POLLEN: Darwin's 130 Year Prediction: MOMENTS IN SCIENCE, #3

By Darcy Pattison

Junior Library Guild Selection 

Kirkus Review - *Starred* review "…captures the sense of wonder that comes from discovery…"

SLJ Review

PW Review –"… a gratifying narrative arc while presenting an important truth about science…an inviting story."

Eureka! NonFiction Book Award Honor – California Reading Association

2020 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book

 

Ages 7-12

Elementary Science – POLLEN

How long does it take for science to find an answer to a problem?

 

On January 25, 1862, naturalist Charles Darwin received a box of orchids. One flower, the Madagascar star orchid, fascinated him. It had an 11.5" nectary, the place where flowers make nectar, the sweet liquid that insects and birds eat. How, he wondered, did insects pollinate the orchid? It took 130 years to find the answer.

After experiments, he made a prediction. There must be a giant moth with a 11.5" proboscis, a straw-like tongue. Darwin died without ever seeing the moth, which was catalogued by entomologists in in 1903. But still no one had actually observed the moth pollinating the orchid.

 

In 1992, German entomologist, Lutz Thilo Wasserthal, Ph.D. traveled to Madagascar. By then, the moths were rare. He managed to capture two moths and released them in a cage with the orchid. He captured the first photo of the moth pollinating the flower, as Darwin had predicted 130 years before.

 

Backmatter includes information on the moth, the orchid, Charles Darwin, Lutz Wasserthal. Also included is Wasserthal's original photo taken in 1992.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mims House, LLC.
• Release date: Dec 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781629441214

Darcy Pattison

DARCY PATTISON is the author of The River Dragon, illustrated by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng, as well as the fantasy novel The Wayfinder. She teaches writing at the University of Central Arkansas. She lives in North Little Rock, Arkansas.<br>

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Reviews for POLLEN

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of a prediction Charles Darwin made and how approximately 130 years later it was proven by another scientists. After receiving a star orchid from Madagascar, Darwin hypothesized how the flower was pollinated. Unfortunately he didn’t live long enough to find out if his hypothesis was true. Other scientist carried on his work and found a moth like Darwin had predicted to be about the right size and with a long probiscus to pollinate this flower. Unfortunately it took another scientist to set up night vision camera’s to actually prove Darwin’s hypothesis correct. The book gives information on each of the scientists and pictures of the actual moth pollinating the orchid. Great tool for the science classroom.