darwin’s scientific women cross-curricular educational resources key stages 3-4 darwin...
TRANSCRIPT
Darwin’s Scientific Women
Cross-curricular educational resources
Key Stages 3-4
Darwin Correspondence Project
• Born in Shrewsbury in 1809
• Educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge
• Sailed around the world with the HMS Beagle, 1831-1836
• Became a famous gentleman-naturalist who published on many scientific topics
• Lived and worked at Down House in Kent
• Wrote the Origin of Species in 1859 which proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection
• Died at Down House in 1882
Who was Charles Darwin?
Copyright © Cambridge University Library
Women in the Victorian period
• In Darwin’s day, women were generally expected to become wives and mothers.
• Women did not have the same education and employment opportunities as men.
• It was generally believed that women were poorly suited for advanced degrees and demanding jobs
• Nonetheless, there were women who went beyond what was expected and worked as botanists, travellers, observers, writers and naturalists.
• This lesson explores the correspondence between some of these women and Charles Darwin
Science: Mary Lua Adelia Treat Naturalist, botanist, writer
• Born in Trumansburg, New York in 1830.• Treat’s studies of the natural world earned her a
scholarly reputation during her lifetime.• Like Darwin, Treat worked at home. • She created her ‘Insect Menagerie’; an enclosed
space from which she observed tiny details of the natural world around her.
• After separating from her husband Treat supported herself by writing popular science articles for magazines and published 5 books.
• Treat carried out experiments and collected plants and insects for leading naturalists including Asa Gray and Charles Darwin.
• Darwin acknowledged Treat’s work in his book ‘Insectivorous Plants’(1875) and exchanged several letters with her.
Darwin told Treat:
‘Your observationsand experiments
onthe sexes of
butterflies are by far
the best, as far as is
known to me, which
have ever beenmade.’
Mary Treat, Courtesy of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society
Science Activity: Science at home: Attracting moths at night
This experiment is similar to observational work on butterflies carried out by Mary Treat. Both Treat and Darwin used their
homes as scientific labs for performing experiments and closely observing the natural world.
Science Activity: Science at home: Attracting moths at night
1. At home: Hang up one white
sheet on the washing line and spread out the other on the ground.
2. Shine the lamp towards the hanging sheet.
3. Spread the egg boxes/ trays on the sheet on the ground.
4. After dark, watch for the moths, some will land on the sheet and some will settle in the egg boxes.
5. Record how many species and numbers on your chart and photograph findings.
6. Once counted, release the moths in different locations, away from predators.
7. Use the guide to identify moths from your photographs.
8. Compare your results with the rest of your class.
Science Activity:Is it a plant or an animal?
1. In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
2. In groups, list the features of a plant and an animal. Share your list with the class.
3. As a class, discuss which category an insectivorous plant fits into and why.
4. As a class, create a classification flowchart for an insectivorous plant, using guiding questions, e.g. Is it alive? Does it eat other life forms? Does it synthesise its own food?
Science Activity:Design your own insectivorous plant
1. In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
2. Based on your reading, design your own insectivorous plant, listing all the key characteristics that enable it to survive successfully and to reproduce.
Science Activity:How do insectivorous plants respond to the
addition of different food types?
1. In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
2. In groups, observe and make notes on the state of your plant before experiment, eg. size, position, tilt, colour, health, condition of soil.
3. Add a sample of food to your plant.
4. Observe how the plant reacts; compare whether leaves of Venus flytrap close fully or partially, or whether tentacles of Sundew change shape.
5. Monitor changes in plant over a fixed time – e.g. 7 days
6. Open the leaves/ tentacles. Extract the remains of food and observe changes.
7. Record findings and note the state of your plant. Compare to your earlier notes.
8. Compare your results to Darwin’s own findings.
9. As a class, discuss why there might be different results and what might be the same.
History/CitizenshipLady Florence Dixie (1855-1905)
Traveller, war correspondent, writer, and feminist
• Born in Dumfries, Scotland.• Educated at home and in a convent. • In 1879 she travelled to Patagonia with her
husband. She spent time observing animals and hunting.
• She brought home a jaguar and kept it as a pet. Dixie wrote to Darwin about her sad decision to give her jaguar to the zoo as it had grown too big to keep safely.
• In 1881, Dixie was appointed as a field correspondent for The Morning Post to cover the First Boer War.
• Dixie was politically active; she was strongly in favour of Irish home rule and women’s suffrage.
Wikicommons
History/CitizenshipMarianne North (1830-1890)
Botanical artist, traveller• Born in Hastings where her father was Liberal
MP. • Her family supported her attempts at singing
and painting. • After her parents died, North left England to
paint the flora of different countries. • Between 1871 and 1885 North visited
America, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil, Tenerife, Japan, Singapore, Sarawak, Java, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Seychelles and Chile.
• In 1881 North visited Down House to show the Darwins her paintings of Australian flora.
• In England, North approached Kew Gardens to show her work and paid for a gallery to be built to house the collection. It is part of the attractions at Kew today.
Marianne North, by T. Bailey, after Aldham & Aldham, wood engraving, NPG D42434, Copyright © National Portrait Gallery London, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
History/CitizenshipAntoinette Blackwell (1825-1921)
Ordained minister, writer, feminist, and social reformer
• Born in Henrietta, New York.• In early life she began to preach in her local
Congregational Church and went on to teach. • Throughout her life she was a renowned public speaker. • Blackwell was the first woman to be ordained as a
minister in the United States. • She was a vociferous social reformer and promoter of
women’s rights.• Later in her life, Blackwell became a Unitarian.
• She believed that women’s participation in religion could improve their status in society.
• Blackwell was a keen philosopher and scientist. She believed Darwin to be one of the most influential thinkers of her time.
• After sending Darwin a copy of her book ‘Studies in General Science’, Darwin’s reply to thank the author began ‘Dear Sir’, as he assumed it had been written by a man.
Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; neg. no. LC USZ 62
53475
History/CitizenshipClemence Royer (1820-1902)
Scholar of science and feminism who translated On the Origin of Species into French
• Royer was born in Nantes, Brittany and was mainly educated at home. • She taught herself French, arithmetic and music to qualify as a teacher in
a secondary school, living in Paris and then England.• In 1859 Royer gave a series of lectures aimed at women.• Royer was a great advocate of women’s rights and a strong supporter of
Darwin’s ideas • In her French translation of On the Origin of Species she added a 60 page
essay against organised religion, plus her own footnotes to Darwin’s text.
Darwin wrote “I received 2 or 3 days ago a French translation of the Origin by a Madelle. Royer, who must be one of the cleverest & oddest women in Europe: is ardent deist & hates Christianity, & declares that natural selection & the struggle for life will explain all morality, nature of man, politicks &c &c!!!”
Clemence Royer, Credit: Biodiversity Heritage Library/Gerstein - University of Toronto (archive.org)
History/CitizenshipElizabeth Garrett (1836-1917)
Physician and supporter of women’s rights
• Born in Whitechapel, London• Educated at home until age 13 when she was sent to
boarding school.• Had a lifelong interest in politics and current affairs but
decided to pursue a career in medicine, although women were excluded from formal medical training.
• Worked as a nurse whilst studying privately and was allowed to attend the dissecting room and lectures at Middlesex Hospital until male students petitioned for her to leave.
• She was refused entry to medical schools but continued to study privately • In 1865 Garrett took the Society of Apothecaries exam and was awarded a
licence to practice medicine• She was the first British woman qualified to practice medicine but she could not
work at any hospital so she set up her own practice, eventually providing medical care to poor women and children across London.
• She co-founded the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874, the only teaching hospital to offer courses for women.
• A colleague wrote to Emma Darwin to ask her to support Garrett becoming Professor of Physiology at Bedford College for Girls.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, image courtesy of Barts Health NHS Trust
History/CitizenshipLydia Ernestine Becker (1827-1890)Suffragist, botanist, and astronomer
• Born in Chadderton, Lancashire and educated at home.
• Studied botany and astronomy and was awarded a Horticultural Society gold medal in 1862.
• In 1864 she published Botany for Novices, which she described to Darwin as being 'chiefly intended for young ladies’
• Founder and president of the Manchester Ladies' Literary Society; she persuaded Darwin to send articles for the society to discuss. • A leading member of the women's suffrage movement, becoming secretary to the Manchester Women's Suffrage Committee from 1867, and later to the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage.
• Editor of, and a regular contributor to, the Women's Suffrage Journal.• In 1887 she moved to London and was elected President of the newly
formed National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. • She exchanged botanical information, seeds and plants with Darwin, as
well as sharing papers and a copy of her book.
Lydia Becker, courtesy of Oldham Local Studies and
Archives
History/CitizenshipHenrietta Darwin (1843-1929)
Assistant to her father and editor of his published work
• The third daughter of Charles and Emma Darwin, Henrietta was born at Down House, Kent
• As children, Henrietta and her siblings worked closely with their father making observations and carrying out experiments.
• As she grew up Henrietta liaised with many of Darwin’s correspondents, requesting specific observations and collating their responses.
• In August 1871 she married Richard Buckley Litchfield, who was also born in Downe, Kent.
• Henrietta edited a large proportion of Darwin’s famous work, including The Descent of Man.
• She edited two volumes of family letters after the death of her parents.
‘All your remarks, criticisms doubts and corrections are excellent, excellent, excellent’
– Charles Darwin to Henrietta Darwin, 26 July 1867
Copyright © Cambridge University Library
History/Citizenship ActivityHow the other half live:
researching the lives of Victorian women travellers
1.As a class, discuss what you think the ideal Victorian woman might be like. What would she do? How would she dress? How would she be educated and in what subjects? Note down key ideas.
2.In groups, read the biographies of Lady Florence Dixie and Marianne North, and the letters listed above and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
3.As a class, discuss and describe how their lives differed from that of the ideal woman you have described. What factors helped them live differently from what was expected? What might their motivation have been?
4.In pairs, imagine you are a journalist for a Victorian newspaper. Write a short article on the life of either Lady Florence Dixie or Marianne North. What sources might you use for your information? How would you illustrate your article? What might your angle or perspective be?
5.In pairs, write a blog post describing the life of either woman from a contemporary perspective. Consider what aspects of your report would be different today and why.
History/Citizenship ActivityDarwin’s Family Workforce
1. In groups, read through the letters between Darwin, his nieces and his daughter, and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
2. In your groups, list the types of work that Darwin’s nieces and daughter carry out.
3. As a class, discuss anything that you found surprising about these letters.
4. In your groups, read through the published work extracts to see how Darwin acknowledges his family support publicly. Having read the letters, who is the friend from Surrey?
5. As a class, discuss the differences between how he acknowledges his female work force in private and in public? Why might this be?
6. In pairs, create a table with a column for published sources and one for letters. What qualities/ drawbacks does each historical source have and which do you think is most useful for the historian?
History/Citizenship ActivityDraw a satirical Victorian cartoon
1.Individually, read through the biographies of Lydia Becker, Clemence Royer and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. From their biographies what do we learn about the work that they do? What is their connection to Darwin?2.In small groups look at the cartoons taken from Victorian newspapers. Describe how different women are represented (look carefully at how the different faces, clothes, body shapes are drawn).3.What is the view of the artist? What do you think it says about women in Victorian society?4.Individually, read the biography of Antoinette Brown Blackwell and the letter from Darwin to her and study her photograph.5.Imagine you are a cartoonist for Punch magazine and draw your own satirical cartoon of her, based on what you know about her and what you have seen.
History/Citizenship ActivityScience: No job for a lady
1. In groups, read the biographies of Lydia Becker and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and the letters associated with them. Answer the Understanding Letter questions.
2. As a class, discuss what were the main obstacles to each woman’s scientific work?
3. In groups, read the letter from Darwin to Caroline Kennard. What does Darwin say about the intellectual capacity of women and what are the dangers if women become ‘regular bread-winners’? How typical do you think his view of women was?
4. Individually, imagine you are a nineteenth century male scientist who has been approached by a woman to become his assistant. Reply to her in a letter outlining your objections, according to the time.
Religion: Mary Everest Boole (1832-1916)Mathematician and teacher
• Born in Wickwar, Gloucestershire
• She was a self-taught mathematician
• Married fellow mathematician George Boole in 1855. They had 5 daughters but Mary was widowed when she was 32.
• She is best known for her popular and creative methods of teaching maths to children.
• She believed that children should be given mathematical objects to play with in order to develop an understanding of pattern and structure.
• In 1909 she published ‘Philosophy and Fun of Algebra’.
‘But I have lately read remarks…which have perplexed & pained me sorely…I cannot feel sure that they are mistaken unless you will tell me
so.’- Mary Boole to Charles Darwin, 13
December 1866
A committed Christian, Boole wrote to Darwin
seeking clarification that his theory might be compatible
with her religious faith and was
reassured by his response.
Copyright © Cambridge University Library
Religion: Emma Darwin (1808-1896)Wife and assistant to Charles Darwin and mother
of 10• Born at the family estate of Maer
Hall, Maer, Staffordshire.• Emma was the youngest of
seven children and Charles Darwin’s first cousin.
• Her Unitarian faith was important to her throughout her life. It was something that she explored and discussed with Charles Darwin at length before they married on 29 January 1839.
• Had 10 children with Charles Darwin, 3 of whom died in childhood. • Emma assisted Charles Darwin, writing on his behalf during his many
bouts of illness. • Emma and Charles Darwin kept notebooks of the observations of their
children as they grew up. Such observations informed Darwin’s later works on human emotion and behaviour.
• Outside of the family, Emma wrote on animal cruelty, slavery, and the American Civil War.
Copyright © Cambridge University Library
Copyright © English Heritage. By kind permission of Darwin Heirlooms Trust.
Religion Activity:Combining Darwin with ideas of faith
1. As a class, watch an introductory film that summarises the positions of faith and science eg: http://www.truetube.co.uk/ethics-and-religion/faith/evolution-god-to-science. Discuss the main points of the film.
2. In groups, read the biographies of Emma Darwin and Mary Boole and note the main points concerning their religious perspectives.
3. In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
4. As a class, from the evidence of the letters discuss whether you think it is possible to combine a religious belief with Darwin’s views.
English: Mary Lua Adelia Treat Naturalist, botanist, writer
• Born in Trumansburg, New York in 1830.• Treat’s studies of the natural world earned her a
scholarly reputation during her lifetime.• Like Darwin, Treat worked at home. • She created her ‘Insect Menagerie’; an enclosed
space from which she observed tiny details of the natural world around her.
• After separating from her husband Treat supported herself by writing popular science articles for magazines and published 5 books.
• Treat carried out experiments and collected plants and insects for leading naturalists including Asa Gray and Charles Darwin.
• Darwin acknowledged Treat’s work in his book ‘Insectivorous Plants’(1875) and exchanged several letters with her.
Darwin told Treat:
‘Your observationsand experiments
onthe sexes of
butterflies are by far
the best, as far as is
known to me, which
have ever beenmade.’
Mary Treat, Courtesy of the Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society
English: Emma Darwin (1808-1896)Wife and assistant to Charles Darwin and mother
of 10 • Born at the family estate of Maer
Hall, Maer, Staffordshire.• Emma was the youngest of
seven children and Charles Darwin’s first cousin.
• Her Unitarian faith was important to her throughout her life. It was somethingthat she explored and discussed with Charles Darwin at length before they married on 29 January 1839.
• Had 10 children with Charles Darwin, 3 of whom died in childhood. • Emma assisted Charles Darwin, writing on his behalf during his many
bouts of illness. • Emma and Charles Darwin kept notebooks of the observations of their
children as they grew up. Such observations informed Darwin’s later works on human emotion and behaviour.
• Outside of the family, Emma wrote on animal cruelty, slavery, and the American Civil War.
Copyright © Cambridge University Library
Copyright © English Heritage. By kind permission of Darwin Heirlooms Trust.
English: Mary Barber (1818-1899)Naturalist, artist, and writer in South Africa
• Mary Barber (born Bowker) was born in Wiltshire, England but emigrated to South Africa when she was 2 years old.
• She followed her older brother’s keen interest in natural history and studied birds, moths, reptiles, and plants, often creating detailed and accurate paintings.
• A number of species of insects and plants that she discovered were named after her.
• She corresponded with leading scientists such as Joseph Hooker at Kew Gardens for 30 years. Hooker read some of her scientific papers at the Linnaean society and several were published under Darwin’s recommendation.
‘I have Darwin to thank for nearly all I know on the subject of fertilization, my eyes were opened
by reading his books, especially that on the Fertilization of Orchids’.
- Mary Barber to Joseph Hooker 9 March, [1869] Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
English ActivityFemale Language?
1.As a class, discuss whether you think there is a difference in female and male writing styles. Give examples and explain your ideas.
2.In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions.
3.In groups, analyse the letters for potential gender differences in writing style. Annotate your findings.
4.As a class, share your findings. If you think there are differences in the way that the letters are written – how might they be accounted for?
5.Discuss what other factors might impact on writing styles.
English Activity:Portrait of a Marriage
1. In groups, read through the letters and answer the Understanding Letters questions (each group could read a different selection of letters).
2. In groups or pairs, using the information from the letters create a timeline that expresses key moments the relationship between Charles and Emma Darwin (this could be based on facebook timeline templates).
3. As a class, discuss what you can infer about the personality of each person from the letters. How would you describe their relationship? Back up your view with evidence from the letters.
Follow-up discussion:
As a class, discuss how letters can inform an understanding of the story of someone’s life and their personality. What are the limitations of using letters for this purpose?
For more educational resources:
• Please visit the Darwin Correspondence Project’s school resources pages:
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/schools
• Do you have feedback? We would love to hear from you!
- Contact: [email protected]