Biology Tables

3.3 Use the available evidence to outline similarities in the environments past and present for a
group of organisms with one of the following:
- Archaea
- Bacteria

Kingdom Group of Organisms Main Features of
Past Environment
Main Features
of Present
Environment
Similarities between Past and
Present Environment
Bacteria Cyanobacteria
Endospore-Forming
Bacteria
Actinomycetes
Stromatolites
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
Heliobacteria
Anoxic atmosphere

Ultraviolet radiation
from the sunlight
unfiltered due to a lack
of an ozone layer

Smoking vents

Sulfur hot springs


Found virtually
everywhere
including the air,
the soil and water,
on organisms and us

Super-chilled
Antarctic lakes
under sheets of ice

Boiling hot springs

Places with high
pressure such as the
Mariana Trench

Oxygen is not
specifically required.
Some bacteria still do not require
oxygen to thrive e.g. heliobacteria,
which are exclusively anaerobic

Bacteria still lives in extreme areas
today as they did before

Earth has an ozone layer now so UV
levels are not as intense as before




3.4 Analyse information from secondary sources to discuss the diverse environments that living
things occupy today and use available evidence to describe possible alternative environments in
which life may have originated.

Diverse environments that living things occupy today

For Against
Life thrives across all environments, which can prevent
life from going extinct
More competition between organisms which may result
in the extinction of certain species



Alternative Environment in which life may have originated

Alternative Environment Description of Alternative Environment
Hydrothermal Vent Water temperatures sometimes above 350 degrees Celsius, high pressure, no
sunlight, high amounts of dissolved minerals (toxic to land animals) such as
hydrogen sulfide
Panspermia Suggests life exists throughout the universe and is distributed by meteorites so
possible the first organism was locked inside a space rock that happened to land
on the earths surface with good conditions for reproduction.
Clouds Bacteria and other types of single celled organisms that are small enough to be
suspended in clouds so the origins of life could have been precipitated in rain
droplets and scattered across the world.
MIca Sheets Held together by potassium, which are similar to the levels of potassiums in our
bodies, near seawater which bathed the Mica, waves as a mechanical energy
source, mica sheets provide support, shelter and an energy source for
development of life