Charles Darwin Knowledge Organiser KS1 KS2 | FREE

Charles Darwin knowledge organiser for KS1 and KS2: a free, one-page summary of the life and big idea of the naturalist who explained evolution by natural selection. Ready to print on A4, it gives pupils everything they need to know about Charles Darwin at a glance, illustrated with an original full-colour picture.

This Charles Darwin knowledge organiser is ideal for Year 6 science lessons on evolution and inheritance, history lessons on significant individuals, guided reading, homework support, revision before an assessment or a display on your working wall.

What’s on the page:
• Who was he? A short, child-friendly introduction to Charles Darwin (1809–1882), the English naturalist whose five-year voyage on HMS Beagle led him to explain how living things change over time.
• Key facts: when and where he was born and died, his job and what he is famous for, including On the Origin of Species.
• Key people: John Henslow, Captain Robert FitzRoy, the bird expert John Gould and Alfred Russel Wallace.
• Key vocabulary with simple definitions: fossil, species, evolution, natural selection, adapted and extinct.
• A timeline of his life, from his birth in Shrewsbury in 1809 to the voyage of the Beagle, the Galápagos Islands and the publication of his famous book.
• Did you know? Three fascinating facts to spark curiosity and discussion, including the moth he predicted before it was discovered.

Why teachers use it:
• It supports the Year 6 science requirement to recognise that living things have changed over time, that fossils provide information about the past and that adaptation may lead to evolution.
• It links to Year 3 science (rocks and fossils) and to KS1 history (significant individuals).
• It works across the primary years: younger pupils can share it with an adult, while older pupils can use it independently to research, retrieve information and summarise.
• It is perfect for Darwin Day on 12 February.
• All text is original, accurate and written for children, with dates checked against reliable sources.

Ideas for using it in class:
• Give it out at the start of your evolution and inheritance topic, then return to it at the end.
• Ask pupils to explain natural selection to a partner using the key vocabulary.
• Use the timeline to practise chronology and the language of time (before, after, during).
• Link it to a fossil handling session or a class debate about adaptation.

Want more? The full Charles Darwin Reading Comprehension & Activity Pack includes two differentiated reading texts (KS1 and KS2), true/false, gap-fill and sequencing questions, 12 KS2 VIPERS questions with marks, a vocabulary matching activity, a timeline cut-and-stick, a diary writing task and a full answer key. You can find it in my shop.

If you find this free resource useful, a quick review would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!