Using the display as a learning experience

Dr Steve van Dyck, Senior Curator, Mammals, with students during National Science Week 2008.

To gain an understanding of what you will discover during a visit, read through the pages about the displays:

• Investigator Tree
• Charles Darwin
• Queensland Museum Science Research

Additional information is provided for students and teachers.

Below is a suggestion of how you can enrich your visit to the Investigator Tree and Charles Darwin: The Reluctant Revolutionary displays and some suggested pre- and post-visit activities.

Before your visit

• Explore concepts of records and documentation. What material/s can we use to reconstruct histories?
• Introduce the ideas of Darwin's theory of Natural Selection through class activities or stories.

During your visit

• Examine the Investigator Tree. Think about the advantages and disadvantages of keeping records on a living object such as a tree.
• Follow the story of Darwin's life and career as it is told through text, images, artefacts and descriptions.
• Find examples of primary and secondary evidence that support the stories of the Investigator Tree and Charles Darwin.
• Read about Charles Darwin's family, including his grandfather Dr Erasmus Darwin who also had an interest in evolution.
• Consider the pressure Charles Darwin was under from his family to achieve success.
• Collecting was one of Charles Darwin's favourite occupations from when he was a young boy. Do you like to collect things that are special to you? What do you do with them?
• Follow the journey of Darwin's expedition between 1831 - 1836 when he was a naturalist on board the Beagle.
• Examine some specimens and artefacts from the Queensland Museum collection that are similar to those Darwin worked with, such as a Galapagos tortoise, various microscopes and other scientific instruments.
• Imagine setting out on a sea voyage at a young age and trying to work hard even though you suffered from bad bouts of seasickness like Darwin did.
• View volumes of Darwin's work from the Queensland Museum Rare Book Collection.
• Read about Darwin's colleagues who both supported and criticised his theories.
• Find out about author Alfred Wallace who was co-credited with Darwin for the discovery of Natural Selection.

After your visit

• Observe plants and animals in your school yard or backyard and make your own notes about them, just like Darwin did. Did you come up with any theories of your own?
• Write a label for a piece of primary evidence found in the display.
• Debate students' ideas on Darwin's theory and discuss the difficulties he faced presenting them to a conservative society.
• Write an article for a science magazine that describes the journey taken by Darwin or the importance of his theories in modern science research.
• Search for more information about Darwin using libraries and the internet. See Discover more about Darwin for some useful websites.
• Find out about Queensland Museum's science research and collections.