Charles Darwin’s Birthday
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) transformed the way we understand the natural world with ideas that, in his day, were nothing short of revolutionary. He and his fellow pioneers in the field of biology gave us insight into the fantastic diversity of life on Earth.
And today, on his birthday, we celebrate all that he accomplished and contributed to the world of science and how he has helped shape some of our understanding of the world that we know today.
Classroom Displays
If you’re looking for some inspiration to help make learning more fun and engaging for kids in their own time, why not try and a splash of creativity to a spare section of the classroom and make a dedicated display area where the children can pin up their favourite pieces of work all to do with the topic of Charles Darwin.
Lesson Ideas
BBC Bitesize has some amazing online resources that can be utilised in the classroom. Click the image below to be taken to their website.
YouTube
YouTube has an absolute abundance of videos surrounding Charles Darwin and all of his amazing contributions to science.
I have handpicked a few that I believe could be used within the classroom and alongside both reading and writing activities.
The Victorians: Charles Darwin – BBC Teach
The work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace – BBC Teach
As a starter to introduce a practical science activity, you could write a simple quiz to encourage pupils to capture the keywords shown in the video.
Charles Darwin – The Voyage of the Beagle – Extra History
To consolidate their knowledge, you could get pupils to make booklets that include key information about Darwin and his journey on the HMS Beagle.
We hope these ideas have given you some inspiration for how to celebrate Charles Darwin’ Birthday.
If you have any great teaching ideas for this topic, feel free to comment below (they might even get added into the topic calendar!).
