From the February 2010 newsletter of The Charles Darwin Trust:
International Year of Biodiversity Launch
The International Year of Biodiversity was launched in Berlin on 11th January. Randal Keynes, trustee of The Charles Darwin Trust, spoke at the launch about Darwin’s foresight in recognising the importance of biodiversity. His article can be found in the Convention for Biological Diversity’s PDF newsletter, Gincana 7. See pages 7 and 30-32.
Student observes carnivorous plants during a Darwin Investigates Day at Down House
The London Borough of Bromley launches its Discover Darwin teacher’s packs in mid March. These will provide teaching ideas in science, maths, literacy and art at Key Stages 2 and 3 based on themes from On the Origin of Species. Primary and secondary schools in Bromley will receive free hard copies of the packs, which will also be downloadable for free from the London Borough of Bromley’s Darwin’s Landscape Laboratory website. This pack was written by several of The Charles Darwin Trust educators.
Darwin-inspired primary science
If you are a primary teacher in London you can now book a trainer from Science Learning Centre London to come to your school and show you how you can use Darwin’s ideas to inspire your classes to ask questions, investigate, measure, record and, above all, think in science. You will also explore how Darwin can be studied through Victorian history topics. This session was developed with The Charles Darwin Trust, see the Science Learning Centre London website for more details.
Young Experimental Scientists (YES) at the Swindon Academy
The Charles Darwin Trust is working with the Swindon Academy in this innovative new Key Stage 2-3 transition project. Swindon Academy teaches children from 0-19 and wants to explore how to make the transition from Key Stage 2 to 3 smoother.
The Charles Darwin Trust is working with the school to set up a long-term ecology project for Years 6 and 7, inspired by Darwin’s observations and experiments. The Trust is providing Continuing Professional Development for teachers in March who will then run the project in school. Trust educators will return to the school for a follow-up in the summer. The Trust will report the outcomes of the YESiproject in later newsletters.
Darwin Guide to Recording Wildlife
Randal Keynes, a trustee of The Charles Darwin Trust, has co-authored the Darwin Guide to Recording Wildlife. This is a free publication available from the National Biodiversity Network. The guide explains how Darwin himself observed wildlife and used his own and others’ records in his work as well as explaining how to become involved, what to look for and the basics of how to record. You can download a free PDF version or order a hard copy of the guide from the National Biodiversity Network website.
The Dispersal of Darwin 