1. Who was Charles Darwin? 2. What did the average person believe about the age of the earth and the quality of plants and animals? 3. Where Darwin travel during his 5 years on the HMS Beagle? 4. What was his job on the ship? 5. How was Darwin influenced by Charles Lyell's writing, and the giant fossils he saw at high elevations in the Andes? 6. What did he notice about the birds and tortoises on the different islands he visited in the Galapagos Islands?

1. **Charles Darwin (1809-1882)** was a British naturalist, geologist, and biologist best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. His groundbreaking work, *On the Origin of Species*, introduced the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection, which explains how life on Earth has changed over vast periods of time.<br /><br />2. In the 19th century, before Darwin's theory gained widespread acceptance, most people believed in **special creation**. This view held that the Earth was relatively young (a few thousand years old) and that all species were created independently and remained unchanged since their creation. They believed that plants and animals were perfectly adapted to their environments from the start.<br /><br />3. During his five-year voyage (1831-1836) on the HMS Beagle, Darwin traveled to various parts of the world, including:<br /><br />* **South America:** He spent considerable time exploring the coasts and inland areas of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and other South American countries. The Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador, were a particularly important stop.<br />* **Australia:** Darwin explored parts of Australia, observing its unique flora and fauna.<br />* **Pacific Islands:** The Beagle visited several Pacific islands, offering Darwin further opportunities to study diverse ecosystems.<br />* **Africa:** The voyage included stops at Cape Verde and other locations in Africa.<br /><br />4. Darwin's official job on the HMS Beagle was as a **naturalist** (sometimes referred to as a "gentleman naturalist" or "companion" to Captain FitzRoy). He was tasked with observing, collecting, and documenting the geological formations, plants, and animals encountered during the voyage.<br /><br />5. **Charles Lyell's *Principles of Geology***, which Darwin read during the voyage, greatly influenced his thinking. Lyell argued for **uniformitarianism**, the idea that geological processes operating in the present are the same ones that have shaped the Earth over long periods. This concept suggested a much older Earth than previously thought, providing the vast timescale necessary for evolutionary change. The **giant fossils of extinct mammals** Darwin discovered at high elevations in the Andes Mountains further supported the idea of gradual change over time and species extinction. He realized that these fossils represented earlier forms of life that had disappeared, challenging the idea of fixed and unchanging species.<br /><br />6. In the Galapagos Islands, Darwin observed that **different islands had slightly different variations of the same species**. He famously noted differences in the beaks of finches and the shells of tortoises. He realized that these variations were related to the specific environments of each island. For example, finches on islands with primarily insect-based food sources had beaks adapted for insect catching, while finches on islands with abundant seeds had beaks better suited for cracking seeds. These observations led him to question the idea of fixed species and begin formulating his theory of natural selection.<br />