1. Background for Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
16.1 and 16.2

2. Evolution Is… Change over time.
The process by which modern organisms have descended from ancient organisms.

3. Finches

4. Tree of Life

5. Charles Darwin
Born in England, 1809

6. Darwin’s Five Year Voyage on the Beagle in 1831

8. Darwin’s Notebooks

9. Darwin Observation 1: Species vary globally.
Different, yet ecologically similar, animal species inhabited separated habitats around the globe.
Example: flightless, ground dwelling birds in grasslands.

10. Darwin Observation 2: Species vary locally.
Different, yet related, animal species often occupied different habitats within a local area.
Example: tortoises in the Galapagos.

11. Darwin Observation 3: Species vary over time.
Fossils of extinct animals were similar to living species.

12. Ideas That Influenced Darwin 1: Lamarck
Organisms could change during their lifetimes by selectively using or not using various parts of their bodies. These acquired traits can be passed on to offspring, enabling a species to change over time.

14. Ideas That Influenced Darwin 2: Geology
Hutton and Lyell concluded that Earth is extremely old and the processes that changed Earth in the past still exist in the present.

16. Ideas That Influenced Darwin 3: Population Growth
Thomas Malthus reasoned that if the human population grew unchecked, there wouldn’t be enough living space and food for everyone.

17. Population Growth

18. Ideas That Influenced Darwin 4: Artificial Selection
Nature provides species variation, but humans select the variations they find useful (selective breeding).