AGE CATEGORY

Age 1116 B1
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TEACHER GUIDANCE SHEET

ELT GEOLOGY GEOGRAPHY FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Darwin and evolution

Between 1831 and 1836 Darwin travelled as a naturalist on the Beagle and visited different parts of South America. During the voyage he made many observations which contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.
Charles Darwin wanted to know why there were so many different species present on earth. He noticed that things that lived a long time ago differed from those alive in his time but often looked a bit like modern animals and plants. He wondered whether, over time, living things could gradually change or evolve into new forms. So each species would have arisen from one that came before it like dogs have evolved from wolves. During his five-year voyage on the Beagle, Darwin made many observations which contributed to his theory of evolution. Two of these were made in Punta Alta and the Galpagos Islands. A few years after returning to England, he said he had been greatly struck from on character of S. American fossils & species on Galapagos Archipelago. These facts origin (especially latter) of all my views. In other words, the observations on fossils in Patagonia and Punta Alta together with the different species in the Galpagos, helped him find a natural explanation to the variety of species on earth. Charles Darwins idea about how species evolve states that: When living things reproduce, they produce offspring that resemble them This resemblance is close, but not perfect, so that each generation includes individuals that differ slightly form their parents This new variation may affect whether an individual is able to survive and reproduce

A perfect catacomb for monsters of extinct races

This first activity focuses on Darwins discoveries in Punta Alta. After explaining to your pupils that during his five-year voyage Darwin made many observations that contributed to his theory of evolution, you could just write the quotation a perfect catacomb for monsters of extinct races on the board for them to try and work out what it is that Darwin found in Punta Alta. After your pupils have reached the conclusion that Darwin found fossils, you can give them the worksheet to read the two paragraphs about his discoveries at Punta Alta. The questions should be used as discussion points. Where is Punta Alta? What is it like? What do you think he discovered in Punta Alta?

There is a clear reference in the fact that from Punta Alta they could see the harbour of Bahia Blanca, a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He discovered fossils of gigantic land animals in Punta Alta. In the second part of this section, students are asked to read the extracts and to decide if the sentences below are a correct summary of each section. You can ask students to account for their answers.
a He found a small animal that reminded him of the

Rhinoceros. False. The animal he found was large and reminded him of the Rhinoceros.

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Age 1116 B1
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b

He enjoyed excavating fossils. True. This can be seen from his description of the beautiful place and the joy with which he felt. He found the bones of an ostrich on its nest when he was looking for fossils the second day. False. He found ostriches, not their bones. The observations made by Darwin in Punta Alta contributed to the development of his theory of evolution by natural selection. True.

Finally, students are asked about a fossil that is very much associated with Darwin, that of the glyptodon. They will find it relatively easy to find a photo of the fossil and will immediately realise how much it looks like an armadillo.
In South America he discovered fossils of gigantic extinct mammals including megatheria and glyptodons in places which showed no signs of catastrophe or change in climate. After the voyage, Richard Owen showed that the remains were of animals related to living creatures in the same area. In Argentina two species of rhea had separate but overlapping territories. On the Galpagos Islands Darwin found that mockingbirds differed from one island to another, and on returning to Britain he was shown that Galpagos tortoises were also in distinct species based on the individual islands they lived on. He used the Galapagos Islands fauna as evidence for evolution. 1

Evolution in action
In 1835 Darwin spent more than a month in the Galpagos Islands. He made observations and collected many specimens. Still, it was not until he returned to England that he realised how important this part of the voyage had been. Students are asked to discuss if the following are true or false before reading the text. Encourage them to account for their answers, but do not correct wrong answers at this point. T Darwin was on the Galapagos Islands for one week. Darwin was interested in the vegetation there. His theory of evolution was, partly, based on observations made on the Galpagos. The Galpagos Islands belong to Ecuador. F x x x
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There were similar birds on the continent. Do you think they were linked to the ones on Galpagos or were each created independently? Darwin had seen similar birds on the American continent. In the Cape Verde islands he saw birds that were similar to ones in Africa. He thought it was very difficult that the birds on the islands and on the continents were too similar to have been created independently from one another. He thought they were probably linked. Could the isolation of islands help explain the existence of different species? When Darwin visited the islands, he collected many specimens but it was only when he returned to England that it was confirmed that they belonged to different species. As the different species came from different islands, it made him wonder whether isolation did not force evolution. Why was Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection so innovative at the time? What did many people believe in? It was innovative because many people believed that species had been created independently from one another, immutable and each one created by God.

x
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They are now ready to read the text and give further thought to the points mentioned above. In the case of the mocking-bird, I ascertained (and have brought home the specimens) that one species is exclusively found in Charles Island; a second on Albemarle Island; and a third common to James and Chatham Islands. The last two species are closely allied, but the first would be considered by every naturalist as quite distinct.
from Journal of Researches, 1836

Find out what others say about Darwin

The last activity is based on the first three minutes of a presentation by James Moore, Professor of History and Science, technology and Medicine at the Open University in the UK. The listening text can be found at http://www.britishcouncil.org/darwin-homepage.htm (click on watch and listen, then audio and the link is Steve Jones PhD). After listening to the audio, pupils should be in a good position to decide if the statements are true or false. Key a-T b-T c-T d-F e-T f-T g-F h-F i-F j-F k-T l-T

Food for thought

This section challenges your students to give even further thought to the observations made by Darwin and their contribution to the development of his theory of evolution. Ask them to read the text and then answer the questions.

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AGE CATEGORY

Age 1116 B1
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