It barely seems possible that it is ten whole years since we celebrated Darwin 200, Darwin’s bicentenary on 12 February 2009.
Has the world changed much since then?
I’m sure many animals and their habitats have become rarer since 2009.
More not very cheerful news about wildlife … The Guardian 11 February 2019
It’s not all sad news – the small children I meet through my job teaching at Newquay Zoo are still just as fascinated by animals, especially dinosaurs, as ever.
“I am sad because dinosaurs are extinct” – Cornish pupil’s thank you letter to Newquay Zoo after our Darwin Dinosaurs and Fossils workshop.
Darwin Stamp blog co-founder Mark Norris: I’m still working in Education at Newquay Zoo. Darwin, dinosaurs, Mary Anning, fossils, evolution and living fossils have become a much more requested and popular topic in British, sorry English, primary schools after the National Curriculum changes c. 2013/14.
https://www.newquayzoo.org.uk/education-clubs/school-visits/primary
Some great thank you letters. Lovely corner of my classroom at Newquay Zoo celebrates Charles Darwin and Mary Anning (2019) – that should read ‘mammoth fur’.
Alexandra (‘Sandie’) Robb is still working at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo and has spent a large part of the last ten years on Chinese language, foreign language and Panda related projects – with stamps sneaking in again as well. https://learning.rzss.org.uk/course/view.php?id=46
We worked together in 2009 on this blog site and the associated limited edition free to schools publication Charles Darwin: A Life in Stamps.
Curiously this is the most remarked upon item in my fossil cabinet of curiosities – the old £10 note featuring Darwin. Newquay Zoo, 2019
My geological hammer and a few spare ammonites from my last trip to Lyme Regis in my fossil cabinet of curiosities, Newquay Zoo classroom, 2019
“Mary Anning had a dog and Mary was brave.” A portrait of Mary Anning and her dog like none you have seen before! Very young Cornish school pupil’s thank you letter to Newquay Zoo.
“Mary Anning had a dog and Mary was brave” written next to a portrait of Mary Anning and her dog like none you have seen before from a very young Cornish school pupil’s thank you letter to Newquay Zoo.
Meteorites, mammoth fur, fossils and plastic dinosaurs – bliss!
An attractive cabinet of curiosities in our Lynx Room Classroom, much looked at by visiting school children and students, Newquay Zoo 2019.
Last year we revamped one of our zoo classrooms to look more like the lovely Darwin Room in the Education Centre at our sister Zoo Paignton Zoo.
Our busy new Darwin Room classroom at Newquay Zoo now looks like this (below) after brilliant in-house work by our maintenance teams – a glimpse, as I shall feature more in a future blogpost.
Skins, skulls – one corner of our Darwin Room explorer’s classroom of curiosities, Newquay Zoo, 2019
Essential reading …
Our Darwin Room classroom at Newquay Zoo – I want this at home!
In 2009 we worked on a Heritage Lottery Fund project with Cornish painter John Dyer and the Falmouth Art Gallery team.
Although sadly the original Darwin 200 exhibition Falmouth Art gallery Curator Brian Stewart has now passed away, we still have partnership links and hope to contribute to their Stuff and Nonsense summer 2019 exhibition. This celebrates Edward Lear and many other amazing and funny people, following up Lear’s bicentenary in 2012 https://teachingnonsenseinschools.wordpress.com/
http://www.falmouthartgallery.com/Exhibitions/2019/1438~Stuff_and_Nonsense
Happy Birthday Charles Darwin, 210 years young and still inspiring many people of all ages to ask interesting questions about the world around us!
I wonder where and how Darwin’s 220th birthday in 2029 will find us all?
Blog posted by Mark Norris on behalf of the Darwin Stamp Zoo blog, Darwin Day, 12 February 2019.
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