Download Exploration – Charles Darwin, adventures in space, discovery

E X P LOR AT I O N
Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207- 244-5111 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org
Charles Darwin
Karen James
is a staff scientist in Environmental Science and Marine
Conservation at the MDI Biological Laboratory, where she works at the
intersection of research, education, and outreach to adapt DNA-assisted
species identification for use in citizen science projects. She’s passionate
about helping people understand and manage the environmental changes
caused by humans. She is co-founder and director of the HMS Beagle Trust,
a nonprofit that aims to build a replica of the 90-foot wooden ship on which
Charles Darwin conducted research that led to the theory of evolution; once
built, the ship will become a floating laboratory! She has a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Washington and was once in the running to
become an astronaut. Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207- 244-5111 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org
Charles Darwin
BIO
Naturalist Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809 - the same exact day
as Abraham Lincoln! He found medical studies dull, was bored by natural history courses in school, and
found riding and hunting of much more interest because he could be outdoors - he was not the best of
students. When he was 22 years old, his adventures and explorations in the field led him to embark on a
five-year survey voyage around the world on the HMS Beagle. His studies of specimens around the globe
helped him later to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection.
In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species.
Darwin was a prolific writer. Even without publication of his words on evolution, he would have had a
considerable reputation as the author of The Voyage of the Beagle, as a geologist who had published
extensively on South America and had solved the puzzle of the formation of coral atolls, and as a biologist who had published the definitive work on barnacles. Darwin has been described as one of the most
influential figures in human history.
THE VOYAGE OF THE HMS BEAGLE
Charles Darwin’s five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle has become legendary; insights gained by the
bright young scientist on his trip to exotic places greatly influenced his masterpiece, the book On the
Origin of Species. Darwin didn’t actually formulate his theory of evolution while sailing around the world
aboard the Royal Navy ship, but the exotic plants and animals he encountered challenged his thinking
and led him to consider scientific evidence in new ways.
Darwin had been exposed to some thinking about evolution before embarking aboard the HMS Beagle.
So a popular conception that Darwin’s voyage gave him the idea of evolution is not accurate. Yet, it is
true that the years of travel and research focused Darwin’s mind and sharpened the power of observation that would eventually lead to the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859.
Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207- 244-5111 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org
Charles Darwin
TEXT-TO-TEXT BOOK CONNECTIONS: DARWIN
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. Grades 4 and up.
The Curious World of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. Grades 4 and up.
One Beetle Too Many, by Kathryn Lasky. Grades 2 - 5.
The Voyage of the Beetle, by Anne H. Weaver. Grades 4 and up.
The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin.
The True Adventures of Charley Darwin, by Carolyn Meyer. Grades 7 and up.
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ONLINE RESOURCES: DARWIN
Videos: “Carl Sagan explains Natural Selection,” “Inside Darwin’s Mind,” and more!
http://www.neok12.com/Natural-Selection.htm
Video: “Natural Selection Made Easy,” Grades 6 and up. 8 minutes, 38 seconds long.
http://www.neok12.com/video/Natural-Selection/zX430f005f400262740c5f73.htm
Video: NOVA PBS Documentary - “Evolution: What Darwin Never Knew.” 1 hour, 52 minutes long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBRbCLI4zU
Game (interactive): Who Wants to Live a Million Years? http://www.sciencechannel.com/games-and-interactives/charles-darwin-game/
Animation, games, interactive tutorials, and experiments galore! http://geneed.nlm.nih.gov/topic_subtopic.php?tid=48&sid=51
The HMS Beagle Project - bringing the science of adventure to life! http://www.hmsbeagleproject.org
Maps: Where exactly did Darwin go? http://www.aboutdarwin.com/voyage/voyage03.html
Darwin Correspondence Project: Multi-grade, cross-curricular, interactive resources, including “Darwin’s Scientific Women”:
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/schools-resources
See Darwin’s notebooks for yourself! http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/darwin_mss#8
Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207- 244-5111 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org
Exploration
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ONLINE RESOURCES: SPACE EXPLORATION
Video:
What is a day in space like for International Space Station astronaut Chris
Hadfield? Mythbusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage find out!
9 minutes, 43 seconds long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cobJzLQqUmo
Video:
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg quilts in space:
5 minutes, 7 seconds long.
https://youtu.be/N0c1CijmH7o
Video:
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg shows how you wash hair in space!‬
2 minutes, 54 seconds long. ‬
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIjNfZbUYu8
Video:
“Window on the World” - Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly shows off the International Space Station’s
observation deck known as the cupola.
3 minutes, 19 seconds long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U54RMrBK9vU
Video:
NASA astronaut Sunita Williams: In this “In Their Own Words” video, Williams talks about her love of
space flight, her tenure at the International Space Station, and her beloved pet Gorby.
5 minutes, 6 seconds long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUks2BROvWg
Space lessons by grade level, part of the solar system, space mission, lesson time, practices, and
disciplinary core ideas: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/educ/lessons.cfm
Island Readers & Writers | P.O. Box 227 Mount Desert, ME 04660 | 207- 244-5111 | www.islandreadersandwriters.org