Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
November 26, 2025 on the National Mall
This Excursion was interesting because it took me somewhere that I have seen many times but never with such an in-depth view. This project made me analyze not just the information presented to me, but also the intentions of the writers and the effectiveness of the delivery.
I explored the Cellphones: Unseen Connections temporary exhibit which discussed the history and impact of cell phones. This exhibit made use of three notable presentation techniques. The exhibit used macro scale visualizations of small technology such as the inside of the back of a cellphone. The display made use of real scale technology such as a cell tower component and a core network consisting of a router and a server. The Unseen Connections exhibit also displayed testimonials and anecdotes. One example is a story from someone who worked to produce a DIY telephone network in rural Oaxaca, Mexico. Another example is a Stanford University student who advocated for the development of an emoji with a Hijab.
The exhibit discussed environmental and social issues such as labor practices and family stories of workers who excavate and extract minerals from mines and bring them to washing sites. One element shows bulks of the minerals used in a cell phone’s touchscreen, camera, motherboard, and battery. It describes the chemical and mechanical processes required to purify, transport, and process these materials. Many of the minerals used in cellphones come from conflict-affected areas. Examples include tungsten, tantalum, tin, and gold. Extraction of these minerals can contribute to financing human rights abuses and environmental abuses. Lithium is also processed using exorbitant amounts of water.
A technological impact of cell phones is the development of a global network of cell phone systems. They made use of radio waves and revolutionized broadcast technology. One of the social impacts of cellphones was the impact of planned obsolescence and the lack of infrastructure or social will toward the recycling or refurbishing of cell phones. This exhibit also showed the social impacts of constantly consuming social media and the constant availability of technology through cell phones. This includes increased anxiety, increased exposure to emotionally manipulative services, and increased awareness of global trauma and suffering.
The Earth Information Center was a creative and in-depth exploration of humanity’s impact on the earth from an aerial view. The main display was a hall that shows a timelapse of atmospheric factors throughout a year. This primarily illustrates the presence of greenhouse gases. This display also visualizes the progress and scale of the changes in levels of carbon dioxide, methane and dust along with other factors. The second display was interactive. Visitors would walk over a projection of different regions of the world and the screen would show the before and after of the landscape resulting from human activity.
This hall visualizes real world events and long term processes in a manner that is digestible and information-rich. This exhibit appeals to the eyes and is descriptive enough to be understood on multiple levels. If a visitor wants to watch for 10 minutes there will always be new and interesting information. If the visitor watches for 30 seconds they still get value out of the experience.
The next exhibit was downstairs. I explored the Climate Change in the David H Koch Hall of Human Origins which focuses on the history of the impacts of humans on ecosystems. Special attention was paid to large animal species over 110 pounds. This hall displays in large print the percentages of these animals that have gone extinct and how the timing correlates with human migration. This provides a striking and unique perspective into the real significance that human activity has had, even on the largest and most established of animals. One of the notable topics is that Bridges Allowed Migration. This applies to large land animals but also applies to humans. Humans migrated and expanded their impact to whole new continents. Some critics claim that this hall de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and ecosystems but I disagree. This hall explicitly says that humans put enormous pressure on the environment to meet the food and energy needs of 7 billion people. It says that human activities can push species to extinction. Directly saying “Humans spread, extinctions follow” expresses the reality in a cut and dry manner.
The next exhibit was titled Climate Change and Human Impact in the Saint Ocean Hall. The first video I watched discussed how oceans have changed over different periods of earth’s history. 3D graphics showed earth’s oceans millions of years ago and discussed what factors determine these variations. The second video showed more visuals of certain decaying ecosystems, including a few shots of devastated coral reefs. This had voiceovers of the exact causes of this degeneration. The analytical data was simplified heavily to become digestible for the general viewer. The visual aspect made it more understandable. I read about human impacts on the oceans as well. One issue that stood out was Ocean Pollution. This exhibit showed images of islands of trash floating in the ocean and along coastlines. The text described different areas of the world polluted primarily by floating plastic. There were images of animals attempting to navigate through the trash and of other animals smothered in trash. This exhibit also touched on Ocean Acidification by discussing how the increase in CO2 levels is directly impacting ocean dwelling populations. The text included a researcher discussing his direct experiences with taking different metrics of ocean health over time and how it related to carbon dioxide levels.
I went into the Artists Reflect on Climate Change art gallery. To me, the piece that stood out the most was Teetering on the Edge by Jane Goldman was made in 2023. It shows the arctic ocean and a balancing rod on a fulcrum with two men tugging down on either end and one man sitting in the center at the top. This is a painting describing the human conflict between those trying to slow climate change and those trying to profit. I found it interesting because none of the people appear especially evil or especially heroic, they are just people dressed normally, acting as people naturally do.
The exhibit called Climate Change in the David H Koch Hall of Fossils focused on deep time. One of the scenes was the end cretaceous mass extinction event. Here there are examples of flying animals, insects, reptiles, and fish. The carbon dioxide levels were not explicitly described but the temperatures were moderate. North America appeared to be largely woodlands with rainfall most of the year. Another scene was the Asteroid Impact Triggers Dinosaur Mass Extinction. This exhibit describes this era as devastating and chaotic, with acid rain, tsunamis, shockwaves, dust, wildfires, followed by eventual thousands of years after. The high carbon dioxide levels resulted in the acid rain. The atmosphere was hot and eventually cooled for years. These exhibits are effective at teaching us that the world has looked many different ways in the past and will continue to look many different ways in the future. Among others, the exhibit shows the last glacial period from a couple million years ago to a few hundred thousand years ago. Scientists used fossil evidence showing what types of animals lived in this period. They used sedimental analysis to determine the presence and impacts of glaciers. This exhibit also shows the pliocene, from 3-5 million years ago when the climate got cooler and drier. Scientists primarily examined this epoch using the fossil record. Scientists used climate model simulations to fill in the knowledge gaps and to infer the conditions of this period. The exhibit discusses in surprising depth the amount of information we can obtain about different species in different eras, allowing us to learn a lot about the time periods themselves.
This excursion was fulfilling as an opportunity to learn outside of the classroom. I hope to explore other museums around DC.