Tagged with Exploration
Resource : George Stubbs’ ‘The Kongouro from New Holland’ (Kangaroo)
This is a painting of an Australian kangaroo by the artist George Stubbs. This was the first time people in Britain had seen such a creature.
Resource : Darwin’s Finches
The theory of evolution by natural selection, proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, transformed the way we understand the natural world. Through careful observations, made over many years, they each realised that animals and plants that are particularly well suited to their environment are the most likely to survive, and so pass these characteristics on to the next generation. Gradually, over many generations, these characteristics – such as long necks, warm fur, being able to see well in the dark etc – become more common in a population, and a species changes over time.
Resource : Model of HM Bark Endeavour
In the late 1700s Captain James Cook (1729 – 1779) led three now legendary voyages to explore the Pacific Ocean in ships named Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure and Discovery. To people living in Britain at the time, the Pacific was as mysterious and unreachable as outer space is to ordinary people today. With his crew Cook voyaged further south than any European before him and brought back new knowledge to Britain of the seas, lands, peoples, plants and animals they encountered. The three voyages transformed knowledge and understanding among Europeans about the wider world and its people.
