Dear Charles Darwin

Welcome.

Welcome to the May 2011 newsletter from The Charles Darwin Trust 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.

Darwin Samba wins Rio Festival

The Rio carnival 2011 was won by a parade inspired by Darwin! The Parade of the Union of Governor Island Samba School  called O Misterio da Vida  (On the Mystery of Life) won Estandarte de Ouro of the Carnival – the Gold Standard, one of the top prizes.  The idea for the parade stemmed from the success of the Caminhos de Darwin project in 2008, in which a group of science educators and young people visited twenty schools along a two hundred mile route along the coast to the east of Rio, following Darwin’s excursion from Rio in April 1832 and sharing the schools’ work on the wildlife of their neighbourhoods and Darwin’s experiences there. Flip through a slideshow of the parade or watch it on Youtube (watch out for the fossil monster at 1.35 and 3.40; a fish float at 3.25; plants at 5.30; a Venus Fly-trap at 5.52; wasps at 6.30; a Galapagos tortoise at 8.10 and Darwin at 10.05).

STEM day with Harris Federation

The Trust delivered a day of STEM activities with Year 7 students from across the nine schools in the Harris Federation of South London Academies. Students got to explore how Darwin used science, technology and maths to study the struggle for life, artificial selection, how plants move and climbing plants. Students particularly enjoyed getting out into nearby Saxby Gardens and thinking about pigeons in a new way.

A Level programme

The Charles Darwin Trust has also been working with the Harris Federation on an A Level Darwin-Inspired Learning programme. Trust educators and a group of science teachers from the Harris Federation took part in a new workshop at Down House on the 18th of Feb. The workshop introduced these teachers from the Harris Federation to Darwin-Inspired Learning and the teaching and learning resources the Trust is developing to support post-16 biology. The day’s activities introduced Darwin’s work at Down House and considered its relevance to many areas of contemporary science. The course allowed the teachers to engage in a creative partnership with the Trust, examining innovative approaches to teaching biology and supporting the Harris Federation approach to teaching and learning.

Key Stage 2-3 Transition Projects

The Trust has been working on a Key Stage 2-3 transition project with Waldegrave School for Girls, a specialist science college, and Heathfield Primary School. Year 8 students and Year 6 pupils went to Down House to set the scene for a long-term project they will do together and continue when Year 6 becomes Year 7. The teachers were inspired by their visit and created an assembly about the project to take to other schools.

The Trust continues to work with Swindon Academy to embed the Key Stage 2-3 transition project and will work with pupils and teachers over two days in May at Swindon Academy.

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

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