In Redi's spontaneous generation experiment, what was the purpose of having one jar left open and the other one sealed?

Redi's experiment on spontaneous generation, conducted in the 17th century, aimed to investigate the origin of maggots on decaying meat. He designed an experiment with two jars: one jar was left open while the other was sealed.

The purpose of leaving one jar open was to allow access to the surrounding air and the potential for flies to lay their eggs on the meat inside. The open jar represented the natural conditions where living organisms (in this case, flies) could interact with the decaying meat, thus leading to the appearance of maggots.

Conversely, the sealed jar prevented any access to air and, consequently, to flies. This setup was intended to illustrate that if flies could not reach the meat, no maggots would appear, thereby providing evidence against the theory of spontaneous generation—the idea that life could arise spontaneously from non-living matter.

By comparing the two jars, Redi concluded that maggots (and ultimately other life forms) did not spontaneously generate from the meat itself, but rather came from eggs laid by flies. His experiment laid important groundwork for the development of the germ theory of disease and further studies related to biogenesis.

Simplify your answer to one sentence and use basic words like what a kid or student might say

In Redi's experiment, the open jar let flies lay eggs on the meat, while the sealed jar showed that without flies, no maggots appeared, proving that life doesn't just come from rotting meat.

No, answer what was the purpose of having one jar sealed and the other unsealed in the experiment in one sentence

The purpose of having one jar sealed and the other unsealed was to show that flies could only lay eggs on the meat in the open jar, which is why maggots appeared there and not in the sealed jar.

Now, why did redi carry out another experiment with three jars? Answer in one sentence

Redi carried out another experiment with three jars to further demonstrate that even when the meat was protected from direct access by flies (using gauze), no maggots would appear, showing that they couldn't come from the meat itself.