Event name: National Museum of Natural History Scholars Trip

Event time and place: December 2, 2023 at The National Museum of Natural History

In the Cellphones: Unseen Connections Exhibit, there were many presentation techniques that displayed the various types of media. One of which were the giant cellphones that introduced the idea of the object that captured people’s attention. I think it was effective because by being enlarged, it created an attraction that people could not miss when you walked in. Another technique was the periodic table of elements that was on display to show the components that went into designing the cellphone. This was effective since it drawed people’s attention to something that you don’t really think about when using your cellphone. Another technique was the timeline of before and after which was cool to view since it showed the impact of cellphones and how the products from before the cellphones changed after cellphones were developed.

The exhibit has listed the materials that are recyclable and can bring attention to the environmental effects of cellphones. Some materials include plastic, palladium, glass, and cobalt. It talks about how plastic can be recycled however, plastics lose quality after they are recycled. Palladium is valuable and can be recycled since most of the element can be recovered through a process, smelting. Glass can also be recycled if it is in good condition, so if it were broken, it would need to be removed piece by piece which would be time consuming. The cobalt can be recycled if it is removed before the phone goes through smelting. ALthough this is the case, it can be an expensive process. It tells these stories through infographics and it shows that although cellphones can be recycled, there are many trade offs in the long run.

One technological impact ws creating sensors by reusing old cell phones which shows the ability to incorporate reusable technology in order to help with the protection of trees and animals in different parts of the world from poachers. The museum decided to convey this through an infographic on the wall which captures people’s attention towards reading the information and learning.

One topic is new tools, new foods. The exhibit designers used objects with explanations above to show examples of the information. From 2.6 million years ago, there was the hammer stone, zebra ankle bone, stones that chopped through the shoulder of the antelope, and hand axes to chop wood. 790,000 years ago, humans developed the control over fire to cook food so they could digest food better. 100,000 years ago, bone needles, ivory needles, and harpoon points were created. Another topic is the development of communication. This was also designed the same way as the previous exhibit. 44,000 years ago, humans developed representations which included paintings, drawing, engraving, and creating sculptures. 77,000 years ago there was the carved antler with tally marks and there were systematic patterns that recorded when information was transmitted. The last exhibit was the socialization of humans which was also designed similar to the other two exhibits. 2.6-1.8 million years ago, there was sharing of resources by collecting food and resources to resting and eating stops which grew social bonds. This then changed with 80,000 years ago when humans socialized by gathering around campfires and finding comfort and warmth which helped gain an advantage over predators.

This exhibit does not really de-emphasize the human impact on the environment and climate, it just shows the progression of humans in the world. There is less emphasis on the environment and climate in this exhibit because it shows the transformation of human evolution.

One video that I watched was about deep ocean creatures. This video was filmed in Hohonu where it listed multiple species in the deep sea ocean. This included the moana, bolsoma, polycheid, caulophacus, python aster which aren't even from Hawaii. This data is somewhat understandable with the videos of each species, but it does not provide any detail on what it offers or contributes to the ocean. Another video I watched was Cause a Sea Change: Save Sharks. The information given was that half of Americans are afraid of sharks. You are 3x more likely to be struck by lightning, 250x more likely to get hurt in a firework accident. Overfishing has led to a decline in shark population. It is crucial for sharks to maintain their population to help biodiversity. One thing you can do to help is choose U.S. produced seafood since NOAA has restrictions on the amount of sharks to be caught. This information is extremely understandable because it uses alarming statistics to consider your position on sharks.

The subjects in the “Global Ocean Video” that were presented were about tectonic plates. The information that was provided was that 71% of the Earth is concentrated by the Ocean. The Mid-Ocean Ridge System is shaped by the movement of Earth’s crust by tectonic plates which move at the same speed. Florida was covered by water as other continents and countries were separated. Due to plate movement, earthquakes can become triggered and a tsunami can occur which is what happened in 2004.

One pylon is grasslands far and wide which occurred 19 million years ago and represents the Harrison Formation in nebraska. The global climate cooled and grew more seasonal, carbon dioxide levels were 50 percent higher than today, average global temperature was 5-12 degrees fahrenheit higher than today, the global sea level was 330 ft higher than today. The other pylon represented floodplains full of life 67- 66 million years ago. This was the hell creek formation in Montana where there was warm humid climate cast floodplains and wide rivers. The carbon dioxide levels were 4x higher than today, the average global temperature was 16-17 degrees fahrenheit higher than today, and the global sea level was 650-740 ft higher than today

In the world with ice exhibits, scientists discovered what the temperatures were like from 800,000 years ago to 100,000 years ago which showed that there were various temperatures that fluctuated from hot to cold. The scientists can tap into carbon dioxide bubbles to determine how much carbon dioxide there was in the past. Once the ice caps melt and sea levels rise, storms become more powerful, it clearly shows climate change occurring. The ice ages occur because of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which has to be low enough to cause the polar temperatures to drop below the freezing point. The scientists also drill through the solid ice to store ice cores and measure the isotopes. The exhibit does not effectively show fossil formation, but it shows geological information with ice caps which shows the future and current climate with the natural disasters increasing. Another exhibit is mammals of maximum size. Due to the recent ice age, numerous species got larger due to factors that favored larger body size because of the cool climate. The colder the temperature got, the larger the animals evolved into while the smaller animals died of cold and were eaten by predators. This shows the evolution of the climate since various factors with animals changed with the ice age period. There were approximations used to determine the size of the animals. The exhibits do explain fossil information that explain the climate change in the past, but it does not directly show the current climate change of the future. It would imply that if there are colder temperatures, humans would grow larger.