Follow in Darwin's footsteps at the Sedgwick Museum

This Saturday (February 16) the Sedgwick Museum will offer visitors the chance to discover and learn about the Museum's amazing collections of rocks and fossils, and in particular those gathered by Charles Darwin during his famous Beagle voyage.

In 1831, aged 22, Darwin set out on a survey expedition across the globe aboard the HMS Beagle. Over the next five years, he made detailed studies of the geographical and natural features of the places he visited. His journey profoundly influenced his life and many of his later works.

Museum staff and volunteers from Rockwatch, the national geology club for children, will be helping children and their parents on a “Curious Collectors Expedition”, in which they can create their own hand-drawn collections of objects, inspired by what they have discovered in the Museum's displays. The Time Truck, a team of student volunteers from Cambridge University will be helping visitors to discover some of the amazing rock and fossil collections at the Museum.

Families will also be able to find out more about how our planet is studied nowadays in the form of “Earth Talks” from two University academics, who will be describing their own voyages following in Darwin's footsteps.

Dr Sally Gibson will be talking about her recent expedition to the Galapagos Islands to follow up some of Charles Darwin's important research into volcanoes. During her project Dr Gibson retraced Darwin's route across the island of Santiago, following clues he had left in his notebooks.

Dr Lyall Anderson will be sharing some of his latest findings about Darwin's explorations of metal ore mines in Chile. During his expedition Darwin sent most of his findings to Cambridge along with letters and notes explaining what he had found. Dr Anderson will tell the story of a long and arduous journey in pursuit of copper, silver and even gold!

Both the Curious Collectors Expedition and the Earth Talks are free to attend and open to all, but for the Earth Talks booking by email or phone is advised. The talks are suitable for children over six and adult presence is required for children under 16. Participants can join in with the Curious Collectors activity at any time between 10.00am and 4.00pm.

The activities are funded by Heritage Lottery as part of a two-year major project to produce new exhibitions and resources and create an understanding of Charles Darwin's geological collections and research, housed at the Sedgwick Museum.

For bookings or enquiries call 01223 333456 or Email sedgwickmuseum@esc.cam.ac.uk