Schools around the world inspired by Charles Darwin:

Guangdong Experimental High School in China.

Biology teacher Tang Yuan never imagined that the In Darwin’s Footsteps project would lead to his pupils discovering a new species of bird.

But that’s what happened at one of their regular 6am bird watching sessions.

“We consulted a number of books in the library," said Tang, “And we inferred that the bird is a migrant or maybe a new species."

The school contacted an expert, who looked at the children's photos, drawings and descriptions and agreed that the bird they had found was a species new to South China.

As well as observing birds on campus, the pupils went on a series of field trips, which proved very popular. “Students had never had the chance to see so many sorts of birds in Guangzhou before. When they sat on the boat, they could see birds fly close to them and sometimes birds would even come and perch beside them. This made the students feel more determined that humans and non-humans are friends."
 
One girl in the class was particularly inspired by the Darwin project.  "She said that she finally realised how important biodiversity is, and told many of her friends the importance of protecting the environment."  The student went on to represent China at the international 'Darwin Now' summit.

Guangdong kept in touch with Lakelands School in Shropshire, UK, by email, video and Skype.

The twin schools compared and shared outcomes. Through their ongoing conversations, the two schools realised they had quite different ways of teaching biology.

“Before the schools linked, our students used small animals to do biology experiments," explained Tang. “These experiments were queried by our partner school’s students and teachers."

The British school suggested other ways children could learn about animals, without experimenting on them. “Now we try to avoid using animals and have learned to protect them."

Read more stories from schools inspired by Darwin