Reading Primary Sources: Darwin and Wallace

Image of Darwin drawing his tree diagram from the film

Topic

Resource Type

Level

High School — General High School — AP/IB College

Saved By

25 Users

Description

This activity supports concepts covered in the film The Making of a Theory. Students develop their nonfiction reading comprehension by analyzing excerpts from texts written by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.

Students build an understanding of the revolutionary ideas of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace by reading the two naturalists’ scientific writings, journals, and letters. They examine Darwin’s and Wallace’s writings to identify the evidence that led the naturalists to develop their theories about the natural origin of species.

Student Learning Targets

Evaluate claims based on information and evidence presented in a film and in scientific texts.
Determine the central ideas and themes in historical and scientific texts.
Participate in a collaborative discussion about the interpretation of information presented in historical and scientific texts.

Estimated Time

One to two 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

adaptation, common ancestor, competition, domestication, evolution, natural selection, population, reproductive success, species, variation

Primary Literature

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: John Murray, 1859.

Darwin, Charles. and Wallace, Alfred R. “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection.” Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 3, 9 (1858): 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.1858.tb02500.x.

Wallace, Alfred R. “The Origin of Species and Genera (S322: 1880).” Nineteenth Century 7, 35 (1880): 93–106. http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S322.htm.

Wallace, Alfred R. “Variation and Natural Selection.” Nature 44, 1144 (1891): 518–519. https://doi.org/10.1038/044518b0.