For my last excursion, I went to the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. There, I explored the new temproy “Cellphones: Unseen Connections” exhibit as well as the “Humans Change the World” exhibit in the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins, certain exhibits in the Sant Ocean Hall, and the same for the Deep Time hall.
Once we got to the museum, my friends and I were led to the “Cellphones: Unseen Connections” exhibit. This focused on the origins, history, and impact of cellphones. Three different types of media they used to explain their information was displaying information through display cases, using interactive games, and videos. All three of these methods, especially combined, were effective since it catered toward all types of learning styles. I especially thought the interactive displays were effective, practically the life sized cell phones, because of its fun and enticing nature. This exhibit also talked about environmental issues of cellphone technology. Some materials that make up a phone include gold, silicon, and microchips. There is a future focus to finding a better successor to silicon as with the move from 4G TO 5G, lots more data, energy and heat will be generated. This information was found in the display case of materials and evolution to make cell phones. One technological impact of cell phones is how its continuous innovations impact the efficiency of technology. GaAs, a potential replacement of silicon, allow higher data rates and are more heat resistant. Two social impacts are its ability to supply easy communication and help foster connections around the world. This was conveyed through videos and displays.
Next, I visited the climate change exhibit in the David H. Koch Hall Of Human Organs on the first floor. Three different topics of agriculture, the human population and animal domestication. Humans have used up about a quarter of earth’s surface for agriculture. From 1959 to 19999 the human population doubled from 3 billion to 6 billion. Now, the population increases by 90 million a year. From 1961 to 2004, the number of domesticated fowl grew from 3 to 16 billion. All this information was presented in lit up columns filled with corresponding miniatures about the topics. There are also critics of the hall that think this exhibit de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and climate. I also agree with this. Although they provided some information on the environmental impacts of humans, it was very limited. I don’t think it did a very good job emphasizing how much humans have impacted the environment or the extent of the climate change crisis.
In the climate change and human impact exhibit, we watched “Deep Dives Greatest Hits” and “Deep Sea Dive”. The first video discussed the nutrient cycle and the second discussed different organisms and species found in an exploration in Hawaii like the caulphacus and the polchelid. Both videos did not discuss a lot of numbers or data but instead used fun facts. I think both of these videos were presented in a way that was very comprehensible for someone that is not a professional in this field. It is very understandable by a general visitor to the museum. We then watched the “Global Ocean Video'' on a globe-shaped video screen. This video discussed various weather phenomena as a result of climate change, with topics like La Nina and hurricane katrina. Graphs and information were projected on the sphere to poetry this information. I think this format can be useful as it provides a more interesting and new viewing experience that traditional video can not give.
Finally we went to David H. Koch Hall of Fossils to look at the Paleoenvironmental Dioramas. One of these dioramas was titled “Giant Shadows on the Landscape”. It was of the Morrison Formation in Colorado from 150 million years ago. Its atmospheric carbon dioxide was up to 4 times higher than today, the average global temperature was 15-17F higher than today, and the global sea level was about 330 ft higher than today. The second diorama was called “A Time of Warmth”. This was of Big Bone Lick in Kentucky 125,000 years ago. Its atmospheric carbon dioxide was about ⅔ what it is today, the average global temperature was about the same as today, and its global sea level was up to 29 ft higher than today. I think these dioramas were very effective because of their attention to detail. It was enjoyable and interesting to look at, making you want to learn more. We also went to the climate change exhibits. One of the exhibits entitled “Life Response to a Changing Earth” discusses how ecosystems change as continents move, separate, and merge. They used data from the shifting continents to figure out the past climate. I think this exhibit effectively explained how geological information can inform us about current or future climate change because they are consistently displaying through these exhibits that it is possible and it has been done to find out about the past.