Darwin’s Timeline

1809 Born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. 1825 Attends University of Edinburgh Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was an expert in Medical Schools but fails to become natural history who put forward a theory of Route of HMS Beagle a doctor. by natural selection. He went on a th famous sea voyage in 1831 on a ship called On 27 December 1831, HMS Beagle set sail from Harbour. 1827 Attends Cambridge University in HMS Beagle. He visited many places around It carried a crew of 73 men, including Captain Robert Fitzroy and the hope of becoming an Anglican the world, collecting plant and animal Charles Darwin. It travelled across the Atlantic Ocean to South priest. samples. The observations he made led him to America where it stopped frequently, allowing Darwin to gather some write his theory of evolution. When Darwin’s specimens. He visited places including the Cape Verde Islands, the 1831 Sets sail on HMS Beagle. book ‘ by Means of Falkland Islands and Ascension Island. After spending five weeks in 1835 Visits the Galápagos Islands, where Natural Selection’ was published in 1859, the Galápagos Islands, HMS Beagle travelled across the Pacific Ocean he observes many species of plants to and . The ship eventually arrived back in some religious people were very shocked that and animals. nd he was suggesting animals and humans shared on 2 October 1836. a common ancestry. 1836 Returns to England on HMS Beagle.

. Darwin was fascinated by the natural world 1839 Elected a Fellow of the Royal and spent much of his time recording his Society, a group of the world’s observations and setting up experiments. leading Scientists During his time in the Galápagos Islands, Darwin made detailed observations about the 1842 Moves to Down House in Kent, finches, tortoises and mockingbirds he saw where many of his observations there. While living in Down House in Kent, Alfred Wallace are carried out.

Darwin continued his experiments in his Wallace, a British naturalist, developed the theory of natural selection ‘outdoor laboratory’ discovering much about and evolution with Charles Darwin. He too travelled the world, observing 1859 Publishes his theory of evolution in ‘On the Origin of Species by Means plant growth, earthworm behaviour and and collecting samples of species. Of Natural Selection’. bumblebee flights. Gregor Mendel Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk. In 1845, while working in the 1871 Publishes ‘The Descent of Man’. monastery garden, he experimented with pea plants. He discovered that particular features of each plant were passed on to their offspring. This 1872 Publishes ‘The Expression of the supported Darwin’s idea that characteristics were passed on from one Emotions in Man and Animals’.

generation to the next. Mendel put forward the idea than an offspring receives one unit of inheritance from each parent. These units are called 1882 Dies at Down House and is later genes and Gregor Mendel became known as the father of genetics. buried at Westminster Abbey. Glossary Adaptation: a characteristic of a living thing that makes it suited to its environment. Galápagos Islands Evolution: the process by which living things gradually change over time. Inheritance: The process of passing on characteristics, such as eye The volcanic Galápagos Islands lie 1000km off the West colour, from parents to their offspring. Coast of Ecuador in South America. There are 13 main Naturalist: a person who studies the natural world. islands, with several smaller islands and rocks. Evidence Natural Selection: the progress where organisms that are most suited to shows that the Islands rose from the sea as volcanic their environment are more likely to reproduce and in doing so, pass on eruptions. They are recognised as a showcase for evolution because of the different these adaptations to the next generation. species that live and grow there, including the marine iguana, the giant tortoise and many Species: a group of organisms that have common characteristics and can types of finch! breed. Variation: natural differences between living things in a species. Darwin noticed that many species of animals, including land and marine iguanas, the blue- footed booby and the flightless cormorant, were only found on these islands. Darwin also noticed several different species of finch that all lived on the Galápagos Islands. Each had developed a different type of beak that best suited their diet. These species and their unique features inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, which he developed following his visit to the Galápagos in 1835. Drawing and Sketching

Physical and online maps can be used to plot the route Darwin took on HMS Beagle, Darwin would often create detailed sketches of the wildlife he studied highlighting places he visited, including the Cape Verde Islands, the Falkland Islands, the to support his notes and research. He also loved to collect shells he Galápagos Islands and Ascension Island. Scaled maps can be used to identify how far found on the coast, particularly barnacle shells, which fascinated him. Darwin travelled in total over the course of the five years.

The use of search engines and refined searches can be used to digitally explore the Galápagos Islands and other islands including Ascension Island, Madagascar, East Timor, the Solomon Islands, French Polynesia, and Christmas Island.

Digital conservation maps and books can also be used to identify and list animal species that During the HMS Beagle voyage to South America, one of Darwin’s ship are currently at risk of extinction. From here, we can find out what factors are endangering mates, , famously created sketches in pencil and used these species. This could be due to human activity, habitat or even climate change. watercolours to vividly bring to life the reality of the journey. Morphing software can also be used to digitally represent the evolution of man. When Darwin first suggested that humans had evolved from the great apes, it offended a lot of people.

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