New York Field Trip:

10am - 7pm at the American Museam of Natural History:

On November 11th, 2023, I attended the Science and Global Change trip to The American Museum of Natural History in New York City! The trip was both highly informative and extremely fun, especially as an opportunity to get out of Maryland.

The trip was made up of two guided tours, as well as a designated hour to explore at least one exhibit of the museum. The guided tours were led by the Science and Global Change faculty directors, Dr. Thomas Holtz and Dr. John Merck. In his tour, Dr. Holtz gave insight on the anatomy and history of dinosaurs, as well as facts about the timeline of dinosaur fossil discovery and misconceptions within the field. Dr. Merck gave a similar presentation, in which he discussed the development of vertebrates, and how evolution helped vertebrates survive and thrive in the ancient world.

The trip was made up of two guided tours, as well as a designated hour to explore at least one exhibit of the museum. The guided tours were led by the Science and Global Change faculty directors, Dr. Thomas Holtz and Dr. John Merck. In his tour, Dr. Holtz gave insight on the anatomy and history of dinosaurs, as well as facts about the timeline of dinosaur fossil discovery and misconceptions within the field. Dr. Merck gave a similar presentation, in which he discussed the development of vertebrates, and how evolution helped vertebrates survive and thrive in the ancient world.

After a brief intermission for lunch and a self guided tour of the Hall of the Universe, Dr. Mereck led our group on a tour of the vertebrates hall at 1:45. Much like the dinosaur hall, the vertebrate hall showed the evolution of vertebrates and the relations between species. Merck showed us several specimens,both marine and terrestrial. The marine specimens included ostracoderms, the first well known vertebrate fossils, lobe fin fish that show more steps towards articulation, and the transitional species, the acanthostega, which could survive out of water very briefly. The shift to terrestrial specimens came in the form of early turtles and amphibians, who differ in the way their eggs survive. Amphibian eggs are gelatinous and develop in the water, whereas turtle eggs have a harder shell that controls diffusion and allows the eggs to survive on land.One species, hypsognathus fenneri, was once thought to be closely related to turtles and was placed near them in the exhibit due to this. However, this was later disproved, showing an outdated aspect within the exhibit. Much like Holtz’s tour, Merck’s tour provided insight into how these animals grew from the prehistoric to modern times.

Though the halls we explored had some interactive components, it is clear that the both halls were designed to be enjoyed by an older age group, as the colors were very muted, and text dominates where pictures would convey information to younger patrons of the museum. I believe that having more interactive exhibits, such as models that can be moved around or held, could help this exhibit appeal to younger audiences and therefore spark scientific interest in younger generations. That's not to say that there was no interaction in these halls, however. The dinosaur hall had plastic displays of dinosaur feet that people could go up to and touch. I noticed many people - both parents and their children - holding their hands up to this model to compare the size of their hands to the feet of the dinosaur to get a relative idea of the size of these creatures. The vertebrate hall had something similar, where models of vertebrate heads showcased the size of the specimen as well as the anatomy of their skulls. I think more models like these could make these halls more interesting to young scientists!

As previously mentioned, this trip also included a self guided tour of the Hall of the Universe. This hall presented information about the origins and components of the universe. This exhibit explored concepts such as the big bang, the age and size of the universe, and the planets in our solar system as well as their components and attributes.This information is conveyed in a much more interactive way than the information presented in the dinosaur and vertebrate halls. There are buttons that light up screens with text on these concepts, peepholes to peer into that show models of stars and constellations, and in the center of the display there is a model of an asteroid. If this description did not make this clear, this exhibit was absolutely aimed towards kids, as everything was scaled to be seen by an elementary aged kid. Despite this, I found the hall to be very fun, and it reminded me of going to the Natural History Museum in DC whenever I was a kid. This is where I developed an interest in STEM, and I think this hall definitely has the potential to do the same for other kids.

Overall, as someone who grew up in a small town, I always love the opportunity to expand my horizons and go places I have never been before. This trip allowed me to experience New York for the first time, and I would love to go back on my own time to explore the city more.