For Multiple Choice Section (25 questions, each worth one point)
1) What is ATP, ADP, AMP? How is it used and re-generated? Is it universal to all life?
2) What basically happens in a Redox reaction? Which is the reducer, which is the oxidizer?
3) Know the four most common biochemical pathways for life to obtain energy.
4) What's the difference between hetero- and auto-trophs? Chemo and Photo-synthetic?
5) Where might you find: Barophiles? Thermophiles? Psychrophiles? Endoliths or Halophiles?
6) How might complex organic molecules have been naturally made in the early Earth? (3 ways)
7) What is the Miller-Urey Experiment? Why is it probably not very important to early Earth?
8) What is cosmic ancestry? What evidence would support life starting on Earth this way?
9) What can DNA tell us about evolution and about the oldest common ancestor to all Earth Life?
10) What was the earliest life likely like? What evidence is there for this `educated guess'?
11) Know the Tree of Life and 3 domains. What do humans have in common with Bacteria, Archaea?
12) What are Hydrogen bonds? What causes it? What affect does it have on the behavior of water?
13) What 3-4 unique characteristics of water make it the likely basis for ALL life, even elsewhere?
14) Why is ALL life probably Carbon-based? What important characteristics does C have over Si?
15) What is the minimum mass for a habitable planet? Why? What makes for a habitable planet?
16) How is Mars similar to Earth? How is it different? (orbit, seasons, atmosphere, etc)
17) Is there water on Mars presently? Where is it known to exist? Where is it thought to exist?
18) Mars' surface can get very warm, yet liquid water is not stable on Mars' surface. Why?
19) What evidence suggests sub-surface liquid water? How so, if it can't exist on the surface?
20) How is Volcanism on Mars different from Earth? Is there Plate Tectonics? Why/Why not?
21) What is so special about Olympus Mons? Why did it get so big? Is it currently active?
22) How were the SNC meteorites first identified? How were they linked to Mars?
23) What were the Viking Missions? Know the 4 tests. Which was the most important finding?
24) Why are most meteorites found in Antarctica? How do rocks from Mars get to Earth?
25) What are PAHs? What was unusual about the PAHs found in ALH 84001?
26) What was wrong with the size of the Martian fossils found in ALH 84001? Why?
Concepts for Essay Section. (Worth 5 pts) I will ask you exactly ONE of these sets of questions from the following topics. You'll need to know them all to be fully prepared. Full sentences are required, though tabular presentations are fine, too.
[A Habitable Planet] What is the minimum mass for a habitable planet? What does this minimum mass provide? What three other characteristics are important for life on the surface of a planet and WHY? How does Earth provide these three presently?
[Water.] Name at least 3 important and unique characteristics of water and how this has been important to water-based organisms and life on Earth. Why do we think extraterrestrial life will require liquid water? What is required on a planet or moon for liquid water to exist?
[Viking Mission.] List and describe the four experiments (three biological, one chemical) that were done during the Viking Mission. What was their result? Which experiment was most definitive (no possibility life on surface) and why?
[Extremophiles.] Give four examples of these organisms and the conditions under which they thrive. Which are most closely connected to the Universal Ancestor and early life? How do we know that? What is important about them in considering life on other planets/moons?