Galapagos in Your Garden: what lives there and here?
Did you know that there is a small group of tiny islands in the Pacific Ocean on which fantastical creatures and plants abound?
Giant lizards swim in the sea and munch on algae. Tiny penguins dive with flightless cormorants, serene sea turtles, and bold sea lions. Giant tortoises lumber through lush highland forests of 40-foot tall daisies while blue-footed birds waddle near the coast. These are the Galapagos Islands - where a famous British naturalist, Charles Darwin, once explored and contemplated some big ideas about how species change over time. But when Darwin returned from his travels, he assumed that people wouldn’t believe him about these outlandish animals and plants, so he explained his ideas about natural selection using some pretty amazing British species!
Join us to explore how some of the species of the Galapagos are actually remarkably similar to those here in the UK and re-discover the wonder of British trees, plants, and wildlife by making your very own field guide to take home and add clippings and drawings to as you spot more non-human living creatures on your walks and in your back garden!
Activity led by Amelia Farber, Department of Education, University of Oxford.
