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Darwin and the Beagle

About Theories 1. Who developed the theory of evolution by
Evolution by natural selection, the central concept of the natural selection?
life's work of Charles Darwin, is a theory. It's a theory about
the origin of adaptation, complexity, and diversity among
Earth's living creatures. If you are skeptical by nature,
unfamiliar with the terminology of science, and unaware of 2. What are the three main points that are
the overwhelming evidence, you might even be tempted to described by the theory of evolution?
say that it's "just" a theory. In the same sense, relativity as
described by Albert Einstein is "just" a theory. The notion
that Earth orbits around the sun rather than vice versa,
offered by Copernicus in 1543, is a theory. Continental drift 3. List three other theories besides the theory of
is a theory. Even electricity is a theoretical construct, evolution.
involving electrons, which are tiny units of charged mass
that no one has ever seen.
Each of these theories is an explanation that has been
confirmed to such a degree, by observation and 4. What make a theory a scientific theory?
experiment, that knowledgeable experts accept it as fact.
That's what scientists mean when they talk about a theory:
not a dreamy and unreliable speculation, but an explanatory
5. What does it mean that scientists embraced
statement that fits the evidence. They embrace such an
theories “provisionally?”
explanation confidently but provisionally—taking it as their
best available view of reality, at least until some severely
conflicting data or some better explanation might come
along.

Who was Charles Darwin? 6. What did Charles Darwin like to study?
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was a British naturalist; he
collected rocks and minerals as well insects. Though his
father wanted him to become a physician (doctor), Darwin 7. Why didn’t Darwin finish medical school?
could not stand the sight of blood, nor could he endure the
screams of patients during surgery (anesthesia had not yet
been invented), so Darwin left medical school in favor of 8. What was the name of the ship that Darwin
theology school. Darwin earned his BA degree in 1831, but sailed on? What was Darwin’s “job” on this
before he could begin his studies in theology, Darwin was journey?
offered the opportunity of a lifetime; to sail as an unpaid
scholar on a 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle. The
purpose of the 5 year voyage of the HMS Beagle was to 9. What was the purpose of the voyage on which
map the coastlines and harbors of southern South Darwin set sail?
America.

10. What are three other places the HMS Beagle

visited during the 5 year journey?
Patterns in Biodiversity that Darwin Observed 11. Describe the three patterns of biodiversity that
Darwin was fascinated by the diversity of life that he Darwin focused on.
saw during his journey. During a single day in a Brazilian
forest, Darwin collected 68 species of beetles…and he
wasn’t looking for beetles! Darwin noted how well suited to
their local environments plants and animals seemed to be.
He was impressed by the many ways different organisms 12. Write a question that Darwin might have asked
obtained food, protected themselves, and produced in his observations about species varying
offspring. He was puzzled by where different species lived – globally.
and did not live. He recorded all of his observations in his
journal. Darwin focused on three patterns of biological
diversity.
Species Vary Globally 13. Write a question that Darwin might have asked
about species varying locally.
Darwin noticed that different, yet ecologically similar,
species inhabited separate, but ecologically similar,
habitats around the globe. In the grasslands of South
America, Darwin found flightless birds called rheas. Rheas 14. List two observable differences that you can see
look and act a lot like ostriches. Yet rheas only live in South
in the three turtle species of the Galapagos.
America and ostriches only live in Africa. Moreover, when
Darwin visited Australia, he encountered another large
flightless bird called the emu.
Darwin also noticed that rabbits and other European 15. What might account for the differences in neck
grassland species fid not live in similar grasslands in South length in the three species of turtles in the
America and Australia. Australian grasslands were home to Galapagos?
Kangaroos.
Species Vary Locally
Darwin noticed that different, yet related species often
occupied different habitats within a local area. For
example, Darwin found two species of rheas in South 16. Write a question that Darwin might have asked
America. One thrived in Argentina’s grasslands while a about species changing over time.
smaller species was adapted to a colder, harsher grass and
scrubland to the south. The drawing below shows the
variation in turtles that Darwin saw in the Galapagos. 17. Observe the finch beaks and match the food
source to the finch below.

____ grasping bill; insects

eater, feeds in trees

____ probing bill, insect

eater; feeds in trees
Species Vary Over Time
____ crushing bill; feeds
Darwin also collected fossils and noticed that the fossil on cactus seeds
record included many extinct animals that were similar,
yet distinctly different from living species. The most ____ probing bill; uses
striking example was fossils of giant armored animals called twig or cactus spine
glyptodonts. Glyptodonts grow up to 9 feet long and to probe insects
resemble modern day armadillos, which live in the same from cactus
area. But he wondered what might have caused the
disappearance of the glyptodonts but not the armadillos.
The two organisms appeared to share a common ancestor.