Plants are critical to other life on this planet because they form the basis of all food webs. Most plants are autotrophic, creating their own food using water, carbon dioxide, and light through a process called photosynthesis. Some of the earliest fossils found have been aged at 3.8 billion years. These fossil deposits show evidence of photosynthesis, so plants, or the plant-like ancestors of plants, have lived on this planet longer that most other groups of organisms. At one time, anything that was green and that wasn’t an animal was considered to be a plant. Now, what were once considered “plants” are divided into several kingdoms: Protista, Fungi, and Plantae. Most aquatic plants occur in the kingdoms Plantae and Protista.
It is believed that the earth was originally an aggregation of dust and swirling gases about 4.5 billion years ago. The earliest fossil life forms are 3.8 billion years old and contain simple prokaryotic (without a membrane-bound nucleus) cells. The atmosphere at that time was mostly nitrogen gas, with large portions of carbon dioxide and water vapour. Since life evolved in this atmosphere, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen (major elements of nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide and water) make up 98% of the organic materials in living organisms. There was no oxygen in the early atmosphere, so all life existed in an anaerobic environment.
Since no human was alive to document the events of the early earth, much of our information has been pieced together from studies of the fossil record. It is now believed that the earth 4.0 billion years ago was a very tumultuous place; there were violent electrical storms, radioactive substances emitting large quantities of energy, and molten rock and boiling water erupting from beneath the earth’s surface. These forces broke apart the simple gases in the atmosphere, causing them to reorganize into more complex molecules. Ultraviolet light bombarded the surface of the earth, breaking apart the complex molecules and forming new ones. These complex compounds were washed out of the atmosphere by driving rains and subsequently collected in the oceans.
Many organic molecules tend to clump together, so the early oceans probably had aggregations of organic molecules that looked like droplets of oil in water. These clusters of molecules may have been the ancestors of primitive cells. They may also have been the source of energy for early life forms; primitive cells could have used these complex compounds to satisfy their energy requirements.
Creating an Artificial Environment Has Technology morally put the environment and nature on the back burner? Are we living lifestyles that are constantly putting our health at risk? Due to technology our economic status is on the verge of collapsing? Is there a race by Americans to see who could use the resources of the earth faster? These questions and a lot other arise when discussing the problems with our environment. Through my research paper on an artificial environment I hope to cover
literature is the trait of its being intensely autobiographical and subjective. Similarly, "Essays of Elia" unfold the life history and idiosyncratic mind of Charles Lamb in a semi-factual way. The real delight for the Romantic comes from his infusion of fact and fiction as, otherwise, his essays would have become mere boring and passionless statements about his personal and private life. Our charm and fascination do not grow less, for we are never too close to the reality or surrounded by totally imaginary
The Destruction of Identity in Vertigo, The Tenant, & Mulholland Drive The rudimentary form of narrative storytelling lends itself towards application to an individual subject’s life story due to the correspondence of a narrative’s finite bounds and the subject’s mortality. Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958), The Tenant (dir. Roman Polanski, 1976), and Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch, 2001) are consistent with this idea because their narratives follow an individual human subject from
essay by immediately throwing life and death into a strange coincidental twist. On the 29th of July, 1943 Baldwin’s youngest sibling was born and on the same day just hours earlier his father took his last breath of air from behind the white sheets of a hospital bed. It seems all too ironic and honestly overwhelming for Baldwin. From these events Baldwin creates a woven interplay of events that smother a conscience the and provide insight to a black struggle against life. “He had been ill a long
Throughout Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie provides a fundamental, yet intricate variety of literary usage. These instances of literary usage provide and framework of support for the text which is to follow and to further accentuate the smaller and unnoticeable details of the story in to vital parts which are necessary for better comprehension and understanding of the meaning of the upcoming events. Symbolism is the most commonly used and most imperative literary device used by Rushdie
Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya defends the assertion, “for in much wisdom there is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow,” from Ecclesiastes. Tony endures many trials throughout the novel, therefore increasing his knowledge of life but also increasing his grief and sorrow. After witnessing Lupito’s death, Tony realizes that people are not always what they appear to be. Tony also begins to question his religion because of trials in the novel, some of which include Lucas’ cure
found out through the TV show “Nightline” that his life long friend and teacher is dying and Mitch knows that he has to go and see him. Mitch goes to see his old college professor and what starts out as a one-day meeting turns into a four-month “class”. The class is conducted in Morrie’s house in the suburb or Boston, there is no books or any other students, just Mitch and Morrie. Throughout this class Morrie teaches Mitch the lessons of life; lessons such as death, fear, aging, greed, marriage
us about social conditions and attitudes in the 1950's? The play "A Taste of Honey" is about a group of people who live in Salford, Lancashire. The main characters are Helen and Jo. Helen is a woman who has to use her sexuality to get ahead in life. Jo is Helen's daughter. Geoff and Peter are the men in the play. Geoff looks after Jo when Helen runs off to marry Peter. Jo is pregnant throughout the play and there is a possibility that her child will be black. Geoff is a homosexual, this comforts
and the illusions created to cover up the tragic reality. The reality versus illusion theme exhibits the parallelisms and the distinctions between the plays. The subject of human values may be compared through the points of view, the imagery, and the life lessons of the two works. All My Sons denounces immorality more directly then Death of a Salesman. Joe Keller's refusal to stop the shipment of cracked cylinder heads causes the deaths of innocent American soldiers. The grim reality is that he allowed
and its functions were beginning to rapidly pick up. The poem that he 'Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye', gave him a chance to reflect upon his quick paced life by taking a moment to slow down and absorb the beauty of nature that allows one to 'see into the life of things'; (line 49). Wordsworth's 'Tintern Abbey'; takes you on a series of emotional states by trying to sway 'readers and himself, that the loss of innocence and intensity over time is compensated
Henry David Thoreau was man of simplicity, and if he were to experience life in Cary, he would not only be surprised, but disappointed in humanity itself. Thoreau believed in the necessities of life, nothing more, and the people of Cary live lives exactly the opposite. Cary residents live lives of material possessions, business, and over-complexity. These traits of society are precisely opposite of Thoreau’s ideals and beliefs. Not only would Thoreau be disappointed, but his eyes would be filled
nature is a very vital theme in volume I of Frankenstein. Mary Shelly incessantly portrays science and nature. At first Mary shelly illustrate the nature of life as distressing, sorrowful and frail. She does this by demonstrating illnesses, deaths and sorrow of the loved ones leaving and diseases. By doing this Mary shelly is representing life as a pathetic game, which has no other meanings than depression and grief, and how easily it could be vanished. Examples in volume I could be the death of
c) a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d) one that shows great courage. Most of society considers a hero to be someone that saves another person’s life. The person doesn’t necessarily have great strength or ability. In mythology, a hero is a role model with extreme courage that does something to change or improve life for everyone. Heracles, from Greek mythology, is one of the greatest examples of a hero. The story of Heracles is a simple one. Alcmene, a mere mortal, is tricked
Jack London's Attitude Towards Life in the Short Story, "The Law of Life" Jack London, real name John Griffith Chaney, is well known "American novelist and short story writer, born in California" (Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature 629). London's short story "The Law of Life" was first published in Mc Clure's Magazine in 1901. "It was one of his first stories written around the time at which London had just discovered that this way of writing made the biggest impression on the reader
Gaia: Argument over a single word THESIS: Life on earth has been considered by some as a purposeful interaction tending toward ecological stability. However, when the scientific community led by James Lovelock tried to match this concept with science, it was (and continues to be) a dilemma. Introduction Whenever one hears the word Gaia, he or she will also hear life, goddess, purpose, ecology, and undoubtedly controversy. Not many topics have provoked more controversy among the scientific