A Literary Leaf for On the Origin of Species

Overview and outcomes:

This is a 12-session Literary Leaf for On the Origin of Species by Sabina Radeva which covers all aspects of the Upper Key Stage 2 content domains.  Children will learn about Charles Darwin's famous work and the legacies he left behind. They will study the meanings of scientific terms in context and record discoveries just as Darwin himself did on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle.  After making their discoveries children will sequence the stages of evolution before creating their own glossary of terms.

Synopsis of Text:

'A long, long time ago, before humans even existed, the living world looked very different from how it looks today.'

For most of human history, people believed that everything in the world was created at once. But scientists started to challenge that idea and in 1859 Charles Darwin, a naturalist and biologist, wrote a famous book called On the Origin of Species that revolutionised the way that we have understood evolution ever since.

Now molecular biologist and illustrator Sabina Radeva has recreated Darwin's most famous work as a beautifully illustrated book for children and adults alike. The stunning pictures bring the theory of evolution to life for young readers, and anyone who wants to learn about evolution.

Pulling together Darwin's observations from his travels around the world and his ground-breaking explanation of how species form, develop, and change over hundreds of thousands of years, On The Origin of Species is as relevant and important now as it ever was.

Links to Curriculum areas, other Literary Leaves and Writing Roots:

This book could sit alongside any study or topic where evolution and adaptation is covered and in particular any of our Writing Roots in Y6 under the theme of 'Evolution and Inheritance': The Hidden Forest, The Promise and Can We Save the Tiger?

Evolution, inheritance, adaptation, journeys, discoveries