Category: Z 9/21 – NC Natural Science – Tymur T, Kaeshev A, Vikram K

We took the time this X-Day to look through the exhibits featured in the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Throughout the floors, there were various animals showcased, both real and taxidermied. These animals were split into many different sections, such as those that live in the ocean and savannah, as well as arthropods and dinosaurs. In addition, an exhibit dedicated to human impact on the environment was featured, exploring the many different ways that human beings have affected the world around us, for better and for worse.

On the top floor, a temporary exhibit dedicated to women in STEM was introduced. This exhibit contained many important women to the field of STEM, many of them who went widely unnoticed by the public eye. I was disappointed to see that the exhibit didn’t go too in-depth into why these women were ignored but was excited to see a portion of the exhibit dedicated to anti-Asian racism and how our society can fight back against it.

All in all, I’d describe our X-Day as a great success, and I hope to have many more like it.

Today we explored the museum and looked at the exhibits such as the ones about the oceans, arthropods, women in science, and many more. I liked looking at the arthropods like the 8 inch long moth, though some of them were pretty creepy. As we went around the museum, we asked questions such as to what extend was corporate impact visible in the exhibits and took notes on what we saw. For example, we noticed that a lot of exhibits were made possible by donations from large companies, such as the butterfly exhibit being sponsored by the Pepsi Bottling Company. The women in science exhibit was an interesting one as well, and I got the opportunity to read and learn about many influential people, some of whom I had known of and others I had not. We noticed that for the most part, the largest mention of the human impact on ecosystems was in a special exhibit on its own, and not largely integrated into other areas, which we found to be an interesting topic to think about. In future x-days, I hope to be able to explore more about North Carolina and the world.

Today, my group will be visiting the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. We’re excited to see some of the exhibits today.

Our path should take us through the new Marie Curie exhibit, dedicated to women in the field of science. I’m interested to see who will be featured, as I’m expecting individuals such as the aforementioned Marie Curie and Ada Lovelace.

Aside from that, if time permits, we’ll be taking a look at the permanent exhibits, such as the Natural Exploration and Research Centers. Going into this, I’m hoping to learn a bit more about the world that we inhabit. Specifically for the Marie Curie exhibit, I’m excited to learn why the scientists presented have been lost to time or weren’t able to gain the renown that Marie Curie achieved, even though their accomplishments in the field were just as impressive.

Hi everyone!

Our plans so far are to visit the museum and try and chart an interdisciplinary path through the exhibits as an exercise. I am particularly excited to see their new exhibit on Marie Curie. Afterward, as time allows we will find other significant places to go and ask each other thought-provoking reflection questions about what disciplinary barriers really are and what they imply about our society.

— Kaeshev

Prior to our visit, I decided to go on the website and look at the exhibits, both special and permanent. I discovered that they currently have a special exhibit about women in science https://naturalsciences.org/exhibits/special-exhibitions/beyond-curie, showing information about 40 of the most influential women in science, mathematics, and engineering who aren’t as well known as Curie, a very interesting exhibit that we could all learn from. Other than that I am excited about the exhibits on marine and tropical sciences and overall hope to see as much as possible.

This group will spend part of their day at the wonderful NC Museum of Natural Sciences, and expand and deepen their knowledge and/or skills from there. Watch this space to see how they develop and execute their learning plan.