Natural History Museum Excursion
National Museum of Natural History, 27 September, 2024
On September 27th I went to the Natural Museum of Natural History with my older sister. The first place I stopped was Cellphones: Unseen Connections. Within this exhibit, they had giant interactive phones, different games you could play on those phones and a display of the minerals used to make your phone. These modes of media used to display their information were very interactive and memorable. Specifically, the minerals used in your phone display. The display would highlight certain minerals that were used in each part of your phone. For example, they would shine a spotlight on all of the minerals that went into the motherboard. Off to the side of the mineral display, they showed a video about the harmful mining processes of these different minerals and how the environment is being destroyed due to the high demand of phones and other devices. Next to that video was another display of impacts a phone has on a person. One of the pieces of the display was a comic strip that shows how children get anxious and depressed because of social media. Within this comic they also have a panel about the spread of misinformation and how it causes fear. Alongside the comic they included videos about how everything you need is within the palm of your hand and how information sharing between countries and continents is at an all-time high.
After going through the Cellphones exhibit my sister and I made our way to Human Origins. While walking through the exhibit we saw how humans have influenced the world from the beginning. We noticed how they displayed a spear made of wood, and then next to it, a spear with a stone tip. The little blurb about the spears explained how when trying to hunt large animals, early humans kept redesigning their weapons based off their prey. Longer spears were used for larger animals, and wooden spears were forgotten in light of their stone-tipped counterparts because it was easier to kill the animal with the stone. Another display showed the population changes after the second world war. The display showed a graph depicting major baby booms between 1959 and 1999 which caused the population to double. They included the fact that currently the population is growing by 90 million people a year. Next to that display was an infographic about diseases. It briefly explained how humans had introduced diseases to other populations due to the need to colonize. One of the most staggering statistics I saw was that currently, one-third of the population is currently infected with Tuberculosis. Some people have said that the Human Origins exhibit downplays the effect humans have had on the climate. I personally disagree with those statements. Immediately upon walking in you see a large display with multiple infographics with videos about climate change, mostly focusing on the levels of CO2 and how they have changed over time.
After leaving Human Origins my sister and I headed to the Sant Ocean Hall. The first thing we saw was a display of videos. The first of two we watched was about “Deep Ocean Creatures.” The video used simple terms to explain how researchers make the discoveries of deep ocean creatures and how they use them to supplement other research. We then watched a video titled “Cause a Sea Change: Save Sharks” which explained why people shouldn’t be afraid of sharks and the current shark finning business is causing populations to decline rapidly through infographics. We then moved on to watch the Global Ocean video, which was projected on a globe. It talked about ocean acidification and rising CO2 levels. Many graphs were displayed all over the globe, which we thought was cool because it allowed everyone to see the same graph no matter where they were standing.
One of the last exhibits my sister and I walked through was the Fossils Hall – Deep Time. We wandered around and found some dioramas. One we saw was a diorama of 230-201 million years ago in the Chinle formation (present day Arizona). CO2 levels were seven times higher than they are today and the temperature was 12-26℉ higher. The diorama also explained that the sea levels were about 30 feet lower than today. Another diorama we saw portrayed a scene from 279-272 million years ago in the Arroyo Formation (present day Texas). CO2 levels were fluctuating from less than they are today to up to three times higher. Temperature was also fluctuating during this time, jumping from 8℉ below to 12℉ above the current global temperature. The sea level was 130-260 ft higher than it is currently. These dioramas were very cool to look at and gave concise information that made sense without overexplaining anything. As we ventured through the rest of the hall we stopped at an infographic about climate change. It showed graphs depicting the climate from 500 million years ago to the current climate. They explained how carbon dating was used to help figure out what the climate looked like at a given time. It made me think about how carbon dating certain fossils found in different parts of the world can give us a glimpse into the past.