Resources: Internet/books for research
Core Handout (2): The handout provides a template for the children to write their report on Darwin's scientific findings.
Challenge Handout (4): The handout provides space for the children to predict why Darwin's ideas were controversial before researching the reasons why and recording their findings.
Enquiry Skill - Interpreting and communicating results
Using information, results and data to present findings, including oral and written explanations.
Enquiry Approach - Research
Using information from a variety of sources to answer scientific questions.
Use the starter slides to recap learning about fossils. Then show the images of animals that have made incredible adaptations to suit their environment. Discuss what adaptations these animals have made to make them better suited to their environment and why these traits have passed down from parent to offspring. Can the children think of any further examples of animal adaptations?
Use the presentation to explore and discuss the life and work of Charles Darwin. Learn about his discoveries on his trip to the Galapagos Islands.
The children are asked to match the finch’s beak with its diet. (The answers are: 1-C, 2-B, 3-D, 4-E, 5-A).
Explore the term natural selection, which was the term Charles Darwin chose to describe the process by which living things adapt to their habitat. He put forward the idea that the living things which hadn't been able to adapt were the ones that went extinct.
Expert Film: Mike Linley talks about Charles Darwin and the Galapagos Islands.
Ask the children to create a scientific report explaining Charles Darwin’s observations and theories. Explain that this report would be used to convince the community at the time of this new theory. Using the handout as a prompt, the children could include some of the following:
The children could use the internet to research further. Encourage them to use evidence and examples to back up their ideas and format their report using headings and subheadings. There are many ways the children could complete this, and the handout offers a guide only. Children could present this report in their own way, on paper, on a classroom display or as a verbal presentation.
Challenge Task: When Charles Darwin published his ideas about evolution, they were very controversial. Using the handout, the children can predict why they think some of Charles Darwin’s ideas were problematic at the time. The children can then use the internet to find out the real reasons and compare them with their predictions.
In pairs, the children can present their papers. Ask them to think about whether they have been persuaded by their partner’s ideas and explanations.
The theory of evolution by natural selection is a scientific explanation for how species change over time. It was first proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid-19th century and has since become one of the most widely accepted scientific theories.
The basic idea of natural selection is that individuals with certain heritable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce in a given environment than individuals without those traits. Over time, this can lead to changes in the frequency of those traits in a population and, ultimately, to the formation of new species.
Here are the key elements of the theory of evolution by natural selection:
Variation: Individuals within a population vary in their traits, such as size, colour, or behaviour. This variation is inherited from their parents.
Selection: In any given environment, certain traits may be advantageous or disadvantageous for survival and reproduction. Individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on those traits to their offspring.
Adaptation: Over time, the frequency of advantageous traits in a population may increase, leading to adaptation to the environment. Adaptations are features that help organisms survive and reproduce in their environment.
Speciation: If the differences between populations become great enough, they may eventually become separate species, meaning they can no longer interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
The theory of evolution by natural selection has been supported by a vast amount of evidence from many different fields of science, including genetics, palaeontology, biogeography, and more. It provides a powerful framework for understanding the history and diversity of life on Earth, as well as the ongoing processes that continue to shape the natural world.
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