The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

October 20th, 2024

Exhibit 1 - Cellphones: Unseen Connections

The Cellphones: Unseen Connections exhibit focuses on the origins, history, and impact of cellphones on society and the environment. The exhibit uses photographs, tangible artifacts, and interactive technology to present information. Throughout the hall, organized in a variety of different sub-categories, the visuals present concise yet informative insights to the topics being discussed. These methods are effective in explaining the information, as they are engaging and easy to follow. The exhibit emphasizes the environmental issues of cellphone technology. All parts of a cell phone come from the earth, specifically metals. The mining of these finite resources can cause harm to the environment. For example, the mining of Neodymium releases radioactive waste. Another environmental issue with cell phones regards e-waste. The careless disposal of cellphones creates toxic landfills and creates a massive carbon footprint. The exhibit also highlights the impacts on technology and society of cell phones. A technological impact is the new lack of use for dozens of former technologies. Due to cell phones, we have stopped using items such as dictionaries, VHS tapes, and pay phones. This is portrayed by a “Before Cell Phones” display, showcasing 82 technologies we no longer use due to cellphones. In the social aspect, cellphones have made an irreversible mark on humanity. Social impacts include the exploitation of resource-rich nations and the increase of stress and anxiety amongst cellphone users. The museum displays these phenomena with images, physical artifacts, and a comic display. The Cellphones: Unseen Connections exhibit teaches visitors about the impacts, both positive and negative, that cellphones have had on the planet, and their role in our everyday lives.

Exhibit 2 - Humans Change the World

The Humans Change the World exhibit discusses (although not by that name) the “Anthropocene Event”: that time period when human activity noticeably impacted the living and non-living world. They discuss a variety of examples and areas of study regarding the way humans impact the natural world. One topic of discussion is animal species over 110 lbs. In all the major continents, human hunting caused the extinction of several species of this size. The museum displays statistics to portray this message. They showcase, for example, how 82% of 110 lb animal species disappeared in South America starting 4,000 years ago, due to human impact. Another topic is the domestication of animal species. Humans have domesticated animals for millennia, which has allowed many of these species to boom in population. The museum portrays this with images, captions, and examples. They highlight the billions of domestic cats that exist in six of the seven continents. Lastly, another topic is land use. Humans have significantly altered at least 75% of the Earth’s land, where’d it be with population density, land transportation, or infrastructure. The museum displays a map that showcases how different areas are affected by human impact. Some critics of the hall state that this exhibit de-emphasizes the human impact on the environment and climate. I disagree with this critique, as the hall does discuss several examples of human impact on the climate. Although they do also discuss natural causes of climate change, the hall exhibits information on the human footprint on land, human-caused extinction, and the indirect effect on ecosystems from human domestication, civilization, and more.

Exhibit 3 - The Changing Ocean

The Changing Ocean exhibit provides a variety of interactive video stations that contain a series of videos discussing the impacts of human activity on the oceans. After watching some of the videos, I can say that I learned a lot about not only human effects on the oceans, but also about marine life in general.

Video 1 - Cause a Sea Change: Save Sharks: This video discussed the decline in shark populations and how we can help. Sharks are often feared by humans, despite the very low number of shark attacks every year. They discuss the sharp decline in population due to overfishing. This is a problem since sharks help balance the food chain and promote biodiversity in ocean ecosystems. They also talk about ways to help, including government regulations, buying sustainable seafood, and raising awareness about the issue.

Video 2 - Deep Sea Ocean Creatures: This video shows a lot of rare/undiscovered species of deep sea creatures in oceans surrounding Hawaii. They show videos and images of a variety of species, including sponges, fish, and crustaceans.

These videos are easy to understand for an average museum goer, as there are lots of visuals and images, and not a lot of over sophisticated vocabulary. The target audience is a general museum attendee, and the videos are effective in presenting to this audience.

The “Global Ocean Video” series is provided on the “Science on the Sphere” format: a globe-shaped video screen. Several videos, including “The Blooming Ocean” video, were displayed utilizing the spherical shape of the screen to display information in a unique and creative way. The Blooming Ocean: This sequence discussed the formation of oceans on earth. They also discussed how phytoplankton provide half of our oxygen and also are a large source of food. The sphere was able to portray this information effectively, as it represented the earth as it changed over time. The sphere itself was used to portray the earth, allowing the audience to witness the changes as they happen. This information was useful in helping me to understand the way our oceans were formed and why they are so important.

Exhibit 4 - Deep Time

The Deep Time exhibit is a new state of the art fossil hall that contains many wonderful specimens. The exhibit features several Paleoenvironmental Dioramas scattered throughout the hall, which 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.

320-299 million years ago (Paleozoic era): The diorama is in Present day North America (midwestern United States), but the continents had not formed yet. The CO2 levels were similar, global temperature was lower, and global sea level was higher than modern day.

299-270 million years ago (Paleozoic era): The diorama depicts North Texas. In this time period, compared to today, CO2 levels, global temperature, and global sea levels were all higher.

In addition to the dioramas, there are several displays of information that describe climate changes in both the past and present. They tell visitors that 56 million years ago, fossils show us that CO2 levels doubled in just a few thousand years and global temperature spiked by 10° F. They demonstrate this evidence through discussion of feeding in fossils and how animals got smaller. These exhibits explain that fossils can help us predict future climate phenomena due to dating and learning how the earth reacts to different climate phenomena in history.