New York Trip
AMNH 11/11/23
What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented (and/or explained by Holtz/Merck)? Be specific! Biology; dinosaurs, reptiles, evolution, biodiversity Geology; fossils, rock layers, evolution
What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed (and/or discussed by Holtz/Merck)? Some specific concepts and discoveries that are portrayed and discussed by Holtz/Merck are that dinosaurs have a hole by their hips and initially were all small and walked on their hind legs. As they evolved, some retained flesh eating habits and some started to eat plants. A massive climate change affected their evolution as new trees began to evolve and thus created opportunities for some dinosaurs to eat from those trees. Dinosaur bones have growth rings, which helps determine their age when they died. This can help scientists identify how large that specific type of dinosaur is meant to become. Another concept we learned was that birds are descendents of dinosaurs. Additionally, Merck discussed how rare it is for us to actually be able to get a story from a fossil. In this presentation, we focused on vertebrae and we discussed the discovery of fish having fingers and toes because of a genetic mutation. The exhibit we did a self-tour for focused on ecosystems and discussed the concept of evolution of different species.
How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc. There were specific examples of plateosaurus specimens (early days of plant eating) and sauropod heads. There were also pictures of reefs and species on the wall. Finally, the halls displayed ostracoderms, primitive vertebrate body plans and skeletons.
What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why? All of the halls were aimed for a middle to high school level of education because you need some background to understand the significance of what is being shown. For example, in the dinosaur exhibit, you need some level of scientific knowledge and understanding to know how evolution works. To what degree does the exhibit include “interactive components” (e.g., hands-on activities, computers, etc.)? [If the hall doesn’t, please suggest an interactive component they could use!] I would say to a high extent in all of the halls. Unfortunately, there were a lot of kids at the museum so I wasn’t able to see every interactive component but I could see there were a lot. Also, in the final hall there was an interactive component where you could choose some of the species presented and it will show details.
Do you find that the interactive components were effective at conveying the information? If yes, explain how (using specifics); if no, explain why not (again, using specifics). Some of the ipads in one of the halls didn’t work, but if they did they would be effective. The other halls had effective interactive components.
On your tour, did Holtz or Merck point out instances where the display information was out of date? How would the display have to change in order to bring it up to date? Explain if the changes would be easy (revise a computer display), moderately difficult (swap out some physical aspect of the display), or very difficult (changes to the locations organizational layout of the exhibits or room.) Holtz and Merck both discussed that there were discoveries being made while the museum was being built that made some of its presentations inaccurate.holtz was involved. For example, they thought that the first and last branch of giant predators were part of the same branch but researchers noted similarities between some dino’s in this section and the ones close to birds. Thus, tyrannosaurs are closer to birds and are placed incorrectly. Also the allosaurus legs that are presented on the t. rex are incorrect