Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities
Note to Readers If you can't wait to learn about evolution a clear explana tion of Darwin's theory can be found in Chapter 6 Readers mostly interested in learning about evolution instead of Darwin's life story are encouraged to skip ahead and read Chapter 6 first More information about the development and growth of the theory can be found in the other
Acknowledgments Thanks to Jerome Pohlen and Anneli Rufus for their
Time Line 1654 Bishop James Ussher calculates that the Earth was created on October 23 4004 B C 1735 Linnaeus devises the system for classifying all types of animals that is still used to this day 1798 Thomas Malthus writes his Essay on the Principle of Population 1809 Charles Darwin is born in Shrewsbury England 1825 Darwin is taken out of school due to poor perfor mance and sent to Edinburgh to study medicine 1827 Darwin quits medical school and transfers to Cam bridge where he studies to become a clergyman 1831 Darwin begins an around the world voyage on the HMS Beagle 1832 Darwin explores the jungles of Brazil and the coast of Argentina collecting thousands of plants ani mals and fossils 1835 The Beagle visits the Galapagos Islands 1836 The Beagle arrives back in England after nearly five years at sea 1838 Darwin begins a secret notebook all about evolu tion or the transmutation of species as he called it Darwin reads Malthus's Essay on the Princi ple of Population and formulates the theory of nat ural selection 1839 Darwin marries his cousin Emma Wedgwood Dar win's first book about his voyage on the Beagle is published
1842 Darwin writes the first rough draft of his theory of evolution Darwin's family moves to Down House Kent 1846 Darwin becomes fascinated by barnacles and spends the next eight years studying them 1854 Darwin publishes a series of books about barnacles 1858 Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wal lace describing a theory of natural selection that exactly matches Darwin's own 1859 Darwin writes and publishes On the Origin of Species which instantly makes him world famous 1863 A newly discovered lizard bird fossil called Archaeopteryx seems to confirm Darwin's theory 1865 Gregor Mendel publishes the results of his experi ments on heredity 1871 The Descent of Man Darwin's second most famous book is published 1872 Darwin publishes The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals 1875 Darwin publishes Insectivorous Plants 1882 Charles Darwin dies on April 19 and is buried in Westminster Abbey 1900 Mendel's experiments are rediscovered launching the field of genetics 1925 John Scopes during the famous Monkey Trial is convicted of teaching evolution 1953 The structure of DNA as the basis for heredity is discovered
