- Home
- THE BIG PICTURE OF BIOLOGY
- BIG IDEA 1: EVOLUTION
- 1A: Evolution - Change in Genetic Makeup
- 1B: Evolution by Common Descent
- 1C: Life Continues to Evolve
- 1D: Theories of the History of Life
- BIG IDEA 2: ORGANISMS USE ENERGY AND MOLECULES TO GROW, REPRODUCE, AND MAINTAIN HOMEOSTASIS
- 2A: PHOTOSYNTHESIS, CELLULAR RESPIRATION, AND ENERGY
- 2B: CELL HOMEOSTASIS - CELL MEMBRANE PROCESSES
- 2.C: HOMEOSTASIS - POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
- 2.D: Growth and dynamic homeostasis of a biological system are influenced by changes in the system’s environment.
- 2.E: Many biological processes involved in growth, reproduction and dynamic homeostasis include temporal regulation and coordination.
- BIG IDEA 3: LIVING SYSTEMS STORE, RETRIEVE, TRANSMIT, AND RESPOND TO INFORMATION
- 3.A: DNA TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION
- 3.B: GENE REGULATION - TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION
- 3C: GENETIC MUTATIONS AND VIRUSES
- 3D: CELL COMMUNICATION AND SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION
- 3E: ANIMAL BEHAVIOR AND NERVOUS SYSTEM
- BIG IDEA 4: BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS INTERACT IN COMPLEX WAYS
- 4A: BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY
- 4.B: Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems.
- 4.C: Naturally occurring diversity among and between components within biological systems affects interactions with the environment.
- RESULTS AND RESOURCES
- AP BIO LABS: BIG IDEA 1 - EVOLUTION
- AP BIO LABS: BIG IDEA 2 -
- AP BIO LABS: BIG IDEA 3
- AP BIO LABS: BIG IDEA 4
Enduring understanding 1.D: The origin of living systems is explained by natural processes.
Essential knowledge 1.D.1: There are several hypotheses about the natural origin of life on Earth, each with supporting scientific evidence.
a. Scientific evidence supports the various models.
1. Primitive Earth provided inorganic precursors from which organic molecules could have been synthesized due to the presence of available free energy and the absence of a significant quantity of oxygen.
2. In turn, these molecules served as monomers or building blocks for the formation of more complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotides. [See also 4.A.1]
3. The joining of these monomers produced polymers with the ability to replicate, store and transfer information.
4. These complex reaction sets could have occurred in solution (organic soup model) or as reactions on solid reactive surfaces. [See also 2.B.1]
5. The RNA World hypothesis proposes that RNA could have been the earliest genetic material.
1. Primitive Earth provided inorganic precursors from which organic molecules could have been synthesized due to the presence of available free energy and the absence of a significant quantity of oxygen.
2. In turn, these molecules served as monomers or building blocks for the formation of more complex molecules, including amino acids and nucleotides. [See also 4.A.1]
3. The joining of these monomers produced polymers with the ability to replicate, store and transfer information.
4. These complex reaction sets could have occurred in solution (organic soup model) or as reactions on solid reactive surfaces. [See also 2.B.1]
5. The RNA World hypothesis proposes that RNA could have been the earliest genetic material.
Essential knowledge 1.D.2: Scientific evidence from many different disciplines supports models of the origin of life.
a. Geological evidence provides support for models of the origin of life on Earth.1. The Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago (bya), and the environment was too hostile for life until 3.9 bya, while the earliest fossil evidence for life dates to 3.5 bya. Taken together, this evidence provides a plausible range of dates when the origin of life could have occurred.
2. Chemical experiments have shown that it is possible to form complex organic molecules from inorganic molecules in the absence of life.
b. Molecular and genetic evidence from extant and extinct organisms indicates that all organisms on Earth share a common ancestral origin of life.
2. Chemical experiments have shown that it is possible to form complex organic molecules from inorganic molecules in the absence of life.
b. Molecular and genetic evidence from extant and extinct organisms indicates that all organisms on Earth share a common ancestral origin of life.