Meet Delaney, whose monkey charmed the world

We got fifty entries to our Evolution & Art Contest. The competition was fierce, it was dog-eat-dog. In the 7-9 age category, our judges had a magnificent clown fish, stick insect and snow grouse to choose from, among others.

In the end, Delaney's monkey charmed everybody.

Delaney is nine. For her entry to the contest, she imagined that some monkeys got stranded on an island with a different environment than they were used to. Their new environment had "hard nuts, quiet predators, and purple bushes and trees." What would happen after, say, a million years? How would the monkeys evolve?

Delaney's evolved monkey has sharp teeth (to crack the nuts), huge ears (to hear those quiet predators) and purple polka-dots (to hide in the purple foliage.) Perfect examples of adaptation!

Here's our interview with Delaney:

Kate from Charlie's Playhouse: How did you come up with the idea for your contest entry?

Delaney: Well, I made up my island first. I thought it could be anything at all. I knew it had to have a different habitat, different food and everything for the monkey. Then I looked at what the island had and saw how the monkey could blend in. I added the adaptations.

Kate: Did you think about using another animal?

Delaney: Yes, I thought about a flamingo or a pig. A flamingo would be hard. It might have changed its legs so it could run faster. A pig would be like a vampire pig because it would get the sharp teeth! But I really liked the monkey. It was easier to adapt because it has a lot of features that are able to be changed.

Kate: How did you learn about evolution?

Delaney: My dad started telling me about it. I got really interested, and I asked questions. When I ask my dad a question, I always get an answer. Also, once after a trip he brought back your Giant Timeline, and I like to look at it. He also tells me what other people say about evolution, like at the dinner table.

Kate: Cool! Last question. If you could travel back in time and visit with Charles Darwin, maybe go to his study and have tea with him, what would you want to talk about? What would you ask him?

Delaney: I would want to ask if he knew he wanted to be a scientist when he was a kid. Did he have the idea as a kid? Also I would ask about all the stuff he saw on his trip: what he saw in the ocean or something flying or what he thought was interesting. What he thought about those birds with the different beaks, and if he thought that was evolution, or if he would have to think about it.

Kate: I wonder if he knew when he was a kid. What about you? Do you know what you want to be?

Delaney: I want to be a paleontologist or archeologist. You get to see the animals of the past, and the fossils are actually their bodies. It's like looking at them alive!

I love this part about the finch beaks: "if he thought that was evolution, or if he would have to think about it." Yes, he did have to think about it. He had to think about it FOR TWENTY YEARS. That's a long think.

Thanks, Delaney!

Meet Abby, 11-year-old biology prodigy

Here's the story of a kid who truly, deeply loves biology and whose parents have been wise enough to get out of her way. Prepare yourselves, people, the kid is amazing.

Abby discovered biology as a tiny tot, when she fell in love with David Attenborough documentaries, especially one featuring disgusting parasitic insects. Go girl. Her pretend play with animals soon filled up with biological jargon so thick that her parents couldn't understand what the heck she was talking about. Now she is taking a biology course on the late high school/early college level. Yes, she is 11.

Welcome to our interview with Abby, winner of the Evolution & Art Contest in the 10-12 age group.

Kate from Charlie's Playhouse: We loved your entry about the star-nosed moles!

Abby: Thank you. I did a bunch more entries too, but I chose the moles. I've always had a "thing" for star-nosed moles. They're cute! I also did a water buffalo, a kangaroo and a polar bear.

Kate: Oh, so you evolved all those animals in your mind and drew pictures of them?

Abby: Yes. I like to play a game with my mom when we're walking together. She names an animal and I evolve it for a new environment, usually to make it cuter. So it's easy for me to think of how animals evolve. I did the star-nosed mole with her one day.

Kate: How did you first learn about evolution?

Abby: Well, I was a dino freak when I was little. I knew all the dinosaur names, and I loved the little mammals that lived with the dinos. I wanted to learn how the little mammals from that time came to this time.

Kate: So what did you do to learn about that?

Abby: My dad would go to the library and get a bunch of books on mammals and evolution. Then I would draw them all. I realized that I could take every one of those mammals, and just using the powers of time and adaptation, I could make a totally new animal!

Kate: Cool. Can you give me some examples?

Abby: I like to imagine a domesticated fox, mountain lion, and prairie dog. They get cuter when they're domesticated.

Kate: So let's see. They're wild animals, and you imagine how they might evolve to be domesticated. So what's their new environment?

Abby: A house!

Kate: Oh, nice. So do you know what natural selection is?

Abby: Of course I know what natural selection is! I'm taking a high-school biology course! Also I'm such a book-lover, I read about it all the time.

Kate: OK, last question. Let's imagine that you could travel back in time and visit with Charles Darwin at his home in England. You're having tea in his study. What would you want to talk about? What would you ask him?

Abby: Oh! I do that a lot, travel back in time in my mind to talk with people from history. Mostly with Jefferson.

Kate: Really! So what about Darwin?

Abby: I would ask him how much courage it took to actually get his ideas out into the public. To think that far away from the mainstream. That's what I admire about him.

Kate: Anything else you'd like to add?

Abby: Yes, I have an imaginary world where all my made up animals live. I'm a scientist in that world, studying them. I have radio collars and video cams on nine of the animals, and I collect information about them. The males have some terrifying fights over food and territory!

So there you have it, folks. She's collecting data from the field. Abby, we await your findings!

P.S. Parents tell me that entering the Evolution & Art Contest was a fun learning activity even apart from the contest. So feel free to grab a kid, download the instructions here, and see what happens! We're always delighted to see kids' work if you'd like to send it in.

Happy holidays all around.

Winners of the Evolution & Art Contest!

Oooh, so cool. In this contest we asked kids to think of an animal alive today, imagine a bunch of them stranded in a different environment, and draw a picture of how the animal might evolve to fit its new environment after a long time.

And boy, did the kids think, imagine, and draw! We got fifty entries, all of them magnificent. Painful as it was, our judges managed to select a winner in each age category. Big, happy congratulations to them all!

(Oh, and look for interviews with each winner on this blog in the coming weeks...)

Age category 4-6 winner:
Safa, age 5

Safa imagined that some snakes that live on grassy plains were moved to a rocky island with few plants. After a million years, Safa's snakes evolved legs to move about on the rocks, antennae to sense predators better, and a grey color for camouflage.

There's much more art and science to Safa's entry! See it and the judges' comments here.



Age category 7-9 winner:

Delaney, age 9

Delaney started with a monkey and moved it to an island with "hard nuts, quiet predators, and purple bushes and trees." Her drawing of the evolved monkey included no less than three adaptations, which turned the judges purple-polka-dotted!

See Delaney's full picture and the judges' comments here.

Age category 10-12 winner:
Abby, age 11

Abby started with some star-nosed moles and imagined them in a rocky environment with only insects to eat. Her entry came complete with two pages of field drawings and notes, as well as a scientifically impeccable essay on how the moles adapted over time. Wow.

See Abby's full entry and the judges' comments here. Don't miss her life-sized "poo guide!"

Big, happy congratulations also to our finalists, who each received honorary mentions:

Age category 4-6 finalists:

Adara, age 4, owl
Brooke, age 5, elephant
Jack, age 5, penguin
Jayda, age 5, T-Rex

Age category 7-9 finalists:

Betsy, age 9, clown fish
Erin, age 8, snow grouse
Kerria, age 7, stingray
Liam, age 9, stick insect

Age category 10-12 finalists:

Haly, age 10, thorny devil
Lachlan, age 10, lion
Meryl, age 12, bilby
Michelle, age 12, owl
Truth, age 10, great white shark

And of course big thanks to all the other kids who entered, who have all received a personal certificate of appreciation from Charlie himself. We're so glad you entered, and loved your drawings. Once we get permissions from everyone's grownup, we'll post them all online for the world to see.

Oh, and also: Everything is on sale at our site! Check it out.