
compounds on deep-sea vents of ancient Earth, which as evidence suggests occurred
from 3.5 billion years ago.
You have answered some of the reveling questions about the origin of life. And
you might have noticed that scientists answered those questions logically through
educated guesses and with the use of pieces of evidence.
If the History of the Earth is a book, then the ROCKS are its pages. Pieces of
evidence that tells the story of the distant past of the Earth and the life that had once
walked through it are found and are preserved on its rocks. Fossils, which may be
actual remains of organisms such as bones, teeth, shells, and leaves, or even traces
of their past activities such as footprints and nests, are usually as old as the rocks
where they were embedded or imprinted. These fossils and evidence were analyzed
using the following dating techniques:
1. Absolute Dating- obtaining the actual age of the fossils and rock through
radiometric dating or the use of the concept of half-life and the radioactive
decay of elements.
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2. Relative Dating- obtaining the relative age of the rocks or samples, it does
not tell the actual age but only uses some principles of comparison which are
as follows:
a. Law of Superposition- which states that the youngest rocks are found
on top of the layers and the oldest rocks are found on the bottom
b. Law of Original Horizontality- sedimentation or layering of the rocks
occur horizontally; if tilting, breaking, or folding of rocks or its layer
occur, it happened recently after the horizontal layering.
c. Law of Cross-Cutting Relationship- if the rocks under investigation
have a cut from igneous rock intrusions, then the intrusions or fault
breaks are younger than the rock being investigated.
Now that you gained the insight on how scientists read the history of the
Earth, it is the time to list down all of the life forms that they have unearthed through
time; from the very distant past of the origin of life into the present. To do that we
will use the geologic time scale.
Geologic Time Scale is a representation of the life forms that have lived and
dominated the Earth on a specific time scale. Geologic is the combination of the word
geologic and chronologic, which means rock and time, respectively.
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The geologic timescale is divided into the following partitions:
There are two eons on the Earth’s geologic time scale: the PRECAMBRIAN (4.6
billion years ago), and the PHANEROZOIC (540 million years ago). Precambrian
is when the origin of life existed, it is when the living creatures are as simple as
microorganisms such as bacteria from Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic eras.
Phanerozoic is the eon of “everything” after the Cambrian Explosion.
The Cambrian period which took place approximately 540 million years ago is the
first period under the Phanerozoic eon, Paleozoic era and is well known for the
“Cambrian Explosion” because, during this era, life explodes and teamed with all
of the body plans for the evolution of animals diversity that will occur in the time
span of 40 million years.
Under the Phanerozoic eon are the three major eras: the Paleozoic, also known
as the “age of invertebrates”, the Mesozoic also known as the “age of reptiles” and
the Cenozoic which is also known as the “age of mammals.”
Some of the notable periods on the geologic timescale are: the Devonian period
which is the age of fishes, the Triassic period when the first dinosaur and the first
mammal in the form of rodent appear, the Jurassic period which is the “golden age
of dinosaur” when the dinosaurs flourish and also when the first birds appear, the
Cretaceous period when the mass extinction and demise of dinosaurs and 25% of
marine life marked the end of the Mesozoic era and when the appearance of the first
primates and snakes marked the start of Cenozoic era.
Epochs under the Tertiary period are the Paleocene epoch when the first horse
appear, Eocene when grasses spread and large mammals such as elephants and
rhinos developed, Oligocene when dogs, cats, and apes appear, Miocene when
horses and tigers dominate the land, and Pliocene when hominids or the bipedal
apes develop.
As you can deduct from the discussed geologic time scale: we are currently living in
the Phanerozoic eon, Cenozoic era, Quaternary period, and Holocene epoch.
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What’s More
Let us once more travel back and through time as you complete the following table.
Eons Eras Periods Epochs Transition MYA
events/Dominant
Organism
1. Simple single-celled 24.
organisms; prokaryotes
and eukaryotes
2. 3. 6. Explosion of life 25.
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What I Have Learned
Now it is your turn! Read and fill out the following “I have learned oath.”
I have learned from this module that the time scale used to
record specific partitions of time on Earth based on the dominant
species at such time is called (4.) ______________________________. It is sectioned into
4 major subdivisions which are: (5.) _________________, (6.) ___________________, (7.)
_____________________, and (8.) ________________. The three eras under Phanerozoic
eon are the Paleozoic or the age of (9.) _____________________, Mesozoic or the age of
(10.) ______________________, and the (11.) ______________________ or the age of (12.)
_______________________.
Life is indeed a genius! It strives to survive and change its form to adapt to the
changes in its environment! And what is more amazing is how people with great
scientific skills have developed a way on how to read the book of the history of life on
Earth through the fossils on the rocks. Science and society can be good friends. I
___________________ (write/state your name), do solemnly pledge that I will only do
good and responsible science for my society specifically in unearthing the history of
life on Earth.
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What I Can Do
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Assessment
Let us see how well you have enjoyed traveling to the distant past of the Earth and
knowing about the history of life on Earth by answering the following questions.
Choose and encircle the letter of the best answer.
1. The name of the experiment which helped answer many questions about the
origin of life on Earth:
a. Patrick-Miller Experiment
b. Miller-Urey Experiment
c. Urey-Gagarin Experiment
d. Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species
3. In geologic time scale, what is the longest subdivision, they are namely the
Precambrian and the Paleozoic.
a. Eon
b. Era
c. Period
d. Epoch
4. What is the shortest subdivision in the geologic time scale and is marked by
differences in life forms and can vary from continent to continent?
a. Eon
b. Era
c. Period
d. Epoch
5. Name the era, which is divided into three periods, and is considered as the
age of reptiles.
a. Cambrian
b. Mesozoic
c. Paleozoic
d. Cenozoic
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6. The period on a geologic time scale which is considered as the explosion of life:
a. Cambrian
b. Mesozoic
c. Paleozoic
d. Cenozoic
7. The current epoch upon which organisms of the earth are living.:
a. Holocene
b. Oligocene
c. Pliocene
d. Miocene
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13. In the history of life on Earth, how will you describe the earliest life-forms that
had existed?
a. They are very adaptive and complex.
b. They require minimal metabolic processes, but they are also complex
organisms.
c. They are simple organisms that thrive with the minimal necessary to
survive.
d. They are simple organisms that later evolve to more complex organisms.
14. Which among the following are NOT an evidence that life existed in as early
as 3.5 billion years ago?
a. Microfossils found in western Australia
b. Trilobites
c. Stromatolites
d. None of the above
15. The following are the principles of used in relative dating of fossils EXCEPT:
a. Law of Superposition
b. Law of Original Horizontality
c. Law of Cross-Cutting Relationship
d. Law of Superimposition
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Additional Activities
We are almost at the end of this module! Good job in accomplishing another learning
adventure! But we still have 1 more thing to do.
You are tasked to create your mnemonic or memory device to help you remember the
periods and epochs in the Geologic Time Scale (from the earliest to the most recent.)
Here is an example of a mnemonic device for Geologic Time Scale Periods and
Epochs:
SHARE BUTTON:
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Assessment:
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. D
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. D Additional
9. A Activities:
10. B
Students answers What I Can Do:
11. D
12. C may vary. Students answers
13. D may vary.
14. B
15. D
What’s More:
What I Have
What’s New: What I Know:
Learned: 1.Precambrian
2.Phanerozoic 1. 3.5 BYA
1. Deep sea 3.Paleozoic 2. Organic molecule
vent 4.Mesozoic
2. 3.5 3. archaebacteria
5.Cenozoic 4. deep sea vents
3. Organic 6.Cambrian
molecule 5. Miller-Urey
7.Ordovician
4. Geological 6. Panspermia
8.Silurian
timescale 7. Eukaryotes
9.Devonian
5. Eons 10. Carboniferous 8. Cambrian
6. Eras 11. Permian Explosion
7. Epochs 12. Triassic What’s In: 9. Paleozoic
8. Periods 13. Jurassic 10. Mass
9. Invertebrat 14. Cretaceous I. Target specific Extinction
es 15. Tertiary genes 11. Emergence
10. Reptiles 16. Quaternary II.Cut the genes
of humans
11. Cenozoic 17. Paleocene using restriction
12. Cultural and
12. Mammals 18. Eocene enzyme
III. Spliced the genes Technological
19. Oligocene Evolution
20. Miocene to another DNA
using ligase 13. Phanerozoic
21. Pliocene
IV. Introduce the 14. Cenozoic
22. Pleistocene
recombinant DNA 15. Quaternary,
23. Holocene
24. 4600 to the host cell Holocene
25. 540
Answer Key
References
DepEd (2020). Most Essential Learning Competencies with Corresponding CG codes.
General Biology 2. Pp 631-633.
CHED (2016). Teaching Guide for Senior High School in General Biology 2. First
Edition. Pp. 49-69.
Tiamzon, Maria Elena, et al. (2016). General Biology 2 Textbook for Senior Highschool.
Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc. Pp. 80-89.
Weisberger, Mindy. Tiny Fossils May Be Oldest Evidence of Life on Earth. Live
Science. 2017. June 22, 2020. https://www.livescience.com/61232-oldest-
known-fossils.html
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