Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities
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
Almost everyone in Darwin s era believed that God had created all life and that no new creatures had appeared since the first days of
Introduction harles Darwin was tired For two years ever since he had returned to England from his around the world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle he had been writing about the animals plants and fossils he had collected while traveling When the ship had finally arrived home in Octo ber 1836 the young man was relieved to be back after five years at sea His living conditions on the small Beagle had been cramped and uncomfortable and he had often been very seasick But during his travels he had found thousands of strange and exotic animals rare plants and mysterious fossils He was eager to write a book about all his new dis coveries Darwin's homecoming filled him with energy Having grown up in the English countryside he now moved to Lon don for the first time in his life There the young naturalist rented a room and set to work on what he hoped would be his great masterpiece But after two years of writing his one book had grown into three separate books and only one of them was done The task seemed unending He found that he couldn't con centrate on only one topic As he pored over each specimen his mind started to ponder bigger questions Where had all the different animals in the world come from And why did fossils always look different from living creatures To make matters worse Darwin realized that he hated liv ing in the big city He loved the wide open spaces of his childhood and of the wild lands he had visited on his voy age Now when he looked out his window all he could see
