Piner High School STEM Certificate

Level 1

Rex Patangan

Planetarium Show: Natural Selection

26 October 2023

Charles Darwin, a British naturalist is known for his book On the Origin of Species, and

his theory of evolution. His book and theory of evolution are crucial and still relevant in today's

scientific world, changing our understanding of how we came to life on Earth. Charles Darwin’s

ideas challenged other popular theories of what we have today. On the Origin of Species, has

paved the way for the idea that organisms have evolved, with evidence of evolution. Darwin's

theory of evolution shows how species have “survival of the fittest”, where those most adapted to

their environment survive.

As we go on in the film about Darwin, we get to his adventures in his early life. Charles

Darwin was invited onto an HMS Beagle as a naturalist in 1822 when he was 22, his objective

being to circumnavigate the world. On his journey, the primary mission of the HMS Beagle was

to chart stretches of the South American coastline. Darwin’s captain on the voyage, Captain

FritzRoy, gave Darwin a new book to read, Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology. This book

challenges the theory that Earth was created in a short period of time, instead of being created in

billions of years. This book heavily influenced Darwin and his book On the Origin of Species.
 On February 20th, 1835 Charles Darwin experienced an earthquake in Chile. This

earthquake made him theorize how mountains were formed, by earthquakes forming mountains

throughout time. On one of the islands, Darwin found creatures that were extremely adapted to

their environment in the South American mainland, even some tortoises have adapted to the

point where locals can easily distinguish the tortoise from their island. It took Darwin a while to

grasp this information, even questioning why god would give a bird malfunctioning wings.

After his expedition, Darwin moved on and wrote his famous book, and lived in the

“Down House '' for the past 40 years writing his book. This book challenged the world views of

how we came to today, mostly taught through religion. Needing evidence to prove his theory of

evolution, Darwin wondered that if world history changed so much through geological history,

then perhaps living creatures would somehow gradually adapt to fit into the slowly changing

environment, otherwise they would become extinct. Some principles in the theory of evolution

include: Species can overcome geological barriers, and in nature, if you do not use a function

then you will lose it. For years, Darwin was afraid to publish his work for fear of public

backlash, but now his theory of evolution shows that we are united with every species on our

planet.

Reflection:

Learning about Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution has been a fascinating

experience. What I was more specifically interested in was Darwin’s life. I enjoyed learning

about his past, and how his father was afraid that Charles would become a failure because he had
no knowledge. I also felt sympathetic towards Darwin, as he was afraid to publish his work,

knowing the public backlash he would receive. However, one question I have for the theory of

evolution is whether this theory is proven or a fact. Overall, I enjoyed my learning experience,

and I still have many things to learn about Darwin's theory of evolution and hopefully one day I

may be able to read his book.

Current Article: Darwin’s Influence on Modern Thought, by Ernst Mayer

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/darwins-influence-on-modern-thought1/

Learning about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, I chose to analyze an article

relating to how his theory influenced modern thought. This article's main focus is to talk about

Darwin’s profound influence on modern thought, but more particularly in three main areas:

evolutionary biology; the philosophy of science; and the modern zeitgeist.

One of Darwin’s most significant impacts lies in the field of evolutionary biology. He

introduced the non-constancy of species or the modern concept of evolution. Darwin’s theory of

branching evolution implies that there is a common descent of all species from a single origin,

giving us a new understanding of how we are connected to different life forms on Earth. There

were some proposals of the idea of linear evolution, but Darwin argued that evolution must be

gradual, and finally reasoned that evolution was based on natural selection.

Darwin’s ideas also revolutionized the philosophy of science, introducing historicity into

science. Bringing historicity into science can help explain events and processes that have already
happened.

Overall, this article shows how Darwin’s concepts have forever changed the modern view

of evolutionary biology, and science as a whole. Darwin has shown his theory of evolution with

much evidence of proof. One way you can look at it is by comparing a 21st-century citizen to a

Victorian-era person, the difference between them will be noticeable.