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Charles Darwin: A Voyage of Discovery poster
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Poster
- Charles Darwin: A Voyage of Discovery poster (PDF - 1.63 MB)
The centre pull-out from the booklet, including Charles Darwin’s timeline - Charles Darwin: A Voyage of Discovery high resolution poster (PDF - 5.5 MB)
Same as above only better quality
Education kit (teacher’s resource booklet)
- Charles Darwin: A Voyage of Discovery booklet (PDF - 6.8 MB)
Teacher’s resource booklet - Teachers Feedback Questionnaire (PDF - 300 KB)
Bonus chapter
Maps
- NSW map (PDF - 300 KB)
Map of Darwin’s journey from Sydney to Bathhurst - TAS map (PDF - 300 KB)
Map of Darwin’s journey of Hobart Town and surrounding region - WA map (PDF - 300 KB)
Map of Darwin’s journey of King George Sound and surrounding region
Tables
- Tables (XLS - 87 KB)
All tables for the activities contained in the booklet
A message from Peter Garrett
This year, the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his work, On the Origin of Species. Australia is also commemorating the five-year, round-the-world voyage that brought a youthful Darwin to Australia and saw him discover an abundance of new species.
The Australian Biological Resources Study and the Australian Science Teachers Association have made an outstanding contribution to this anniversary year by producing this resource book on Darwin’s experiences in Australia. There is much still to be discovered about Australia’s plants and animals and I encourage teachers to use this book to inspire the next generation of species discoverers.
Peter Garrett
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
March 2009
Introduction
This poster and related booklet has been funded by the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) to commemorate two important events occurring in 2009 — the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book, On the Origin of Species. Although Charles Darwin: A Voyage of Discovery has been created specifically for this year of celebrations, the activities have been designed so they can continue to be used in the future.
A Background information section has been included to provide teachers with an outline of Darwin’s interests and ways of working, his historic theory of natural selection, how he came to visit Australia on the Beagle and his connections to well-known early residents of Australia.
The diverse range of activities included is designed for students in the middle years of schooling (Years 6–9) throughout Australia and will acquaint them with Darwin’s Australian connections, his greatest contribution to science — his theory of natural selection, his methods of obtaining evidence and the relevance of his theory today.
Darwin’s great theory
The idea that living things had evolved was put forward in Darwin’s time, but no satisfactory mechanism by which this had occurred had been described. Darwin indicated the mechanism and provided an enormous body of evidence in its support.
Darwin explained that plants and animals change over time through a process of Natural Selection and that this occurs because:
- Not all plants and animals in a population are alike.
- More young are born than can hope to survive for long enough to reproduce.
- Those plants and animals with features best suited to their environment (‘the fittest’) are more likely to survive and reproduce.
- These survivors pass their desirable features on to their offspring.
- Gradually these features become more common and the population changes over time.
- If the changes are great enough they could produce a completely new species of plant or animal altogether.
Note: Bacteria and viruses had not been identified in Darwin’s time, but his theory holds true for all organisms.
Reference
Charles Darwin in Australia, F.W. Nicholas & J M Nicholas, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Copyright Information
© Commonwealth of Australia 2009.
© Australia Science Teachers Association Inc. 2009.
This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to:
Commonwealth Copyright Administration
Attorney General’s Department
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
Barton ACT 2600
or posted at
Author: Judy Attwood. Photo: Tetraclita squamosa © Diana Jones 2009. Printer: Blue Star Print.



About this poster
Series: Posters
Publisher: Australian Biological Resources Study
Year: 2009
A collaborative project by: Australian Biological Resources Study/Australian Science Teachers Association
ISBN: 978 0 642 56859 5