Lesson 1 Darwin

Question 1

Darwin

Answer 1

In 1831, a 22 year – old Charles
Darwin left England on a British
survey ship, the HMS Beagle.

While Darwin is the name most
often associated with evolution, he
is neither the first nor the only
scientist to believe that organisms
change over time.

Several Greek philosophers believed
that life gradually evolves.

Question 2

Darwin’s Voyage

Answer 2

The mission of the Beagle was to survey the coast of South Africa.
As the naturalist on board, Darwin had plenty of time to explore the various locations
He noted that the flora and fauna were distinct from those he had previously studied
Darwin observed that species living in the temperate regions of South America were more similar to species in the tropical regions of the continent than those living in temperate Europe.
He noted that lands that have similar climates have unrelated plant and animals.
This led Darwin to wonder why it was that if all organisms originated form a single act of creation, there existed this distinctive clustering of similar
organisms in different regions of the world.

Question 3

The Galapagos Islands

Answer 3

A group of over 20 small
volcanic islands located in the
Pacific Ocean.

This 5 week stop was to be the
most important in helping
Darwin formulate his ideas
evolution

The islands support relatively
few animal species and they
resembled the organisms on
the adjacent South American
coastline.

The two organisms that
proved to be most essential
to Darwin’s work were the
finches and the giant
tortoises.

Darwin paid little attention
to them during his time in
the Galapagos but he
gathered many specimens
that he would study later.

Question 4

Darwin’s Ideas

Answer 4

1. Natural Selection

Within a species genetic variation naturally occurs.
Some variations will be better adapted
(more fit) and therefore live to reproduce and pass on their genes
The next generation will contain more of the “fit” alleles
2. Common Descent
Organisms were produced by a process of change in species over time
Since each species arose from a pre-existing species, all life forms must have descended from a common ancestor