I.

Chemical conditions on the early earth set the stage for the origin and evolution of life Matter in our solar system formed from the debris of supernovae that exploded over 5 billion years ago. Most of the resulting swirling matter condensed in the center as the sun. The Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago from peripheral material spinning around the early sun. The early Earth was initially cold, but melted from heat generated by compaction, radioactive decay and meteorite impact. The resulting molten material sorted into layers of varying density. Most nickel and iron sank to the center. Less dense material concentrated into a mantle. Least dense material settled on the surface solidifying into a thin crust. Present continents are attached to plates of crust that float on the semisolid, flexible mantle. Chemical conditions on the early earth were probably quite different from today. The first early atmosphere was mostly hot hydrogen gas made of small molecules that escaped the earth's gravitational pull. The second early atmosphere consisted mostly of water vapor, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane and ammonia released by volcanoes and vents through the Earth's crust. As the earth cooled, water vapor condensed and rainfall formed the first seas. Lightning, volcanic activity and ultraviolet radiation were more intense than at present. Under these conditions of early Earth, the first primitive cellular forms of life evolved. II. Life is organized on many structural levels

A characteristic of life is a high degree of order. Biological organization is based on a hierarchy of structural levels, with each level building on the levels below it.