Key Scientists
Origins of Life
Cell Theory
Experiments and Theories
Characteristics of living things
100

He boiled broth... but not for long enough, mistakenly “supporting” spontaneous generation.

John Needham

100

What energy source did the Urey–Miller experiment use to simulate lightning?

An electrical spark

100

The scientist who named “cells” after observing cork.

Robert Hooke

100

This 1665 book by Robert Hooke described the first observations of “cells” in cork.

Micrographia

100

The smallest unit of life.

A cell

200

Used sealed broth experiments to show microbes came from the air, not broth.

Lazzaro Spallanzani

200

Meat left uncovered attracted maggots, but covered meat did not. What idea did this challenge?

Spontaneous generation

200

Proposed all plants and animals are made of cells.

Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann

200

What gases were included in the Urey–Miller setup to simulate early Earth?

Methane (CH₄), ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen (H₂), and water vapor (H₂O)

200

All living things maintain a stable internal environment, a process called ____.

Homeostasis

300

Used curved-neck flasks to disprove spontaneous generation.

Louis Pasteur

300

In the Urey–Miller experiment, gases like methane, hydrogen, ammonia, and water were used. What important molecules formed as a result?

Amino acids (organic molecules)

300

Scientist who discovered that all cells come from pre-existing cells.

Rudolf Virchow

300

What feature of mitochondria and chloroplasts provides strong evidence for endosymbiosis?

They contain their own DNA and ribosomes.

300

Living things use energy to build and break down molecules. This set of processes is called ____.

Metabolism

400

He showed that maggots on meat came from flies, not the meat itself.

Francesco Redi

400

Curved-neck flasks showed that no life appeared unless dust and microbes reached the broth. What principle did this prove?

Biogenesis (life comes from life)

400

The three main points of classical cell theory include: (1) All organisms are made of cells, (2) Cells are the basic unit of life, and (3) ____.

“All cells come from pre-existing cells”

400

Which gas was absent from Earth’s early atmosphere (and Urey-Miller's Experiment) but is abundant today?

Oxygen (O₂)

400

When a seed grows into a plant or a tadpole becomes a frog, this life characteristic is being demonstrated.

Grow and change

500

These two scientists simulated early Earth conditions to create amino acids.

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey

500

Margulis proposed that mitochondria and chloroplasts were once free-living bacteria that formed a partnership inside cells. What theory is this?

Endosymbiotic theory

500

He observed blood cells, sperm cells, and bacteria, opening up a new world of microscopic life.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

500

Mitochondria and chloroplasts likely originated from these.

Free-living bacteria

500

Populations of living things change over time, passing traits to offspring. This long-term change is called ____.

Evolution