American Museum of Natural History
November 11:
What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented (and/or explained by Holtz/Merck)? Be specific!
The aspect of Dr. Merck's tour was about the evolution of vertebrates.
What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed (and/or discussed by Holtz/Merck)?
A scientific discovery that was found about vertebrates is that there was a sudden genetic mutation in which they were formed to have jaws. It was noticed that vertebrates were categorized to either have jaws or not have jaws. Another discovery was that all vertebrates were found on land were catogrized as bony fish. Another point mutation discovery that occurred caused some vertebrates to gain fingers and toes instead of fins. Another example of this that we see today are frogs.
How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.
The hall displays this information through fossils. These fossils are not only displayed in two dimensional forms but also three dimensional forms. For example they have a pterosaur pieced together to display a real life visual. They also had fossil of a giant turtle that was displayed in the air and pieced together.
What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
I personally believe that the education level of the hall is aimed at upper middle school students and above because it takes some comprehension level to understand all parts of the museum and what the boards are describing.
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 believe the exhibit had a auditory interactive component where it explained some of the fossils in a corner of the exhibit. They also had smaller visuals out that were able to be touched by visitors to feel.
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).
I think the interactive components did a decent job of explaining, it was just something that required a certain level of comphrenension to be able to understand everything that was said. There could have been more however.
On your tour, did Holtz or Merck point out instances where the display information was out of date?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.)
Dr. Merck talked about how the museum was supposed to have the reptile fossils near by where the vertebrate fossils are displayed. But since the museum was interiorally planned in 1995 the organization of where different subsections of species are not categorized properly. They would just have to be reogranized to be next to the correct group to be up to date. These changes would be highly difficult because it would require moving a whole display into a different room and there comes issues of not being able to fit everything.
What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented (and/or explained by Holtz/Merck)? Be specific!
Dr. Holtz's tour was about dinosaurs.
What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed (and/or discussed by Holtz/Merck)?
Something that was discussed was that more forms of dinsouars were formed after the evolution of plants and trees. Those plants happened to be tall which required the dinosaurs to develop into long neck plant eaters to be able to sustain in those types of enivornments. Another thing that was discovered is that the age of animals at the time of their death is figured out by cutting their bones and seeing the rings, similarily to have the age of trees is studied. Another discovery was that when people exclaimed the sauropod, it was understood that they had high metabolic rates and fast growth rates. One more thing was that is was discovered that birds are descendants from dinosaurs.
How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.
They were able to display this information by using fossils that are both in 2D and 3D.
What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
I believe the education level is still aimed at middle schoolers and above when it comes to actually comphrenhending all the information. But it is a nice place to also just view visually which would be nice for children.
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!]
The exhibit included some interactive elements, one which was where you could touch the egg of a dinosaur but that wasn't something that was big and wasn't really a point of focus in the exhibit. I believe there couldve been more elements that should be allowed for th epublic to touch but just have to make it more visually important.
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).
They did a good job at letting the public understand and connect more with the fossils by letting them actually feel how they are. By letting them use their senses it helps with comprehension.
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.)
The dinosaur head that was named in the 1900s is now outdated and is renamed. Another thing is that the one of the main fossil that are visible in the display is a T-rex which actually isn't the accurate complete fossil, and the legs are actually the fossils of a different dinosaur. It was used in order to complete the fossil. Another thing is that the birds are not bird hip dinosaurs but are placed in that section. If the was moved to the appropriate section it would make the museum more up to date. The problem is that is would be difficult to do so because it was require a lot of shifting around and the amount of space available is also something that needs to be considered.
What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented (and/or explained by Holtz/Merck)? Be specific!
The aspect of my self guided tour was about Asians.
What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed (and/or discussed by Holtz/Merck)?
I walked past the Hindu god Vishnu and past Buddha. I also noted the customs of the olden Korean practices and how they wrote in scrolls. Their traditional attire is called hanboks. In the Indian culture are social status called castes. People are born in it and Indians are supposed to marry within the same caste. Another concept is reincarnation and that if people do good in their past life their new one would be set up to also be good, vice versa.
How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.
They conveyed the information by using models that would be displayed in a case that renact how life was back in certain times. For example, in the section about Korea, they showcased models sitting down while writing in scrolls in hanboks. Another way information was relayed was by having artifacts displayed. For example, I saw some bowls that was made during the Mughlas time period.
What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
I think the education level is middle school and above because it takes some level of comprehension to really understand all the different cultures.
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!]
There wasn't really any interactive components. I could suggest having some artifcats or mock-artifacts that would be allowed for the public to touch and view in person without a glass case around it.
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).
There wasn't really any.
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.)
I feel like it was easy to get lost in the exhibit and understand where the dead ends are. This is the organization of the exhbit which is difficult to change.