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Worksheet - Darwin Evolution Teacher
Worksheet - Darwin Evolution Teacher
Age 1116 B1
PAGE 1 OF 2
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 CATEGORY
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
2
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
3
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
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AGE CATEGORY
Age 1116 B1
PAGE 3 OF 2
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