January 2011 Newsletter

Dear Charles Darwin,

Happy New Year! Welcome to the January 2011 newsletter from The Charles Darwin Trust. This is the first anniversary of the launch of this newsletter in January 2010. Once again, it's packed full of interesting news and resources.

This newsletter will continue to be delivered to your inbox regularly to let you know about forthcoming events and share the Trust's ideas on how Darwin can inspire learning about science and the natural world.

In this newsletter you will find:

'Students enjoyed finding out more about Darwin as a person as well as his research'

'The chance to see the pigeons first hand and handle them was great. The Carnivorous plants adaptations were easy to observe. All the workshops had strengths that made them interesting and engaged pupils.'

'It makes all the difference visiting the place where someone raised so many questions and following their train of thought.'
Year 8, 9 and 13 teachers on Origin Day at Down House, November 2010.

'I learnt that Darwin walked on the sandwalk every day with his dog. That he was inspired by nature around him'

'I learnt about Darwin’s real personality. Definitely better than a science lesson.'

'I did not know the extent of his work from barnacles to cauliflowers to pigeons.'
Year 8, 9 and 13 students on Origin Day at Down House, November 2010

Darwin-Inspired LearningPage from the Discover Darwin packs on climbing plants. Copyright The Charles Darwin Trust 2011.

The more the Trust works with the idea of Darwin-Inspired Learning the more excited we become about it. We base all our materials for teaching and continuing professional development, such as Discover Darwin, on research into Darwin's own writings and those of his contemporaries and on current understandings of how pupils learn best and how scientists work today in these same fields. Not just Charles Darwin the scientist but also him as a person and Victorian gentleman, his house, gardens and the countryside at Downe all become an inspiration for teaching and learning science.

This approach engenders a sense of place and direct engagement with the natural world using environments local to students, and those of Downe and other places Darwin worked. It encourages active learning through seeking out experiences and questions, solving problems, and dialogue between teachers and pupils and between learners. It supports teaching that facilitates imagination and thoughtful hands-on enquiry as well as the delivery of high quality engaging content. It engages learners in critical, creative thinking about how we know what we know, and about how scientists work.
We believe his approach produces:
  • Learners who are engaged with the natural world as critical, imaginative investigators
  • Learners who find science exciting and who want to continue their studies
  • Learners whose science and life skills are enhanced.
  • Teachers inspired by Darwin-Inspired Learning to become more effective and reflective practitioners.
  • Teachers and learners who are proud of the heritage that Charles Darwin gave to the world and understand its significance.

Michael Reiss, Professor of Science Education at the Institute of Education, has been impressed by the Trust's work: 'I greatly enjoyed reading the two Discover Darwin packs: they are excellent.'

Origin Day Celebrations at Down HouseA Year 9 pupil from Langley Park School for Boys handles a fancy pigeon under the watchful eye of expert John Ross. Copyright The Charles Darwin Trust 2011

The Charles Darwin Trust was very pleased to join English Heritage in celebrating the 151st anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s great work On the Origin of Species at Down House on the 24th November. A series of special events were held for the public and invited guests including a number of students from local schools, who took part in several Darwin-Inspired Learning workshops. The students and visitors had a unique opportunity to view a display of fancy pigeons, which included the varieties that Darwin had worked with himself and which contributed to his ideas on selection. Pigeon breeding expert John Ross and scientists from the Natural History Museum were on hand to talk to the students and bring Darwin’s work to life. See the video on the Natural History Museum's website that explains how fancy pigeons were more important to Darwin's research than the famous finches of the Galapagos.

The event was a great success and provided the Trust with an opportunity to showcase its approach to engaging students with the natural world using Darwin’s work as an inspiration. Natalie Gomez, Education Manager (London Region) for English Heritage said ‘I know the schools had a great time at Down House – it was fascinating to see them all becoming so Darwin-enthused, even the younger students.’

Lessons in LearningA Year 9 pupil from Maidstone Grammar examines carnivorous plants in Darwin's greenhouse. Copyright The Charles Darwin Trust 2011

UCL Museums and Collections' primary outreach programme presents a good practice guide for working with primary school children particularly in science. The key to outreach that is effective and engaging is discovery-based learning, developed from an exploratory model. Concepts of higher education are poorly understood among primary-aged children but it is both possible and appropriate for universities or museums to introduce such concepts at this level through hands-on interactive workshops in schools. The report can be downloaded from the UCL Museums and Collections website.

This report reinforces the way that The Charles Darwin Trust works with both primary and secondary pupils. Where we excel in particular is:

  • creating an atmosphere for confident engagement
  • discovery-based learning
  • engaging multiple intelligences
  • curiosity-driven scientific workshops

Where we differ from UCL Museums and Collections is our emphasis on engaging with the natural world.

British Ecological Society hedge resourcesYear 13 students from Maidstone Grammar walk the Sandwalk at Down House. Copyright The Charles Darwin Trust 2011

The British Ecological Society has great advice on setting up a hedge in your school grounds. Hedges form one of the most widespread wildlife habitats in the UK, home to both common and rare species. Hedges offer schools many opportunities for practical ecology in a terrestrial environment. Darwin planted a hawthorn hedge along his sandwalk in the 1840s and noted nineteen new species growing there by 1880. He had an idea of how this biodiversity had sprung up. ‘Birds alighting on clipped hedge will cause more seed in dung to be dropped than those on open field.’(from the Charles Darwin Papers in Cambridge University Library, DAR 205.2.209) Click here to find out how to plant your own hedge at school and to download resources about hedges.

We hope you have found this newsletter informative.  Please contact us if you have any questions about the work of the Trust.

The Charles Darwin Trust
info@charlesdarwintrust.org
www.charlesdarwintrust.org

The Charles Darwin Trust – Registered Company Number: 3694613; Registered Charity Number: 1074914
Registered Office: 14 Canonbury Park South, London N1 2JJ, UK