Event: Field Trip to the American Museum of Natural History


Picture along the streets of New York

Event time and place:
SGC day-long field trip in New York City
Date: 11/11/23


Tour/Hall #1: Self-Guided (Scales of the Universe)

1) What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented?
The fields of Astronomy and Geology were presented in this hall.

2) What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed?
Some specific concepts or discoveries portrayed in this exhibit include climate change, formation of the earth, volcanism, earth cycles, and formation of planets.

3) How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.
This hall conveys information through examples such as:


Model depicting the formation of the planets,
as well as the moon, in the solar system.
4.What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
This hall is aimed to education levels of all ages, as it includes basic information about the sun and moon, while providing different more in-depth examples and theories about the universe that different ages may also enjoy.

5)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!]

This hall contains more visual components rather than interactive ones. There are a variety of models for people to take a look at. One minor interactive component was a model present on a screen where users attempted to guess the orbital velocity of planets.

A possible interactive component they could implement may be a model on a laptop where users could select a planet and guess the materials it’s made of and how far out it is from the sun in the solar system. A model such as this would allow users to be more engaged while gaining a better understanding of our neighboring planets.

6)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).
Not exactly. With the model that was related to orbital velocity, while users had the chance to make estimated guesses on how much was present, users received no information on what the term even meant, or how to figure out the value.

7)On your tour, did Holtz or Merck point out instances where the display information was out of date?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.)
As this tour was a self-guided one, I did not notice any instances where the display information was out of date. If there was any instance in which the display information had to be changed, it would be easy/moderately difficult to do so as only the descriptions/some of the models, may have to be altered.

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Tour/Hall #2: Holtz (Dinosaurs)

1) What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented?
Paleontology, geology, biology, and ecology are fields/aspects presented in this tour.

2) What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed?
Some specific concepts or discoveries portrayed by Holtz include:

-how the carnosaurs first stood
-diversity of dinosaurs, ranging from sauropods to theropods
-discoveries of different fossils, such as the triceratops and tyrannosaurs rex


Fossil of sauropod.

3) How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.
The hall conveys information through fossils of different species. For example, in this hall there is a large fossil model of the sauropod, that explains the structure and adaptations of the species.

4.What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
This hall may be aimed towards all ages, as it has interesting fossils that may be attractive to a younger audience while providing more in-depth information that might appeal to those with more understanding of dinosaurs/knowledge throughout school.

5)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!]
This hall was very much visual-based as people viewed the fossils and models to gauge an idea of different species and how they came to be. An example of an interactive component in this hall could be touchable fossils and casts of dinosaur bones.

6)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 found the interactive components effective at conveying information as it allowed users to explore aspects of dinosaur biology and their behaviors while providing information that further improved the user’s understanding.

7)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.)
There are always constant discoveries that can lead to outdated display information in the museum. In order to do so, the changes would range from moderately to very difficult as the findings of certain fossils or the changes of classification of a certain species could lead large fossil models to be altered or moved to different exhibits.

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Tour/Hall #3: Merck (Hall of Vertebrate Origins)

1) What field(s) of science and aspect(s) of the Natural World are presented?
Some fields of science/aspects of the Natural World present in this hall include paleontology, marine fossils, geology, and anatomy.

2) What specific concepts or discoveries are portrayed?
Some specific concepts or discoveries portrayed/discussed by Merck include:

-vertebrates and its fossils
-jaws lined with plates of bone that sharpen themselves
-shark fossils
-internal bone of the Xiphactinus
two different varieties of fish (ray fin fish and lobe fin fish)
-how to get fossils of vertebrates
-the Acanthostega
-the watertight egg
-different types of teeth indicating if a specimen is a herbivore or carnivore
-crazy digestive system indicator of herbivore

3) How does the hall (or presentation) convey information relevant to 2 above: give specific examples of specimens, drawings, texts, graphics, etc.


Model of water tight egg.

This hall conveyed information through models, such as the watertight egg, as well as fossils of different specimen, such as the Xiphactinus.

4.What education level do you think the hall is aimed at, and why?
This hall is aimed at students aged middle to high school as the information is a bit more complex and in-depth in comparison to other halls. It mentions concepts that the student should be familiar with, such as different muscular structures within different specimens, as well as other details about vertebrates.

5)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 has more visual components rather than interactive ones. An interactive component it can use could be some type of technological model that lets users choose a certain type of vertebrate and match it with certain traits they have.

6)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).
As this hall did not really have interactive components, the addition of them would be effective at conveying information if it provides information throughout the exhibit and enforces that information in the interactive component. If there is no background information to inform the user, the interactive component may not be effective at conveying info. The information should also be relevant to the exhibit.

7)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.)
An instance where the display information was out of date in this hall can be related to the debate on where turtles belong in their classification, specifically on whether it should be considered a reptile or some other subgroup or category due to certain evolutionary and anatomical distinctions. If classification of the turtle is changed, it would be easy/moderately easy to update displays as the only thing that would have to be changed would be the information about the turtle/its description on a few models.