NH Museum
October 20th 2024, Washington, D.C.
Natural History Museum Exhibit
CELLPHONES: UNSEEN CONNECTIONS
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?
Large screens, materials, and pictures of important figures. Each was effective because it connected to cell phones in a creative way .
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?
The exhibit explains how vital certain elements are to creating your phone—especially silicon. It also explains that the average cell phone contains 65 elements and is linked to the natural world. It explains the environmental impact of consumption, explaining that the carbon footprint of a single cell phone is 123 pounds of carbon emissions. It tells these stories by displaying the materials and showing a lot of graphs and images.
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
One technological impact of these tools was new developments for cell phones, like using indium to improve touchscreens. Two social impacts are the moral panic in response to new technologies and increased connection to phones and others all around the world.
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF HUMAN ORIGINS
4) 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).
One of the topics is rising CO2 levels and humans have influenced this by increasing greenhouse gas presence in the atmosphere, which is portrayed in the museum thought graphs. Another topic is population, portrayed in text and on the map. Humans have influenced human population by settling into more and more areas. Another topic is unintended consequences, which discusses how increased human population and globalization has led to the outbreak of several pandemics. This is portrayed through text and several structures of bacteria.
5) 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. I agree with some of the critics because much of the wording is vague and takes away from the agency in perpetuating climate change. The co2 section for example uses passive voice to didcuss climate change and the entire exhibit almost acts as if all of this happened spontaneously and independently of human activity.
CLIMATE CHANGE & HUMAN IMPACT IN THE SANT OCEAN HALL
6) “The Changing Ocean”, Right Side of Hall (from the point of view of the rotunda), along Front Right Wall: 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.
We watched satellites of the sea which explained technologies relating to hurricanes. It explains how scientists predict hurricane strength from the deep parts of the ocean, using ocean observation systems. This is understandable for a general visitor because the visuals are clear and concise. The next video we watched was deep ocean creatures which showed visuals of several creatures and their structures. It also explains how surprising and rare deep sea creatures can be. It is also digestible and understandable for general visitors because it doesn’t have much scientific information.
7) “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.
It discusses the history of the earth and its oceans and the effects of CO2 and how it currently affects oceans and ocean acidification. The video emphasizes the role of the oceans in our survival and also explains the temperature increase caused by increased CO2. The spherical video shows different effects across different parts of the globe and adds interest to the video. I thought the format was really useful because it was cool and also effectively showed the effects of global warming in different locations and how the earth used to look.
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF FOSSILS – DEEP TIME
8) 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.
The time represented in the first pylon is 19 million years ago in the harrison formation, nebraska. The carbon dioxide level was up to 50% higher than today, the temperature was 5 degrees F higher than today and the global sea level was about 330 ft higher than today. The exhibits are cool to look at and I like how they depict the natural world, so they are generally effective. The second pylon is lush rainforests in willwood formation, wyoming 56 million years ago. The co2 levels were 5x higher than today, the average global temperature was at least 14 degrees F higher than today and the global sea level was about 650 ft higher than today. Exhibits like these are interesting to compare to our current lives but they provide somewhat misleading information about what our world currently could look like if CO2 temperature and sea levels rose that amount.
9) 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 was 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.
The aspect of earth history that is described is 2.6 million years ago. It discussed local evidence of climate change and how plants and animals adapt, move or go extinct in response. It doesn’t really explain how fossil and geological information can inform the future but rather explains some segments of past changes and responses.