CHARLES DARWIN. The Theory of Evolution.

CHARLES DARWIN. The Theory of Evolution.

All cultures tell a story about how life oil Earth began. Most traditions and religions say that creation happened in a particular event. But what does science tell us? A scientist named Charles Darwin came up with a very different idea about the origin of humans and other creatures.

In 1831, at the age of 22, Darwin set out from England on a scientific expedition aboard a ship called the Beagle. He sailed to the coast of South America and the Pacific islands, including the Galapagos.

On the trip, Darwin studied many species, or groups, of plants and animals. He also studied fossils - rocks that carry imprints of ancient plants and alintals. The fossils showed that plants and animals living on Earth long ago were different from the same types of plants and animals that lived in his own time. Darwin wondered why the old species had disappeared and the new species had developed.

After much thought, this is what. Darwin decided. Living things must work hard for food and shelter, so only the ones that do the best will survive. Small individual strengths, such as being bigger or faster, can be the key to survival. And these strengths are passed on to the individuals' offspring. Helpful individual differences add up over time to make the whole species change, or evolve.

This was Darwin's famous theory of evolution. He also believed that, over time, the same species living in different surroundings could evolve into two separate species.

Darwin published his theory in his books 'On the Origin of Species' and 'The Descent of Man'. He proposed that all living things, including humans, have slowly evolved from earlier species. Many people do not accept Darwin's theory. But it is still the most widely accepted scientific theory.