Charles Darwin

(1809 - 1882)

Charles Darwin c. 1854 a few years before he published the Origin of species. He grew his famous beard in 1862.

Darwin was a British scientist who laid the foundations of the theory of evolution and transformed the way we think about the natural world.
Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire into a wealthy and well-connected family. His maternal grandfather was china manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood, while his paternal grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, one of the leading intellectuals of 18th century England.
Darwin himself initially planned to follow a medical career, and studied at Edinburgh University but later switched to divinity at Cambridge. In 1831, he joined a five year scientific expedition on the survey ship HMS Beagle.
At this time, most Europeans believed that the world was created by God in seven days as described in the bible. On the voyage, Darwin read Lyell’s ‘Principles of Geology’ which suggested that the fossils found in rocks were actually evidence of animals that had lived many thousands or millions of years ago. Lyell’s argument was reinforced in Darwin’s own mind by the rich variety of animal life and the geological features he saw during his voyage. The breakthrough in his ideas came in the Galapagos Islands, 500 miles west of South America. Darwin noticed that each island supported its own form of finch which were closely related but differed in important ways.
On his return to England in 1836, Darwin tried to solve the riddles of these observations and the puzzle of how species evolve. Influenced by the ideas of Malthus, he proposed a theory of evolution occurring by the process of natural selection. The animals (or plants) best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the characteristics which helped them survive to their offspring. Gradually, the species changes over time.
Darwin worked on his theory for 20 years. After learning that another naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, had developed similar ideas, the two made a joint announcement of their discovery in 1858. In 1859 Darwin published ‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection’.
The book was extremely controversial, because the logical extension of Darwin’s theory was that homo sapiens was simply another form of animal. It made it seem possible that even people might just have evolved - quite possibly from apes - and destroyed the prevailing orthodoxy on how the world was created. Darwin was vehemently attacked, particularly by the Church. However, his ideas soon gained currency and have become the new orthodoxy.
Darwin died on 19 April 1882 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Darwinism on Trial in American State

Listening (can be found at http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/0505/050508-darwin.html )

In the American state of Kansas, a court-like battle is under way over how the origins of life should taught in schools. In one corner are scientists and teachers who are adamant that Darwinism and the Theory of Evolution is beyond scientific doubt. In opposition is a group of Christian-right thinkers who believe creationism, or in their jargon “intelligent design”, explains how we got here. Intelligent design propounds the role of an intelligent designer – God – in creating us as human beings. The creationists argue all life did not have a common origin, that life did not start at a molecular level and that we did not descend from apes. Creationist John Sanford, from Cornell University said: “My explanation, humbly offered, is that we were specially created.”

This has alarm bells ringing for many educators who dismiss the new theory as a fad of the religious right. Scientists say educational standards would decline if the creationists have their way. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers’ Association reject intelligent design for having no scientific grounding and for being a religious invention. Many scientists are boycotting the hearings, which they see as pure folly. They say Kansas will be ridiculed for sending its students back to the dark ages of scientific thinking. Two of the ten committee members that will decide this issue believe the Earth may be younger than 5,000 years old.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics you are interested in, which do not look interesting and which look really boring:

Kansas / scientists / Darwinism / Theory of Evolution / the Christian-right / God / Genesis / Adam and Eve / apes / the age of Earth

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. CHARLES DARWIN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Charles Darwin. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. HOW WE GOT HERE: What is your thinking on how we are who we are? Do you subscribe to Darwinism or a religious explanation that we were specially created? Talk to your partner / group about this. Summarize your conclusions. Change partners and present these conclusions. Is there widespread agreement or differences in thinking?

4. 2-MINUTE EVOLUTION DEBATES: Face each other in pairs and engage in these fun 2-minute debates. Students A take the first argument, students B the second. Change partners regularly for more conversation:

a. God made us. vs. We descended from apes.
b. God created the energy that started the first life form. vs. Science did that.
c. Adam and Eve is just a story. vs. It’s a true story.
d. God created everything in seven days. vs. That’s just a story.
e. The Earth is 5,000 years old. vs. It’s billions of years old.
f. Human beings are the greatest creation. vs. All creatures are equally great.
g. It’s healthy that evolution be questioned. vs. It’s a waste of time.
h. There is no God. vs. There is.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘origin’ and ‘life’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a. Charles Darwin has been arrested and is on trial in the USA.? T / F
b. A battle is on in Kansas over how to teach the origins of life.? T / F
c. Scientists believe the Theory of Evolution is beyond scientific doubt.? T / F
d. Creationists argue we evolved from apes.? T / F
e. Many teachers forgot to set their alarm clocks.? T / F
f. A US teaching association says creationism is based on science.? T / F
g. Scientists say the Kansas school system may become a laughingstock.? T / F
h. Two deciding committee members think Earth is less than 5,000 years old.? T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	under way	terminology
b.	origins	basis
c.	adamant	in process
d.	jargon	proclaims
e.	propounds	whim
f.	ringing	preposterousness
g.	fad	beginnings
h.	grounding	sounding
i.	folly	derided
j.	ridiculed	resolute

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	a court-like battle	the religious right
b.	In one	created
c.	beyond scientific	grounding
d.	molecular	corner are scientists and teachers
e.	we were specially	folly
f.	dismiss	is under way
g.	a fad of	dark ages
h.	no scientific	the new theory
i.	pure	doubt
j.	back to the	level

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. ODD WORD OUT: Circle the word, in each group of three in italics, that does not fit.

Darwinism on trial in American state

In the American state of Kansas, a court-like battle is under way over how the origins / origin / originality of life should taught in schools. In one corner are scientists and teachers who are in two minds / adamant / insistent that Darwinism and the Theory of Evolution is beyond scientific doubt. In opposition is a group of Christian-right thinkers who believe creationism, or in their terminology / thesaurus / jargon “intelligent design”, explains how we got here. Intelligent design proclaims / propounds / propels the role of an intelligent designer - God - in creating us as human beings. The creationists argue all life did not have a common origin, that life did not start at a molecular level and that we did not descend / evolve / climb from apes. Creationist John Sanford, from Cornell University said: “My explanation, humbly offered, is that we were specially created.”
This has alarm bells sounding / alerting / ringing for many educators who dismiss the new theory as a fad / fancy / fanatic of the religious right. Scientists say educational standards would decline if the creationists get / evolve / have their way. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers’ Association reject intelligent design for having no scientific grounding and for being a religious invention. Many scientists are boycotting / snubbing / brainwashing the hearings, which they see as pure nonsense / folly / common sense. They say Kansas will be ridiculed for sending its students back to the dark ages of scientific thinking. Two of the ten committee members that will decide this issue believe the Earth may be younger than 5,000 years old.

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. ODD WORD OUT: Check your answers to this exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT EVOLUTION SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about evolution. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings.

5. ‘ORIGIN’ / ‘LIFE’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions.

6. DISCUSSION:

a. Did you like this article?
b. What did you think after reading the article?
c. Were you surprised by anything you read in the article?
d. How do you think we got here?
e. Do you believe in the story of creation?
f. Do you believe in the story of Adam and Eve?
g. Can you explain Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution?
h. Do you believe in the “survival of the fittest” theory?
i. What do you think of the idea that we were put on the Earth in our present form?
j. Are we the greatest creations on the Earth?
k. How old is the Earth?
l. Is it OK to teach a Christian theory of the origins of life in schools?
m. Is it OK to offer an alternative to Darwin’s theory?
n. Do you think school standards would decline if the creationists got their way?
o. What were you taught about our origins in school?
p. If we did not descend from apes, how come they look like us?
q. Do you believe we were “specially created”?
r. Why do you think we would have been specially created?
s. Don’t you think that if we were “specially created” we would be perfect?
t. Will we look the same in ten million years’ time?
u. Will we still be here ten thousand years from now?
v. Did you like this discussion?
w. Teacher / Student additional questions.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on Charles Darwin. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. IMPERFECT: Write an essay on the imperfections of human beings. Present the basic points of your essay to the class in your next lesson.

4. LETTER TO KANSAS: Write a letter to either the evolutionists or the creationists telling them your views on this issue. Use this letter as the basis for your arguments in a debate on the matter in your next class.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. Charles Darwin has been arrested and is on trial in the USA.F
b. A battle is on in Kansas over how to teach the origins of life.? T
c. Scientists believe the Theory of Evolution is beyond scientific doubt.? T
d. Creationists argue we evolved from apes.? F
e. Many teachers forgot to set their alarm clocks.? F
f. A US teaching association says creationism is based on science.? F
g. Scientists say the Kansas school system may become a laughingstock.? T
h. Two deciding committee members think Earth is less than 5,000 years old.? T

SYNONYM MATCH:

a.	under way	in process
b.	origins	beginnings
c.	adamant	resolute
d.	jargon	terminology
e.	propounds	proclaims
f.	ringing	sounding
g.	fad	whim
h.	grounding	basis
i.	folly	preposterousness
j.	ridiculed	derided

PHRASE MATCH:

a.	a court-like battle	is under way
b.	In one	corner are scientists and teachers
c.	beyond scientific	doubt
d.	at a molecular	level
e.	we were specially	created
f.	dismiss	the new theory
g.	a fad of	the religious right
h.	no scientific	grounding
i.	pure	folly
j.	back to the	dark ages

ODD WORD OUT: Either of the two words in italics would fit in the article.

Darwinism on trial in American state

In the American state of Kansas, a court-like battle is under way over how the origins / origin of life should taught in schools. In one corner are scientists and teachers who are adamant / insistent that Darwinism and the Theory of Evolution is beyond scientific doubt. In opposition is a group of Christian-right thinkers who believe creationism, or in their terminology / jargon “intelligent design”, explains how we got here. Intelligent design proclaims / propounds the role of an intelligent designer - God - in creating us as human beings. The creationists argue all life did not have a common origin, that life did not start at a molecular level and that we did not descend / evolve from apes. Creationist John Sanford, from Cornell University said: “My explanation, humbly offered, is that we were specially created.”
This has alarm bells sounding / ringing for many educators who dismiss the new theory as a fad / fancy of the religious right. Scientists say educational standards would decline if the creationists get / have their way. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Teachers’ Association reject intelligent design for having no scientific grounding and for being a religious invention. Many scientists are boycotting / snubbing the hearings, which they see as pure nonsense / folly. They say Kansas will be ridiculed for sending its students back to the dark ages of scientific thinking. Two of the ten committee members that will decide this issue believe the Earth may be younger than 5,000 years old.