Schools around the world inspired by Charles Darwin:

Taipei Xishan Elementary School in Taiwan.

Wente Wu’s pupils were so taken with exploring their forest ravine that they nicknamed it ‘The Secret Base’.

Luckily for the students, their Secret Base was an area of high biodiversity, so there was always something exciting to see, such as cooing Swinhoe’s frogs.

“The frogs hid in the corner of the river and sent out high, loud sounds like ‘jou’. Not until the children saw the big vocal sac did they believe the sounds came from the frogs, not birds. All the children were really surprised.”

The Taiwanese pupils were also impressed when they saw a skipper butterfly up close.

“The teacher had eaten an apple and the remaining sweet scent attracted one skipper. The skipper stayed on the teacher’s finger, gave out body fluid from its belly and then stretched out its feelers to stir and suck the sweet liquid. What a clever butterfly!”
 
One girl in particular enjoyed exploring the local wildlife and carefully writing down what she had found. “Now she’s curious about all the small creatures in life. She’s like one little Darwin!”

Wente notes that In Darwin’s Footsteps was fun for the grown-ups too: “I liked the mountain climbing, bicycle riding and soaking in the stream. As a teacher I liked letting the children explore happily and find life’s pleasures. I was always touched by watching the children’s earnest faces.”

Read more stories from schools inspired by Darwin