Essential Knowledge 1.C.1

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Essential knowledge 1.B.1

1. Photosynthesis in autotrophic organisms is an ancient process, which originated in some of the very first organisms to live on the Earth. As life has evolved, the process of photosynthesis has changed in some ways, but still has remained the staple metabolic process for autotrophic organisms. Considering how widely spread and deeply ingrained this process is in the history of autotrophs, it provides a significant basis for the common ancestry of organisms.

2. Though a large portion of life on Earth today does not go through the process of photosynthesis, pretty much all organisms go through cellular respiration. This process is vital to the survival of every kind of life on Earth and is conducted in essentially the same way in all of them. Considering how identical this facet of life is in every place in which it occurs, it is likely that the first organism to undergo cellular respiration eventually gave way to all the organisms in existence today.

3. The uniformity of the structure and function of DNA in all life means that, in some way, all living things are related. No species on Earth has DNA that is not made up of the same 4 nucleotides which code for the same 20 amino acids to make the proteins which determine the organisms structure and function and maintain its well being over the course of its existence. DNA is all different, but it's made up of the exact same materials and functions in the same way in everything, so all life is at least tied together in this way. DNA utilization is a common feature of every living thing, meaning that they all probably shared a similar origin.

Essential Knowledge 2.1.A

An example of an exergonic reaction is the reduction of acetylaldehyde, represented by the formula C2H4O + 2e- + 2H+ ----> C2H6O. In biological systems, this reaction is coupled with the endergonic oxidation of NADH, represented as NADH + H+ ----> NAD+ + 2e- + 2H+. The oxidation of NADH is vital for the process of cell respiration, so this reaction coupling is vital to most every organism. The combined equation for the coupled reaction is C2H4O + NADH + H+ ----> C2H6O + NAD+. Below are the energy graphs for the reduction of acetylaldehyde (left) and the oxidation of NADH (right).                                              

Essential Knowledge 1.C.1 (3D GameLab)

Essential knowledge 1.A.2: Natural selection acts on phenotypic variations in populations

21. Percentages in Light Forest and Dark Forest
In the light forest, the final color distribution of the moth population was 29% dark and 71% light. In the dark forest, the final color distribution of the moth population was 65% dark and 35% light.

22. Explain how the color of the moths increases or decreases their chances of survival.

If the moth's coloring contrasts with the moth's environment, then its chances of survival are decreased due to the moth clearly standing out to predators. If the moth's coloring blends with the moth's environment, then its chances of survival are increased due to an increased difficulty for predators to see the moth.

23. Explain the concept of "natural selection" using your moths as an example.

In the light-colored tree environment, the dark coloring phenotype for moths was selected against as it served as a selective disadvantage for the moths, since they stood out clearly to predators. Thus, natural selection favored the light coloring phenotype and that trait prevailed. In the dark-colored tree environment, the light coloring phenotype was selected against as it served as a selective disadvantage for the moths, since they stood out clearly to predators. Thus, natural selection favored the dark coloring phenotype and that trait prevailed.

24. What would happen if there were no predators in the forest? Would the colors of the moths change over time? Defend your answer.

Without predators in the forest, the colors of the moths would not change significantly over time, since there would be no motivation for the population to change. Natural selection requires some sort of obstacle for a population to face in response to which one trait provides an advantage or disadvantage to the species.

Example

One example of an evolutionary change in a population is tied to a change in its environment is the development of DDT resistance in insects. In areas where DDT has been used as an insecticide, small percentages of the insect population were resistant prior to the utilization of the chemical; after its use, only the resistant insects survived, allowing them a huge selective advantage against non-resistant insects. Since the insects' environment changed when DDT was introduced, the population was able to evolve in response to the change. Humans were the real cause of this evolutionary shift, as we introduced the chemical which altered the insects' environment and kickstarted their evolution. The impact of this evolution on the future means that the use of DDT in areas where it has been used previously may be completely ineffective if the insects evolved in response to it.

Essential Knowledge 2.A.1 (3D GameLab)

The dissolving of basic table salt, NaCl, into water is an example of an endergonic reaction from a chemistry standpoint because an input of energy is needed to turn the substance from a stable solid state into sodium and chlorine ions. By the same token, energy is released when sodium and chlorine ions are combined to form NaCl. These two elements combine into a stable solid substance. 

Essential Knowledge 1.B.1 (3D GameLab)

One conserved core biological process is the use of DNA and RNA as the carriers of genetic information for all living organisms. With this, organisms share dependence on the transfer of information through transcription, translation, and DNA replication. The influence of DNA is observed particularly in nucleotides; all living organisms share the same four adenosine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine nucleotides, though their sequences (and thus, the amino acids and proteins for which they code) may differ extremely. A specific example of how this conserved core biological process works between organisms is the transformation of recombinant DNA so that the coded characteristics of one organism may be taken up by a different organism. This supports the idea of common ancestry because over time, and over the millions of years of evolution, we can understand how small phenotypic changes corresponding to small changes in gene sequence were passed over many generations.

Another conserved core biological process is the presence of mitochondria and/or chloroplasts in all eukaryotic cells. Both are organelles which support the processing of energy. The endosymbiont theory states that a prokaryotic cell that consumed oxygen and a photosynthetic prokaryotic cell were both ingested by the ancestor of the eukaryotic cell. There came to be an endosymbiotic relationship, or an equally beneficial relationship, between the host cell and its bacteria. The occurrence of this proposed relationship over millions of years supports the idea of common ancestry in that all eukaryotic cells came from this common ancestor cell with these organelles. Even the organelles evolved from prokaryotic bacterium to take on new functions.

Another conserved core biological process is the conservation of metabolic pathways across all currently recognized domains. One important example is the performance of glycolysis of cellular respiration across all organisms. Similarly, organisms that rely on photosynthesis have both light and dark reactions within their chloroplasts. Such similarities between organisms support the idea of common ancestry in that all eukaryotic cells depend on the same processes, a level even deeper than that of common organelles.