Currently there are moves in the UK to increase learning out-of-doors and to represent the work of inspirational scientists in the secondary science curriculum. In 2009 the scientific processes and knowledge derived from Darwin's work, much of which was undertaken out-of-doors, will feature prominently in science education. His simple, hands-on, practical enquiries can be replicated in schools. Here his weed garden plot and worm cast experiments are described and their implications discussed.