Going through all the important figures who intellectually contributed to Darwin’s development of evolutionary theory is topic that can get really dry in the classroom. As a way to make it a little more fun, I decided to put this lesson into a matching game format. The file below has the historical person’s name, a brief description of their contribution, and a picture. I have my students match names to contributions first, and if I am feeling feisty (which I often am), I challenge them to match the correct picture to the name and contribution. As we go through each answer, I provide more information and greater context for each person, hopefully building the narrative of the different influences on Darwin’s thinking.
As always, please do not alter my files, make a copy to use as you wish.