Brian Cox: How has life on earth become so varied? | Biology - Wonders of Life

Suitable for teaching 11-16s. Professor Brian Cox explores how life on Earth is so varied, despite us all being descended from one organism, known as LUCA. He examines how cosmic rays drive the mutations that create evolution. Subscribe for more Biology clips from BBC Teach on Mondays when we have them in: http://bit.ly/BBCSubscribeTeach If you found this video helpful, give it a like. Share it with someone. Add the video to your own teaching playlists. Create an account, subscribe to the channel and create playlists for different age groups, sets and syllabuses. ===================== Our natural world is spectacularly diverse, from the tiniest bacteria, to the tallest trees. But every living thing on the planet is descended from one organism we call the Last Universal Common Ancestor, or LUCA. We know this because all life shares the same fundamental biochemistry; our DNA is built from the same four organic bases. So what created the abundance of life forms? Using a cloud chamber to observe cosmic rays, Brian Cox explains how they’re an important source of mutation that drives the evolution of life. This clip is from the BBC series Wonders of Life, in which Professor Brian Cox explores biology and evolution, discovering how a few fundamental laws gave birth to the most complex, diverse and unique force in the universe – life. For more clips from Evolution, Variation, Natural Selection: http://bit.ly/BBCTeachEvolution For our Biology playlist: http://bit.ly/BBCTeachBiology For Class Clips users, the original reference for the clip was p01660f3. ===================== Teaching Biology or Science? Challenge students on the evidence that we have for how life began on Earth. Challenge them to order the evidence as to what they find the most persuasive and why. This clip will be relevant for teaching Biology at KS3 and KS4/GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and SQA National 3/4/5 in Scotland. ===================== For more clips from other subjects at the BBC Teach YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/bbcteach More from BBC Learning Zone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone More resources from BBC Bitesize: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education ===================== Subscribe to create your own customised playlists, and get notified about our latest clips. As we have them, new videos will be uploaded on the following days: Mondays: Biology, Computer Science, Music, Religion and Ethics Tuesdays: Drama and Performance, English Language, Maths, Physical Education Wednesdays: Languages, Media and Film studies, Modern studies, Physics Thursdays: Art and Design, Chemistry, Geography, History Fridays: Business Studies, Design and Technology, English Literature