Help students improve reading skills while learning about Charles Darwin.
This reading comprehension worksheet includes a passage and comprehension questions.
Charles Darwin — Reading Comprehension Practice
0 / 6
Read the passage, then try the questions. Every answer is in the text above them — if you are not sure, go back and look rather than guessing. The last question asks for the order the passage tells things in.
Charles Darwin — Naturalist — the theory of evolution
Charles Darwin was a British naturalist whose ideas changed how humans understand all life on Earth. Born into a wealthy family in Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809, Darwin showed an early love for nature, collecting beetles, rocks, and plant specimens as a child.
In 1831, Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle for a five-year voyage around the world. During this journey, he observed thousands of plants and animals, including the famous finches of the Galapagos Islands. He noticed that animals on different islands had developed different features suited to their environments.
These observations led Darwin to develop his Theory of Natural Selection. He proposed that living things that are best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass their traits to their offspring. Over millions of years, this process leads to new species — a process called evolution.
In 1859, Darwin published On the Origin of Species, one of the most important books in scientific history. The book was controversial because it challenged the idea that all species were created exactly as they appear today.
Darwin’s theory is now the foundation of modern biology. Scientists use it to understand disease, develop medicines, and study ecosystems. Darwin’s careful observations and bold thinking transformed our understanding of life on Earth.
Question 1
What did Darwin notice about the animals on different Galapagos islands?
Different features suited to their environments. That single observation — same kind of animal, different island, different features — is what the whole theory grew from.
Question 2
In your own words, what is natural selection as the passage describes it?
Best suited, not strongest — and nothing is chosen. Those that happen to fit their surroundings survive more often and leave more offspring, and over a very long time that reshapes a species.
Question 3
Why was On the Origin of Species controversial?
It challenged the idea that all species were created exactly as they appear today — which is what made a book about finches and beetles into an argument.
Question 4
How long was the voyage of the HMS Beagle?
Five years, beginning in 1831. Long enough to see thousands of species across the world — the scale of the observation is part of why it was convincing.
Question 5 — select all that apply
Select every use the passage says scientists make of Darwin’s theory today, then press Check.
Understanding disease, developing medicines and studying ecosystems. The passage calls the theory the foundation of modern biology — the other three are not biology.
Question 6 — put them in order
Click these in the order the passage tells them.
A childhood collecting specimens, the voyage from 1831, the Galapagos observations during it, and the book in 1859 — nearly thirty years after he set sail.
Think about it — from the worksheet
What did Darwin observe on the Galapagos Islands, and why were these observations important?
Explain Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection in your own words.
Why was Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species considered controversial when it was published?