DARWIN: THE MAN BEHIND THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

7th Grade Life ScienceMr. P

CHARLES DARWIN: THE YOUTH He was born Feb. 12 1809 in England. He

was the son of a well-known physician.

Darwin was kicked out of schoolbecause of his bad grades

Darwin’s mother died while hewas 8 years old

CHARLES DARWIN: THE MAN He dropped out of medical

school because he could not stand the sight of blood

He then pursued a life in the Church, but did not find it interesting

He became interested in studying beetles and reading scientific findings

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST Charles Darwin sailed

aboard the HMS Beagle. He was the naturalist aboard the ship, which sailed around the world.

He was horribly sea sick the entire trip

He stopped anywhere he could and made amazing discoveries

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST He kept careful notebooks of the voyage and

his findings

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST

CHARLES DARWIN: HIS VOYAGE He made several stops, but he is most

famous for his findings from an island off the coast of Ecuador named the Galapagos islands.

GALAPAGOS

GALAPAGOS

GALAPAGOS

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST On the

Galapagos, he found diverse organisms, such as finches, which had different beak sizes for the different types of food they eat.

THE FINCHES

FINCHES….COMMON ANCESTOR?

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST He also found different species of Tortoises,

which had different neck sizes to reach different food sources.

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST Once home, he looked at the data he

collected and came up with his theory of Natural Selection in his famous book Origin of Species.

CHARLES DARWIN: THE SCIENTIST Darwin also looked at

pigeon breeding, which is a form of Selective Breeding and is the basis for how we breed dogs.

SELECTIVE BREEDING: DOGS

CHARLES DARWIN: THE LEGACY Darwin’s theory of natural selection is the

basis for modern biology and is the foundation of how we study nature.

REMEMBER: Evolution is CHANGE OVER TIME

THE INSPIRATION While in the Galapagos, Darwin saw that the

tortoises showed variation of characteristics.

THE INSPIRATION Darwin saw that animals adapted to their

environment in the Galapagos.

THE THEORY Natural Selection is the process for which

individuals with traits that are better suited for the environment are more likely to survive longer and reproduce more successfully than those individuals without these traits

NATURAL SELECTION Adaptations are the inherited traits that

increase an organism’s chance of surviving and reproducing in a particular environment.

THE MAIN OUTCOME…. The outcome of natural selection is diversity of

life