General Biology Exam 1 Poser


    In class, your group phrased a question about Charles Darwin or his ideas, and you heard many other questions asked by class members. Choose any of these questions as your Darwin Poser question - they are listed below.. This question will be worth 10 points. Knowing something about Darwin and his theory, and with access to many of Darwin’s writings as well as scholarship about Darwin, I’m confident that you have some idea as to how he would frame an answer, and have access to additional information to inform your writing.

    Your assignment is to formalize an answer to the question that you have chosen. In writing your answer, you should take the voice of Charles Darwin and write the answer as you think that he would. Please use first person wherever appropriate.  You may write an answer individually, or you may submit a group answer composed by up to three persons. You must work on this individually if you take the remainder of the exam individually.  If you elect to take the exam in a group (up to 3 persons), you must submit an answer as a group with your exam-mates.  Your answer should be no longer than two typewritten double-spaced pages and should conform to all of the usual rules of academic presentation. To earn 10 points, you must include at least one direct citation to support the argument that you make for Darwin. You may not use encyclopedias, general Biology textbooks, or other general resources as your citation source. You must use either the writings of Darwin or writings of scholars writing directly about Darwin. Please note that some texts such as some of Darwin’s own works, and many journals, are available for reading on the WWW. While accessed electronically, these are not Internet resources and may be thought of as standard textual materials, although there is a correct way of citing that they were retrieved from an internet site.  Please consult the library web pages (http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/Student/help.htm) for this protocol if you are not already familiar with the proper method of citing internet pages.  APA style is acceptable although if you are familiar with any other, please feel free to use any style correctly and consistently.

    Due date: This assignment is due at the time of the first exam's submission. Please PRINT the names of all group members on the back of your paper (I prefer not to know whose paper I am reading when I read it.) The title of your paper should be a clear statement of the question that Darwin will be answering in the text of the answer. Only one answer needs to be submitted from each group.

    Need help with this project? You are welcome to ask a reference librarian for assistance (if you are in Information Literacy this semester, IL 101, try your IL 101 instructor), but you may not speak with any other person outside of your group when formulating your answer.  The grading rubric that I will use for this question may be obtained here.

Questions List for Darwin Poser

  1. Do you think that the savage people of Tierra del Fuego can be civilized?

  2. In your travels, you had so many different experiences.  What does it feel like to experience something completely new?

  3. When you were finding new forms of life, how did you classify those with which you were not already familiar?

  4. As you were exploring, you found species each to have its own particular geographic bounds.  Why do you think that certain species can be found at only specific locations?

  5. Based upon your observations, how did the three young Fuegians change during their time in England, and how did they adapt into their original culture when they were returned to South America?

  6. Given the similarities of plants and animals of the Galapagos to those of South America, do you think that the islands of the Galapagos Archipelago broke away from South America?

  7. Given all your evidence that evolutionary change is real, what are your personal feelings about people who still do not believe that it occurs?

  8. When do you think that the first modern humans arose?  Do you have any ideas about who our most recent ancestors might have been?

  9. As you developed your theory, did you find your own observations, especially those on the Galapagos Islands, or other evidence more important?

  10. Which force do you think plays a stronger role in causing evolutionary change, the action of the environment, or the action of competing species?

  11. What do you believe was your most influential discovery or theory?  Why do you think that?

  12. What do you think was responsible for the extinction of horse populations from the pampas of South America?