Event name: National Museum of Natural History
Event time and place: 10/20/2024
When I first arrived at the Natural History Museum, I went to the CELLPHONES: UNSEEN CONNECTIONS exhibit. Information on phones was presented in multiple different ways. The first included a giant cell phone that took a picture of me and told me some basic facts about phones. Next, I saw a presentation that was about the different components and materials that make up a cellphone. Finally, I was able to play a game against my friend that had us answer trivia questions about cell phones. All of these presentation techniques were effective as they got me interacting with information about cell phones, which allowed me to form connections with what I was learning. I also saw some infographics that showed some environmental issues about cell phones. I learned that everything in cell phones are finite resources. I also learned that recycling cell phones is very dangerous and takes a lot of effort. One technological impact that I observed about cell phones is that they allow people to be more connected with one another. A social impact that I observed was that people rather buy a new phone rather than getting their old phone replaced, this causing e waste to generate. Another social impact that I saw was that many people spend too much of their time online, which is bad for their health. The museum showed these by displaying comic-like graphics.
I next visited the CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF HUMAN ORIGINS exhibit. I observed three differences. The first being how humans have evolved to be flexible like apes. The second being how there are many benefits and disadvantages of having such a large population. The third topic was how humans have used agriculture over many centuries. Humans have had an impact on agriculture and population size, as the population started to increase, humans had to develop new technologies to produce more crops, thus allowing for the population to grow further. These topics were portrayed by using pictures and writing. I personally don’t believe that this exhibit de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and climate because it shows how the rapid growth of the human population has caused humans to destroy land and do things like pollution.
I next visited the CLIMATE CHANGE & HUMAN IMPACT IN THE SANT OCEAN HALL exhibit. I first watched a video called “Satellites of the sea”, which was about how satellites are used for hurricane research. They also use things called Argo floats which collect data by using ocean currents. They collect data about high speed winds. Another video I watched was called “When lightning strikes”. This video was about how lightning can be 5 miles wide, it carries 100 million volts, and strikes land more than water. It also talks about how if you hear thunder near the beach, you should get inside. If in a boat, get low and don’t use electronics. I think that both of these videos give data that is easily understandable by a general visitor because the data is explained by using language that is broken down by using more common words, rather than using words that would be understood by scientists, and not a little kid. I then watched a video called “Global Ocean Video”. It talks about climate change and how there was a hole in the ozone layer, but we were able to fix it. It also talks about how if we work together, we can spark another technological revolution, where we can have clean energy. This format was helpful for me because being able to see visuals along with a voice over really helped me understand the topics being discussed.
I finally visited the CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE DAVID H. KOCH HALL OF FOSSILS – DEEP TIME exhibit. The first time period that I explored was from 299 to 270 million years ago. It portrays northern Texas when pangea was still intact. There was much more carbon dioxide present then, about 3 times as much compared to today. The average temperature then ranged from 12 degrees higher to 8 degrees lower. The global sea level was also about 130-260 feet higher compared to today. I observed another time period from 157 to 145 million years ago. It portrays the Morrison formation in Colorado. The co2 levels then were 4 times higher than today. The average temperature then was about 15-17 degrees fahrenheit higher than today. Average sea levels were also 330 feet higher than today. These pylons that showed this information for both time periods were very effective because they give you a visual on what the time period looked like, and it gave you a sense of scale by comparing the landscape using a 6ft tall person. I then sat on a bench and saw a graphic that showed the co2 levels, volcanic eruptions, and the spread of plants 500 million years ago. I was able to see some fossilized plants and animals. Being able to use fossilized plants and animals allowed scientists to observe things in them, which allowed them to determine things like co2 levels, and plants that were around.