Origin of Life: Short Notes

  • The final phase in Earth’s evolution was the “Origin of Life”. Life began with a chemical reaction that produced complex organic molecules capable of self-replication. These molecules turned inorganic matter into living things.
  • Life is believed to have started on Earth around 3.5 to 4 billion years ago. Scientists study the origin and development of life using fossils. Life evolved from single-celled organisms to more complex forms over time.
  • The earliest known single-celled creatures appeared around 3.5 billion years ago, about a billion years after Earth formed. More complex life forms evolved gradually, with multicellular organisms emerging about 600 million years ago.
  • The transition from simple single-celled life to multicellular organisms was a significant event in Earth’s history, dramatically changing the planet’s environment.

Origin of Life| Class 11 Geography Notes

Class 11 Geography Chapter 2: Origin of Life: The start of life from basic materials that weren’t alive is called the origin of life. When simpler life forms change and become more complex over time, it’s called the evolution of life. Life began on Earth around 3.5 to 4 billion years ago, and it’s been changing and growing ever since. In the beginning, all life was simple, just single cells. Later on, more complex creatures with many cells appeared, and this led to a huge variety of life on Earth.

In this article, we will delve deep into the topic of “Origin of Life” from Chapter 2 of the NCERT Class 12 Geography book. These notes are specially curated by an expert team at w3wiki for all the students.

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Origin of Life

The final stage of Earth’s evolution involves the beginning and development of life. At first, Earth or its atmosphere wasn’t suitable for life to form. Scientists today believe life began through a chemical reaction. This reaction created complex organic molecules that could make copies of themselves, turning non-living stuff into living things. Evidence of life from different times is preserved in rocks as fossils. Microscopic structures similar to present-day blue-green algae have been found in rocks over 3 billion years old. It’s estimated life started evolving about 3.8 billion years ago. The Geological Time Scale summarizes life’s evolution from single-celled bacteria to modern humans....

Geological Time Scale Table

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Formation of Planets

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Evolution of Earth

In the beginning, the Earth was a hot, rocky, and barren object. Hydrogen and helium gases were present. It formed around 4.6 billion years ago and developed a layered structure. A lighter layer formed on the outer surface. Density increased towards the core as you moved inward....

Evolution of Lithosphere

The lithosphere is the outer layer of the Earth. In its early days, the Earth was very active and unpredictable. As the Earth’s density increased, so did the temperature inside its core. This caused materials inside the Earth to separate based on their densities. Heavier materials sank towards the center, while lighter ones rose towards the surface. This process, called differentiation, led to the separation of lighter and denser materials. As the lighter materials cooled, they solidified to form the Earth’s outer layer, known as the crust. During the formation of the Moon, the Earth was heated up, leading to further differentiation and the formation of different layers inside the Earth. These layers include the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core....

Evolution of Atmosphere and Evolution of Hydrosphere

The evolution of the atmosphere happened in three stages. Initially, the Earth’s atmosphere consisted mainly of hydrogen and helium. Changes occurred due to solar winds. As the Earth’s core heated up and then cooled, gases and water vapor were released, leading to changes in the atmosphere, a process known as degassing. This expelled gases like hydrogen and helium from the Earth’s interior....

Origin of Life: Short Notes

The final phase in Earth’s evolution was the “Origin of Life”. Life began with a chemical reaction that produced complex organic molecules capable of self-replication. These molecules turned inorganic matter into living things. Life is believed to have started on Earth around 3.5 to 4 billion years ago. Scientists study the origin and development of life using fossils. Life evolved from single-celled organisms to more complex forms over time. The earliest known single-celled creatures appeared around 3.5 billion years ago, about a billion years after Earth formed. More complex life forms evolved gradually, with multicellular organisms emerging about 600 million years ago. The transition from simple single-celled life to multicellular organisms was a significant event in Earth’s history, dramatically changing the planet’s environment....

Conclusion

Apart from the Origin of Life, this article also covers the following topics from the chapter “The Origin and Evolution of Earth”: Formation of Planets, Evolution of Earth, Evolution of Lithosphere and Evolution of Atmosphere and Evolution of Hydrosphere. In conclusion, we’ve explored the evolution of Earth and how its layers formed. We’ve also delved into the origin of life, tracing the journey from single-celled organisms to complex life forms. It’s important to mention the Big Bang Theory when discussing life’s origin. This theory suggests that the universe, including Earth and its diverse life forms, came into being around 20 billion years ago due to a massive explosion....

Origin of Life- FAQs

What is origin of life class 11 geography?...