The American Museum of Natural History has been one of my favorite places in the New York City since I was a little kid. Every time I go, I discover and learn something new–whether it’s something new about our solar system, about dinosaurs, or about the environment of the world we live in, there is always new information to absorb. What’s so great about the museum is also that it’s never boring; they really know how to engage children and adults alike in getting excited about learning, through their short films and interactive exhibits and well-thought-out displays. Some of them attract more people, and some attract less.

One of the exhibits in the Hall of Biodiversity that I was attracted to was a short wall of panels in which each panel was dedicated to a different type of environment on Earth, such as savannas, deserts, tropical forests, tundra, etc. I liked this because it gave very basic information, such as what percentage of the earth that particular environment took up, what the basic features were, and a good map that showed where exactly on earth one could find these spots. I enjoyed the simplicity of it and how it was rather hidden. I decided to observe how people interacted with it, and what I found didn’t surprise me. Of the handful of people that stopped to look at it, only about two or three of them actually read each panel and spent more than just a second looking over them. Most of the time people walked right past them, the panels going unnoticed. One little girl decided to start playing on top of them while I was reading them. However I think I can understand why these were overlooked in the great Hall of Biodiversity, as the rest of the hall is filled with interactive exhibits that are way more engaging and fun than this one. Maybe if it had some sort of touch screen people would be a little more attracted to it!

The second exhibit that I chose to observe was the series of little plastic binders of information and the short films that played in the rainforest section, in which viewers have the opportunity to kind of play “I spy” and find the animals from the books located throughout the forest. Growing up this was always one of my favorite things to do at the museum so I figured I would see lots of little kids having fun with this one. I was not surprised to find a sizable group of schoolchildren trying to beat each other at finding all kinds of lizards, birds, and other types of interesting animals. I was pleased to see the older kids and adults flipping casually through the binders, albeit not spending much time reading each page. Kids were watching the films and pushing buttons and having a good time learning about the diversity of the rainforest. I think the museum has always done an excellent job with that section, and observing other people’s reactions to it just proved it.

I really enjoyed visiting the museum again, as I haven’t been there in a couple of years. It’s always such a pleasure wandering through the halls and ending up somewhere that you had forgotten about. Of course, I had to go to the planetarium, because Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s “Dark Matter” film was playing. It was great, naturally. I certainly learned a thing or two during last week’s visit and I hope that all the little kids and adults alike who visited that day did too.