American Museum of Natural History
Trip Date: Nov 11, 2023
Hall of Vertebrate Origins
Me and my friends at AMNH
On Dr.Merck's tour through the hall of vertebrate origins, we learned about vertebrate evolution. Dr. Merck discussed how jawless vertebrates evolved to have jaws for biting. He also discussed how at first fish didn't have vertebrates and had cartilage instead, but then evolved to have internal skeletons. The hall had a marked path on the floor which guided visitors through the hall of vertebrate origins. In the hall, there were fossils, model creatures, and short text. For example, there was a model of the jawless ostracoderm fish. The hall of vertebrate origins is aimed at middle schoolers and above because elemetary school kids won't understand how vertebrates or evolution works. The hall didn't have interactive components. The museum could add a massive tablet and when you click on it, it shows the evolution of vertebrates. Although the hall didn't have interactive components, having them would be effective because it would engage the audience because they would be a part of learning process. The hall of vertebrates has out of date information because the museum placed turtles next to mosasaurus and states that they are related. Turtle and mosasaurus' are not related. Moving the turtles away from the mosasaurus will be very difficult because they would have to shut the display down and readjust everything.
Dinosaur Hall
Dinosaur hall
On Dr.Holtz's tour through the dinosaur hall, we learned what is considered a dinosaur. Dr.Holtz discussed that for a creature to be considered a dinosaur it has to share a common ancestor, have an open hip socket, and have a high metabolic rate. The dinosaur hall has life size skeleton models of dinosaurs, drawings of dinosaurs, and small texts to go along with the models. For example, there were fossils of duck-billed dinosaurs and they had open hip sockets with holes in them, so they can walk on their hind legs. The hall of vertebrate origins is aimed at all ages because there weren't any specific terms that were confusing. Kids also really love dinosaurs, so they would be very engaged. The hall didn't have interactive components. The museum could add moving dinosaurs. There was out of date information in the dinosaur hall. Tyrannosaurs were discovered to be related closer to ostrich dinosaurs than allosaurs. This is a problem because the tyrannosaurs on display have allosaurus's hind legs. Fixing this problem will be very difficult because they would have to first find accurate hind legs for the tyrannosaur, and then shut down the display to replace the bones.
Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples
Buddha
The Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples showed the similarities and differences between different Asian cultures. The hall portrayed how religion, fashion, roles women and men took on, and music played a role in different Asian cultures. For example, Hinduisim in India, Buddhisim in Japan and Thailand, and Islam all used prayer beads. The hall is aimed at high schoolers and above because it takes some background knowledge of history to know why specific cultures have different traditions and customs. One interactive component was the music would change according to the country you were in. The music was effective in conveying information because t felt like I was in the country that the exhibit was describing and it made me more invested in learning about the country.