Event name:NMNH Field Trip
Event time and place: October 20, 2024 at The NMNH
Cellphones: Unseen Connections
In this exhibit, there were many presentation techniques used to display information. One such was a comic strip, where information was displayed as a conversation between characters. This technic grab your attention and made learning to content fun. This will pull in the younger generation as the information is easy to understand and relatable. The second technique was interactive games. This technique made the user gain information without even knowing it. This was fun while being educated. However, I noticed myself getting distracted by the game instead of taking in the information. The final technique used was real-life models. This helps the reader understand what the text is talking about, they can reference the real object. Additionally, they make the content more relatable as many people own the models they are displaying.
This exhibit goes over how materials used to create cell phones can harm the environment. Rare materials such as gold, silicon, copper, and Neodymium. These materials aren't only hard to come by but difficult to fabricate into a phone. Additionally, obtaining these materials produces waste. For example, half a pound of copper produces more than 735 pounds of waste. Obtaining refining, and manufacturing these materials into phones require a massive amount of energy and resources, devastating the environment. The waste has to be put somewhere creating a radioactive area where nothing can live. Additionally, the creation of mines can devastate the ecosystem that once inhabited the land. While the recycling process for these materials is improving much of the cell phone is being wasted after use. All of this information is displayed by focusing on the materials. The information is categorized by materials and the impact obtaining and manufacturing that material has on the environment.
Cell phones have brought a lot technically and socially to this world. The creation of cell phones has pushed the continued improvement of recycling techniques. As many of cellphones are made out of precious material, to cut costs, recycling was prioritized. Not only, were recycling techniques improved but phones were changed to be more easy to recycle. Cell phones have also had some negative effects. Cell phones created new anxieties like widespread gossip and the inability to have face-to-face social interactions. Additionally, cell phones create new ways of violence like cyberbullying. This information was presented as comic strips with text bubbles. This makes the information more appealing to a younger audience, who might start or already are using a cellphone.
Climate Change in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins
This hall covered how humans impacted different aspects of the world. One such topic discussed was when humans started writing. 8,000 years ago humans started using symbols to express concepts. As these symbols developed writing languages formed. Simple symbols turned into tables and clay that expressed the whole idea. Next, was how humans record information. As far back as 77,000 years ago there is evidence of humans marking orcher plaque with tally marks. As time progressed these marks got more complex and could have been early addition or multiplication. Finally, is how humans express identity. By 100,000 years ago humans were creating jewlery, such as beads, to identify themselves. Age, sex, and social status could all be displayed by this jewelry. This information was displayed on a board with actual examples of findings next to the text. This helps the reader understand the types of jewelry, marking, or writing the text was talking about. I think this helped the reader better understand how these specific topics evolved into what they are today. While compared to SGC, this exhibit does de-emphasize the impact humans have on the environment, I don't think it was a bad decision. The exhibit focused on the evolution of human technologies. Human impact on the environment is mentioned briefly but the severity of the problem is not emphasized. For a museum, this severity might scare, and discourage viewers from coming. I think the museum could have added more environmental impact but not talked about how doomed humanity is.
Climate Change & Human Impact in the Sant Ocean Hall
In this hall, they provided interactive videos to display information. I watched "Fool's Gold" which describes the importance of iron pyrite in supporting life in the ocean. New studies show that small plants and bacteria in the ocean get their iron from tiny pyrite particles that are released from the ocean floor through hydrothermal vents and volcanoes. The video presented this information in an old whimsical way that made it easy to understand. Additionally, most of the information was surface level making a wide range of audience able to understand it. The second video I watched was "It's Easy to Help Whales" which goes over the app and how to use the "Ocean Alert app" to protect whales. By reporting whale sightings and alerting ship captains to avoid those areas. Additionally, the app has a feature to provide help to whales in distress or tangled in fishing gear. In the video all this information was described with images of the app, making each step easy to follow. Anyone with a phone should be able to understand this information and apply it if they ever see a whale. Finally, I watched the "Global Ocean Video" displayed on a globe. This video covers how the oceans affect the Earth, especially focusing on the effects of the ocean absorbing heat and CO2. The oceans absorb much of the sun's heat, regulating the Earth's temperature. However, this creates hot and cold parts of the ocean, creating violent natural disasters around the equator. Additionally, changing ocean temperatures affect weather patterns such as El Nino and La Nina. The oceans also absorb CO2 through plants and phytoplankton, storing it at the bottom of the ocean. This storage turns into fossil fuels, which we burn, releasing CO2 back into our atmosphere. This increased ocean acidification and temperature, destroying ecosystems. Overall the use of a spherical video enhanced the learning potential. Most of the topics discussed affect the whole world which is emphasized by the spherical video. The video rotates the globe so the viewer can see the effects happening to the whole world. Overall the spherical shape made the video more interesting and easy to understand, ultimately leading to a better learning experience.
Climate Change in the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils - Deep Time
This exhibit features pylons that explain different periods. The first pylon I visited was Wyoming 66 to 50 million years ago. Wyoming experienced 5 times more CO2, 14-25 degrees hotter, and a sea level rise of 720 ft vs today. The second pylon featured Montana 76 to 66 million years ago. Montana experienced 4 times more CO2, 16-17 degrees hotter, and a sea level rise of 650-740 ft vs today. I felt these pylons broke down the key points and with the world view were very easy to understand, effectively giving the viewer a glimpse into the past. The added replica of the environment fully completes the picture in my head. Next were exhibits that explained climate in the past versus now. Humans have largely affected this outcome as in the past 5,000 years we have domesticated animals, planted crops, and developed cities. This has decreased biodiversity, changed ecosystems, and increased extinction rates. This could be categorized as humanity's footprint. Humanity has altered 75% of the land destroying trees and ecosystems, negatively impacting our climate. Using oxygen Isotopes from Ocean Cores, as of 1 million years ago, large variations in temperatures have been recorded. I feel this exhibit could have explained more about how fossil and geological information can inform us about current or future climate change. These exhibits mainly focused on climate change, skimming over how this data was found. To determine the validity of findings, an understanding of the validity of data is needed.