Galápagos with Teens: Weird Science

Senior editor Norie Quintos, who edits the annual Tours of a Lifetime package in the magazine, recently returned from a trip to the Galápagos Islands and mainland Ecuador with her teen sons. This is the third of a four-part series. Click here to read the first and second posts.

As a mom who likes to sneak Good Things into her kids (a splash of carrot juice in the morning o.j., grated zucchini in a chocolate cake, a cautionary newspaper article left next to the comics), I never go on vacation without hatching a secret curriculum/lesson plan. The Galápagos, however, turned out to be less science lab and more field trip. And, happily for all, I was less lecturing professor and more do-nothing chaperone. Here are the lessons we learned (all without me having to lift a finger): 

Real life beats virtual life. Not to knock HD cable nature channels, including our own Nat Geo Wild, but there's nothing like being there. The Galápagos Islands engaged all our senses, not just the visual and auditory, and that makes jaded teens sit up and pay attention. The acrid aroma of bird guano; the screams of a Galápagos hawk; the warm stubble of lava rock; and the meaty bite of locally sourced and sustainable wahoo. And the sight of the iconic blue-footed booby was arresting enough to make me wonder whether there was a universal hue control I should dial down. Perhaps the most sensual experience was being in the ocean with a sea lion that effortlessly bobbed and weaved, and rushed headlong at us like a missile only to veer off at the last possible second. My play-it-cool teens were giddy as toddlers to be part of the underwater Cirque de Soleil. 

Evolution is No Big Deal: Here in these islands, the word evolution isn't one loaded with political or religious overtones. It's the most reasonable explanation for why tortoises on one island have a saddle back and those on another have a dome back. Or why finches on different islands, so similar otherwise, have starkly varying beaks perfectly suited to the vegetation of that island. Over thousands of years, living things adapted to varying environments. The animals or plants with the beneficial variations thrived and in time created new species. This is the backbone of evolutionary theory. It's simple, really, and on the Galápagos, quite obvious.

Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/11/galapagos-with-teens-weird-sci.html