Event #2: San Diego Natural History Museum

For my second event, I attended the Natural History Museum at San Diego's Balboa Park. Several exhibits resembled the outdoor natural environment. There were many detailed artistic additions to each exhibit. For example, the "Natural Night Open Sky" exhibit, displayed local animals from the San Diego Mountains. These dedicated artists resembled each detail needed to feel the sensation of being in that outdoor night forest habitat. Some fun features included hidden animals that were either small or not easily recognizable. All of the exhibits were made to be understandable and entertaining for all ages.

Several of the nature exhibits displayed the ambiguous features of the wildlife. The climate, shades from the moonlight, and most importantly the nocturnal creatures, were all taken into account. The proper used and assembly of these features is what gave the feeling of being in that environment. Although the trees were not real the texture made it seem like a real forest.

When entering the forest exhibit, it gave the emotions of entering a real dark forest.  The first reaction was to begin and observe in details all of the surroundings. This is a common reaction to have if in fact trekking through a real natural dark forest. Besides the natural exhibits, there were also statues of animals, both extinct and present, that gave the resemblance of their actual size. 

In order to artistically resemble a picture into a three-dimensional animal, the size and features of the animal needs to be taken into account. A combination of mathematics and artistic knowledge is needed for this task. Throughout the museum there were many of these three-dimensional statues resembling creatures of different periods of time. The statues are an educational method to teach the size of these creatures in their natural state. For example, the above picture resembles a California Grizzly Bear mom and her cubs. Unfortunately, they might not be as cute in the wild, but seeing these statues is a good way to learn.

In class we have learned about robotics and the way they have influenced the way we learn and live our lives. Well, in other museums these three-dimensional creatures are often moving due to a mechanical robot under the skin. These robots are purposed to show how they would move in the wild. This is often a much better way to resemble their natural state, especially if there is a prey involved. Does not matter what method is used to teach, each museum provides great knowledge.

The San Diego Natural History Museum has many exhibits that provide environmental knowledge and an interior theater for movies. I encourage everyone to visit, especially my classmates. The movies found in the theater are nature films and family oriented. After speaking with the museum staff I also found out that they do many research projects around the world. My summary of the visit only covered some of the exhibits provided by the San Diego Natural History Museum.