Education and Outreach in the UK - Galapagos Conservation Trust

At Galapagos Conservation Trust, we believe that education is key to inspiring future generations to care for and protect the environment. Our education and outreach work in Galapagos and the UK aims to connect young people to nature and inspire them about the wonders of Galapagos.

Our Education Writer and primary school teacher, Sarah Langford, was approached by the Charles Darwin Primary school in Cheshire to help with a whole school project on Charles Darwin and the voyage of the Beagle. They were keen to find out more about the school’s namesake. They successfully managed a 3-week whole school cross-curricular project, ending with the most wonderful displays of their work around the school.

A beautiful map of Charles Darwin’s voyage on *The Beagl*e. They reached Galapagos on 15 September 1835, nearly four years after setting off from Plymouth, England. © Charles Darwin Primary school.

Sarah shared our Discovering Galapagos resources with the teachers, including our Evolution resources for the Year 6 children and our Draw Like Darwin lesson plan. They also read our Marti the Hammerhead Shark: A Galapagos Journey storybook with the children.

Amazing attempts to ‘Draw Like Darwin’ © Charles Darwin Primary school.

Sarah also did a 45-minute presentation to 200 KS2 children across eight of the school’s classes. It introduced Galapagos Conservation Trust, a brief introduction to the Islands and their unique ecology and a ‘virtual tour’ with anecdotes of some of the species that inhabit Galapagos ending with an engaging Q&A session.

Beautiful drawings of some of the unique animals found in the Galapagos Islands © Charles Darwin Primary school.

The Deputy Head sent this short response post-meeting – “It was lovely to meet you too. The children (and staff!) loved your talk and have gone away to find out more about the island’s wildlife. They have started their artwork based on your presentation – Year 3’s tortoise shell is taking shape nicely.”

Year 3’s tortoise and a display of their work © Charles Darwin Primary school.

We loved working with the Charles Darwin Primary school and looking at their amazing artwork – we just had to share them with our supporters.

The children wrote letters in the style of Charles Darwin about his discoveries in the Galapagos Islands © Charles Darwin Primary school.

Discovering Galapagos Educational Resources

We have a range of student and teacher resources available on our Discovering Galapagos website. These are tailored to different age groups and will inspire and engage children with the wonders of Galapagos to teach them about a range of topics.

Discovering Galapagos is an educational resource available in both English and Spanish, and designed for use in the UK, Ecuador, and Galapagos. It was designed for teachers to deliver lessons with strong links to the UK science and geography curriculum. However, Discovering Galapagos is ideal as a highly relevant and reliable resource for homeschooling across KS2, KS3, KS4, and beyond. You can find out more about the Discovering Galapagos project here.

Why not head to the Discovering Galapagos Citizen Science Portal brought to you by Galapagos Conservation Trust? Here you will find details of all our active citizen science projects that you can get involved with right now. Through involvement in these projects, your contribution will directly support the conservation of Galapagos and its unique wildlife.