Natural Selection and Darwin Lesson

Mystery on the Galapagos Islands

Open Ended

What do you know about evolution ?

Open Ended

What do you know about adaptation ?

​The Story of the journey.

In 1831, English scientist Charles Darwin joined the crew of the ship HMS Beagle for a five-year journey around the world. Darwin discovered a mystery on one of the journey's stops: the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. Years later, he proposed a solution to that mystery, a solution that scientists still cite today.

Darwin discovered many animals on the Galapagos Islands, and his discoveries led him to ask many questions. For example, why were Galapagos lizards different from the lizards of the mainland? If these lizards had the same ancestors, how did changes occur to their claws and other body parts?

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​Creatures in Galapagos

Most Galapagos animals are similar to animals elsewhere, but they differ in small ways.

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Continue ...

Discover the mystery.

the class activity

with your group move in the class to read the passages then come back to your seat to answer the questions.

Poll

Evolution is ...

• the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

• the process by which ancient organisms have descended from modern organisms.

• an inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

• is the long-term changes that occur in the genetic level for better functioning and survival

Poll

Adaptation is

• an inherited behavior or physical characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

• the process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

• is the short-term changes of organisms to suit their environment or habitat