Terra: The land, the planet Earth. Vivida: Teaming with life.
This web site is the new home of educational resources created by me, Jon Maber. Facilities are available for students and teachers to annotate the materials and therefore incorporate the web site into Virtual Learning Environments, Course Management Systems or other web sites.
Access to materials is totally free and anyone who signs up can make personal annotations within the pages, also with no charge. Course tutors can publish their annotations for a fee.
Text and photos are copyright of Jon Maber 2005 - jonmaber@terravivida.comIndex of Resources
The Origins of Molecules - Chemistry
Monosaccharides are a class of sugar molecule which are significant
for those who study the origins of life. This tool helps you
explore the most important monosaccharides, theirs names and
structures.
The Origins of Life Processes - Biochemistry
Overview of Metabolism - - Planned for later this year.
Living cells can process certain sugar molecules, rearranging their atoms and this
process can supply energy to the cell to power growth and other functions. This process
is called glycolysis. Glycolysis evolved billions of years ago when there was no oxygen
in the earth's atmosphere and it was therefore impossible for cells to gain energy from
the oxidation of sugar molecules using oxygen. Later when oxygen was produced as a byproduct
of photosynthesis cells evolved to utilise oxygen to oxidise the product of glycolysis
and capture much more energy.
The metabolic process, Glycolysis, starting with glucose and ending with lactic acid
consists of eleven separate chemical transformations. These pages provide chemical data,
reaction diagrams and animations for each step.
This interactive exercise is intended to help you understand why glycolysis has evolved
to the form that we can observe in living cells and how it is so efficient that it seems
to resemble a designed process. THIS IS NOT A QUIZ - when presented with options you should
choose the wrong answers to gain maximum understanding.
This page explains the formation of Acetyl Co-enzyme A which is key to
the synthesis of many organic molecules in cells. An acetyl group is a simple
two-carbon-atom molecule which is sufficiently reactive to make it possible
to use as a building block for larger carbon skeletons.
These pages show the steps of the metabolic pathway called the Tricarboxylic Acid (TCA) cycle.
Otherwise known as the citric acid cycle and the Krebs cycle. Data sheets, reaction diagrams
and animations are provided for each step.
Planned for the future...
The Origins of Atoms - Physics
- Forces, energy and mass.
- The formation of atoms in stars.
- The origin of the planet Earth.
- Electrons - atomic orbitals.
The Origins of Molecules - Chemistry
- Properties of atomic elements.
- The origins of molecules.
- Prebiotic soup on the, as yet, dead Earth.
- Organic Catalysts.
The Origins of Protozoa - Cell Biology
- The origins of membranes.