Event name: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Event time and place: 12/2, Washington, DC

CELLPHONES: UNSEEN CONNECTION
  1. Describe at least three different presentation techniques (that is, three different types of media) used to explain their information? Do you think each was effective? If so, explain; if not, also explain?
    2.   The exhibit had interactive displays (games), stationary displays (e.g. showing the elements a phone contains), and videos. These displays are effective, especially because they use aspects that make our phones addictive (the games) while teaching us about the pros and cons of phones.
  2. Some of what is presented has to do with the environmental issues of cellphone technology. What does the exhibit have to say about the materials used to create these tools? What does it have to say about the environmental impact of the creation, use, and disposal of cellphones? And how does it tell these stories?
    3.   Every material is a finite resource. One display talks about how mining a half-pound of copper produces more than 735 pounds of waste. The focus of this portion of the exhibit was to make people aware of the environmental harm cell phones cause and promote was to prevent this, like recycling.
  3. The exhibit also talks about the technological and social impacts of cellphones. Discuss one (1) technological and two (2) social impacts of these tools that was presented in the exhibit, and how the museum staff chose to convey this information.
    4.   One technological impact is worldwide connection. They conveyed this through a display that showed off actual portions of cell towers, a server, and fiber optic cables. Socially, cellphones can help spread awareness about certain global issues through images and videos. They can also reduce privacy, especially when posting on social media. These were displayed through a comic.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF HUMAN ORIGINS
  1. Find three (3) different topics discussed in this section. Identify what those topics are; how humans have influenced them (or simply how they have changed) through time; and what means the exhibit designers used to portray these changes (be specific).
    2.   One topic described the turning point in human history. It talks about how humans figured out how to grow and breed plants and animals and eventually settled down in increasingly larger cities. This was displayed through a timeline with images showing where and what innovations were made, along with the population at that time. Another topic was how humans affect the world today, both the benefits and costs. The museum displayed the current world population, as well as describing these benefits and costs (e.g. the ability to communicate worldwide and the loss of wild species, respectively). Another topic was how government choices impact both its population and the environment. This was displayed through a game where I made choices for the country depending on what was happening in the world. It’s me realize it is hard to balance the environment and help people thrive.
  2. Some critics of the hall state that this exhibit de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and climate. Do you agree? If so, explain why. If not, explain why not.
    3.   I disagree. I think the exhibit does a great job of showing human advancement while also showing its environmental impact. As I mentioned in the last question, the exhibit< contains numerous displays showing how humans harm the environment.

CLIMATE CHANGE & HUMAN IMPACT IN THE SANT OCEAN HALL
  1. Find the interactive video stations under the label “The Changing Ocean”. Watch two (2) of the different videos available (preferably one dealing with biological oceanography and one dealing with some other issue.) Give the name of the videos. Summarize the data each provides. Do you consider this data to be understandable by a general visitor to the museum? If not, explain why.
    2.   The video titled “Endangered Ocean: Sharks” describes how sharks are in decline due to overfishing and describes the importance of sharks in the ocean ecosystem. It also mentions ways organizations like the NOAA are trying to help sharks.
      The video titled “How Many Horseshoe Crabs?” talks about spawning surveys done in the Delaware Bay to determine how many male and female horseshoe crabs there are. The information in both of these videos is easily understandable to general visitors.
  2. “Global Ocean Video”: This information is provided on the “Science on the Sphere” format: a globe-shaped video screen. Watch through an entire sequence. What subjects does it discuss? What information did it provide? How was the spherical video used to portray this information? Do you consider this format to be useful? Explain why or why not.
    3.   The video discusses the origin of the present-day earth, from a fiery ball of rock to a planet covered in water. Phytoplankton provide half the oxygen we breathe and are at the bottom of the food chain, providing food for millions of organisms. It also describes how tectonic plates have moved to form the modern day continents. I believe this display to be effective, since it gives facts about the earth in the shape of the earth, emphasizing the importance of the information.

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF FOSSILS – DEEP TIME
  1. Paleoenvironmental Dioramas: Scattered throughout the hall are a set of pylons which feature miniature reconstructions of life and environments at different points in geologic time. In each is a diorama with scale models of fossil plants and animals, accompanied by additional information. Find two (2) of these pylons. For each, describe what time is represented; what place is represented; and how the carbon dioxide level, temperatures, and sea level compared to modern times. Also, do you think these exhibits are effective? Explain.
    2.   The first pylon shows Nebraska 24 to 16 million years ago. The CO2 levels, temperature, and ocean level were all higher than today, although the earth was cooling at this time.
      The second diorama I went to shows the formation of Hell Creek in Montana 76 to 66 million years ago. Again, the CO2 levels, temperature, and sea levels were all higher than today (and the previous pylon).
      These exhibits are very effective since they give you a look at what life looked like millions of years ago.
  2. Climate Change Exhibits: Along the low wall and benches opposite from the main set of skeletons in the great hall are a series of exhibits describing climate changes past and present. Find some of these. Describe what time or aspect of Earth history and past climate is discussed. What sort of data were used to figure out the past climate? Do these exhibits effectively explain how fossil and geological information can inform us about current or future climate change? Explain.
    3.   One display showed how extinction followed humans. Scientists found a correlation between human migration and extinction. For example, 97% of species over 110 pounds in Australasia disappeared between 50 and 40 thousand years ago.
      Another display shows how humans and other mammals, such as mammoths and wolverines, migrated to North America. We know about human migration patterns through archaeological artifacts and skeletons. These also tell us about the technologies we had at the time.
      These exhibits show how the past can inform our future. By analyzing how environmental changes affected life on the past, we can learn about the impact of climate change in the future.