Natural History Museum - Kevin

It was fun to attend the museum with the mission of interacting with the museum staff.  On the way there, I couldn't remember if there are normally employees or educators in the museum.  All I could think of were the volunteers who show the injured birds of prey.  It turns out that the most interaction I had was with the guy at the front counter who said hello and gave me a sticker.  The rest of the learning was dependent on us, the visitors.  At one point a stranger asked me what was the state flower of California.  I happily answered and thought about how nice it is to be in a low-stakes, expert-free learning environment.  By having no employees or experts around, the visitors are turned into a collective of researchers with varying resources and backgrounds.  There isn't a clear "knowledge-giver" or authority figure with database-like knowledge.  I'm the kind of person that feels self-conscious around intelligent people and by not having anyone there to correct me, I felt more open to sharing observations, ideas, and questions with my friend.

My favorite exhibit was the bird hall because I'm trying to get into birding and it was a great way to identify birds up close. I could trust the authority of the labels in the museum instead of my own guesswork when comparing wild birds to my guidebook.

I also loved the new outdoor area when kids can build structures with natural materials and practice being paleontologists.  I would have hammered at the rock full of fossils all damn day when I was in first grade.  I noticed a sign that had a challenge on it, but on closer inspection, it simply read, "What can you create?"  A fine challenge but not really an invitation to the unimaginative.

I thought it was interesting that almost all of the formal information to be gleaned was written and only in English.  There were a few video displays and interactive exhibits (usually in the form of tactile displays) but ultimately, if you're not English literate it would be hard to go beyond making visual observations.  However, the visuals are fantastic.  Every time I go back to the museum, I have flashbacks to the feelings of seeing the dioramas as a kid.  It felt magical to see a moment frozen in time.  I especially like the scenes that show life underground or on a cliff.  Sets the imagination reeling.

I did run into one museum employee (shout out Juliana!!!), but I probably wouldn't have engaged her if it wasn't a familiar face.  She was busy enough keeping kids from throwing mud into the creek.  And the bird people were out and happily answering questions.  Seems like most kids wanted to know what the birds' names were, how old they were, and that's about it.  I asked how one got injured but the questions were limited.  I love raptors so it's amazing to see them up close, but I wonder how this display could be more engaging or lead to deeper.

PS I just watched the rocket launch.  AWE!  I AM IN AWE.