Researching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution | English

Starter quiz

Which words best describe the tone of a biography?
- factual ✓
- serious ✓
- imaginative
- opinionated
Which of these facts link to the theme of Charles Darwin's early life?
- He was sent to boarding school. ✓
- The Beagle's voyage lasted five years.
- Darwin was excited to visit the Galapagos.
- He was born into a very wealthy family. ✓
What fact is represented by this image from the text map for Charles Darwin's life?
- The Beagle's expensive voyage began in 1809.
- Darwin paid lots of money to join the Beagle's voyage in 1809.
- Darwin's father was born in 1809 and he worked in a bank.
- Darwin was born in 1809 into a wealthy family. ✓
Which facts are represented by this image from the text map for Charles Darwin's life?
- Darwin was sent to Edinburgh University to study medicine. ✓
- Darwin visited his doctor in Edinburgh.
- He did not enjoy studying this subject. ✓
- Darwin did not like the city of Edinburgh.
Which picture represents this fact? 'The Beagle visited the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America.'
- Picture 1
- Picture 2
- Picture 3
- Picture 4 ✓
Which of the following would we not find in a text map?
- pictures
- sentences ✓
- words
- numbers

Which theory is Darwin known for?
- natural selection by evolution
- evolution by natural selection ✓
- creation
- variation
Which word describes the differences between individuals in a species?
- variation ✓
- competition
- successful
- adaptations
Fill in the gaps: If an individual has variations that make them better-adapted to their environment, they are more likely to __________ and __________.
- compete
- have variations
- survive ✓
- reproduce ✓
What did Darwin notice about the Galapagos finches?
- They were all very different in every way.
- Species on different islands had different beaks. ✓
- They were all identical.
- The beaks were adapted to the food on each island. ✓
Put the steps in order to explain how finches evolved larger beaks on some islands.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  During a storm, the birds were blown to an island where most seeds were large.
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Some of these birds had larger beaks.
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  The birds with larger beaks were more successful and survived longer.
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  These birds could reproduce more and pass on the larger-beak variation.
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  Over a long time, having a larger beak became normal.
True or false? Animals make the decision to change their characteristics in order to be better-adapted to their environment.
- True
- False ✓

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Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection to explain animals' adaptations.
The theory is based on the idea that within a species, there are variations and competition.
Within a habitat, some individuals will be better-adapted and others will be less-well-adapted.
The better-adapted individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on these advantageous characteristics.
Over a huge period of time, the advantageous characteristics become normal in the species (or can create a new species).

Pupils may believe that evolutionary changes happen rapidly.

Evolution is a process that occurs over huge periods of time.

Variations - differences between individuals in a particular species
Natural selection - theory that organisms with characteristics beneficial for living in a particular environment will pass on these characteristics to offspring
Offspring - the young of an animal
Evolution - the process by which living things change and develop over millions of years.