Event name: Museum of Natural History Excursion

Sunday, October 20, Museum of Natural History

One presentation technique that was used in the cell phone exhibit was having real objects, such as server houses and minerals used in making phones. This was effective because it allowed us to see a real physical thing that is actually going into our phones, and presents it in a very real state. Another presentation technique that was used was through written descriptions. These written descriptions were able to effectively convey more specific information, such as data, through something as simple as writing on the wall of the exhibit. A third technique that was used was through interactive screens, which were very effective in allowing us to choose what we wanted to see, and give us a dynamic view of what goes into our cell phones. The exhibit presents the environmental issues of cell phone technologies by giving an in depth view of all of the minerals and resources that go into making each cell phone. Not just how they are built, but everything that goes even into making your phone work, through wireless signals and server networks. It also tells us the unseen costs, such as the decreasing availability of many rare minerals that are used, or about the strenuous labor that is used to mine these materials. They convey that the processes that we have to create and use our phones have costs, such as increasing energy use and labor costs. One technical impact of phones is that the new, advanced tech on cell phones allows us to have more power than ever at the touch of our hands. It conveyed this by giving a timeline of how phones have advanced through history. One social impact is increased interconnectedness. It conveyed this through writing stories of real people on the wall. Finally, a second social impact is the mass misinformation that occurs, and they conveyed this through fake infographics on the wall that displayed the stress of misinformation.

One topic discussed in the Hall of Human Origins was the growing human population. Humans have influenced this through their advancements, many of which are shown throughout the hall. The designers of the hall demonstrated this through graphs. Another topic discuss was the importance of agriculture. It made it known that agriculture was what kickstarted human advancement through food, and that even today, 1/4 of the Earth's surface is dedicated to farming. A third topic discuss was that of more advanced fishing tools created 80k years ago, which was shown on a picture on the wall. I would not say that this hall de-emphasizes the human impact of climate change. An entire wall is dedicated to a large graph which compares human achievement to rising CO2 levels. There is also another wall with the live human population, right next to a large diagram which contains both the benefits and costs of our success.

In "The Changing Ocean" interactive video station, we watched two videos, the first of which was titled "Deep Ocean Creatures." This video went over many different examples of ocean life that exists in areas of the ocean that are devoid of light. This video was not very accessible because they gave no context or information about each creature, just the name, so anyone not familiar with them would be confused. The second video was called "Ghost Ships Off the Golden Gate." This video was about an estimated 300 shipwrecks near the entrance of the golden gate. Because they are accidental, shipwrecks can be a good view into the past using sonar scans. This video was very accessible, as it explained what was going on, giving a timeline of missions and advancements in their mission. In the "Global Ocean Video," the information is provided on the "Science on the Sphere" format: a globe shaped video screen. In the video I watched, it told us about plate tectonics. In summary, continental margins connect land and deep ocean trenches. Mid ocean ridges, the world's largest mountain chain, shaped by movements in the Earth's crust. The globe was used the globe as a scale of the earth and displayed images on it. This was very useful because it showed videos of changes of plate tectonics over time on Earth.

One time period represented in the pylons in the Deep Time section of the Hall of Fossils was 299-270 million years ago in what is today north Texas. The CO2 fluctuated from less than it is today to three times higher. The temperature fluctuated from 8 degrees F cooler to 12 degrees F higher than it is today. The global sea level was also 40-80m higher than it is today. This exhibit was effective because it gave insight into what the world was like then. A second pylon, being 320-299 million years ago represented what is now the Midwestern USA. Then, the CO2 fluctuated near what it is today, the average global temp was 4 degrees F lower than today, and the global sea level was 0-40m higher than today. This was also effective because it gave a diagram of what the earth looked like then. Along the low wall and benches, we saw exhibits about how climate change has varied over time. The graph started 500 million years ago through today, and it went through all of the cold and hot fluctuations of the average global temperature on Earth. They can determine past climates through things like polar ice cores and organisms. On the graph that showed the climate change throughout time, it gave the context in which each climate existed, for example, whether there was high CO2, or volcanic eruptions, or fluctuations in sea levels.