Krull, Kathleen. 2010. GIANTS OF SCIENCE: CHARLES
DARWIN. IL. Boris Kulikov. New York, NY: Viking a division of Penguin Young
Readers Group. ISBN: 978-0-670-06335-2
Summary:
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on
February 12, 1809, he was the fifth of six children in lived at The Mount, the
Darwin family estate and nature thrived there and in Shrewsbury, also known as the
“Town of Flowers.” Charles was looked after by his older sisters and educated
early by his sister Caroline, who was eight years older. His kindred spirit was
his brother Erasmus, who shared a lot of the same interests. From an early age,
Charles loved nature and whenever he had the chance, he was out in it exploring
and discovering. He grew into a kind man who didn’t like confrontations and
often suffered from bouts of stomach aches that caused him to throw up
frequently. At the age of 22, Charles
was given the chance of a lifetime, the chance to sail around the world on the
HMS Beagle, it was during this time that all of his ideas were forming which
was to become the basis for his theories of evolution. Even after his death,
his ideas stood the test of time and are still discussed today.
Critical
Review:
In the realm of science, sometimes it’s difficult
to distinguish between the scientist and the theory and the scientist and the
person, especially when that person is Charles Darwin and the theory is
evolution. Charles Darwin led an interesting life filled with privilege that
allowed him to pursue his interests and form his theory of evolution. He was a patient man who was able to watch
thing change and evolve, this book offers readers a witty look into the man
whose ideas are the basis for modern biology. Kathleen Krull has given readers
a charming read about a subject that is not always easy to read. Her writing
style accompanied by illustrator Boris Kulikov’s artwork make this book
pleasant to the eye and mind.
Reviews:
*Starred
Review* In the latest entry in the acclaimed Giants of Science series, which
began with Leonardo da Vinci (2005), Krull once again offers an illuminating,
humanizing portrait of a famous scientist. Young readers will connect with
descriptions of Darwin as a poor student who felt stifled at school but
maintained a voracious curiosity for the natural world outside the classroom.
“At age nine, his goal was to know something about every single stone on the
path to the front door.” Krull is a seasoned pro, and as in the series’
previous entries, she writes in easily paced, lively, conversational prose,
knitting together interesting facts, anecdotes, and historical overviews into a
fascinating whole. She offers clear definitions of not only Darwin’s theories
but also how his discoveries built on previous scientists’ work and notes that
his greatest contribution to science was his theory of natural selection, not
evolution, a distinction that sometimes gets muddied in the still-feverish
debates about his work. Those ongoing arguments, Krull says in a final chapter
about Darwin’s legacy, motivated her to add this title to the already crowded
shelves of youth biographies of the scientist. Despite a few typos, this
succinct offering will be an excellent resource for contemporary classroom
discussions. Kulikov’s whimsical ink drawings and a well-culled list of
resources round out this strong entry in the series. Grades 5-8. --Gillian
Engberg
Books:
The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin (New York Times Best Illustrated Books
(Awards))
Peter
Sís (Author, Illustrator)
Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story [Hardcover]
Life
on Earth: The Story of Evolution by Steve Jenkins
Evolution:
How We and All Living Things Came to Be by Daniel Loxton
The
Tree of Life: The Wonders of Evolution by Ellen Jackson
**********************************************************************************************************
Classroom Activities http://evolution.berkeley.edu/activities.htm
Not sure if
your students are grasping what they read about natural selection in a
textbook? Fuzzy blue (pretend) organisms, bar and line graphs of changing
phenotypes, and the ability to simulate one, five, or fifty reproductive cycles
at a time may get their synapses firing. This interactive simulation of natural
selection offers lots of data displays. Depending on your students' familiarity
with such displays and with vocabulary like mutation and phenotype, you may
want to project the simulation and discuss the help documentation that's
available for each feature before students explore on their own or in groups.
Remember that the mutation rate and selection strength are adjustable, so
encourage students to change those settings and study the outcomes. And before
they do any of this, they should read the introductory material, which includes
a summary of natural selection. MSP full
record
|
Why Does Evolution Matter Now?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/lessons/lesson6/teach.html |
After
completing the two activities in this lesson, students should be able to offer
more than a shrug of their shoulders if you ask them the question posed in the
lesson's title. The lesson spans multiple class periods and includes the same
kinds of teacher and student supports as the lesson above (both are from the same
PBS site). The first activity makes it clear that evolution is occurring right
now and that natural selection in microbes can happen in short time frames with
health consequences for humans. Students view a video clip about the evolution
of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and create a product to educate the public
about antibiotic resistance. In the second activity, students investigate how
evolution impacts a specific topic such as biotechnology or the environment and
then share their discoveries with a home group in classic jigsaw-style. Since
the report that students work with in this activity is far from light reading,
it presents a good opportunity for them to practice skimming and scanning.
They'll also want to consult additional reference sources. MSP full
record
|
What Did T. rex Taste Like?
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/Trex/index.html |
This five-part tutorial does an
excellent job of introducing middle and high school students to cladistics. The
cladogram is another tool you can use to help students grasp the big picture of
evolution—the concepts of common ancestry and descent with modification are at
its core. Check out the teacher's guide for a lesson plan that uses the
tutorial, pre- and post-tests, and other tips. The tutorial addresses how
cladograms are constructed, what they have to do with evolution, and the kinds
of questions that they can answer about organisms. Each part of the tutorial
includes a summary segment and questions to check students' understanding. The
tutorial is interactive, so students receive feedback on the answers they
select. MSP full
record
Copyright June 2005 — The Ohio State University. This material
is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.
0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed
in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the National Science Foundation.
