Lesson 2 Activity 1

Who was Charles Darwin?

Today it is widely accepted that the Earth orbits the Sun and not the other way
around. But before Copernicus proposed this idea in 1543, people did not understand
the structure of the solar system. They assumed that Earth was at the center of everything.
Similarly, before Darwin published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, most
people assumed that each species appeared on Earth spontaneously and was unrelated to other
living things. Today, thanks to Darwin, it is generally accepted that all living things are related.
They share, in Darwin's terms, a common ancestor. We now know that they also share a common
genetic blueprint. So when Darwin observed nature, what did he see that led him to his
revolutionary perspective? How did he develop his theory of evolution by natural selection?

Procedure:
Part A. Darwins Great Voyage of Discovery

In 1831, at the time of Darwin's voyage, travel was difficult and costly, and people seldom
ventured far from their homes. Darwin, however, spent five years exploring the world. He
set foot on many locations in the Southern hemisphere. As he traveled from place to place,
Darwin was surprised, not by the differences between species, but by their similarities. He wrote in
his journal of the Galapagos Islands, "...there is even a difference between the inhabitants of the
different islands; yet all show a marked relationship with those of America, though separated from
that continent by an open space of ocean, between 500 and 600 miles in width." At this early stage in
his life, soon after graduating from college, Darwin was already accumulating evidence and asking
questions that would lead to his theory of natural selection. Follow in Darwin's footsteps as he
travels the world and changes from an amateur naturalist to a noted scientist.

1. Trace Darwin's voyage by reading the excerpts. You will find that the journal excerpts are not in
chronological order. Each journal excerpt describes a location and includes a date and latitude and
longitude listing. The Voyage of the Beagle is a collection of many of Darwin's journals, and he
arranged the entries in this book by geographical area rather than by time.

Make a list of the longitude and latitude listings in the correct time sequence.

Number them and then place these numbers in the place on the map that corresponds to
their longitude and latitude readings.

Label each location on the map with the date he visited.

Connect the excerpt locations with a line. Start in England in 1831 and follow Darwin's route
until he arrived back in England in 1836.

2. When you are finished with your map, draw small pictures to represent the observations Darwin
made as he explored places along his route. If you don't have room on your map, you may want to
draw the illustrations on an additional sheet of paper and number them to correspond to places on
the map.

For extra credit, you may add other places mentioned in Darwin's journal excerpts and letters to
make a more accurate path.

Part B. Observations Lead to a Theory

1. Create a table ten rows x two columns. List ten significant observations Darwin made in one
column and the significance of the observations in another column. Reflect on the importance
of Darwin's voyage to the development of his theory of natural selection.
 Lesson 2 Activity 2
Who was Charles Darwin?

Charles Darwin did not step off the Beagle and discover "evolution" lurking under a
rock on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin based his theory on his own observations and
the work of previous scientists. For instance, geologist Charles Lyell argued in 1830 that the Earth
was formed through gradual, slow moving processes. This helped give Darwin the idea that living
things might also evolve. The English economist Thomas Malthus had the idea that since more
creatures are born each year than the number that die, populations are held in check by famine and
disease. This sparked Darwin's idea about natural selection. Perhaps evolution was not a surprising
idea, but an idea whose time had come. After all, Alfred Russell Wallace sent a letter to Darwin
proposing very similar ideas before Darwin had published his theory. In this activity, you will see
how evolutionary theory depended on the scientific ideas that came before it and influenced the ideas
that followed it.

Procedure:
Part A. Evolutionary Theory Evolves

1. Visit the Evolution Revolution Web activity at the following address and select the
link below the evolution revolution picture. Once you get the timeline, click "Rise of
Evolution" (upper right of time line). This will mark all related events.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/lesson2/act2.html

Tape three sheets of white paper together, end to end, the long way, and use a ruler to draw
a line across the center.

Devise a scale for your timeline starting with 1543 and continuing to the present.

Add the 31 events from world history to the top half of your timeline.

Visit the Hyper History Web site at
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html and choose at least 20 events from
world history. Place these events on the bottom part of your timeline. You should find events
that are familiar to you, so when you look at the timeline as a whole, you will have a better
sense of when the important steps in the development of evolutionary thought took place.

Label this half of the timeline "Events in World History."

Part B: If only he had known..

Highlight the events or individuals on the evolution section of your timeline that influenced
Charles Darwin as he created his theory of natural selection.

Use another color to highlight or circle the people or events that could have helped Darwin if
he had known about them.

Discuss your selections with your classmates. Speculate about how Darwin's theory might
have been different if he had known about genetics, the age of the Earth, and other related
ideas.

Record key parts of the above discussion on the back of your timeline.