Museum of Natural History: I Was Educated, Not Inspired

By Cameron Bullock

Recently I took a trip to the Big Apple and found myself in the Museum of Natural History. I was completely unaware of the Biodiversity wing and found myself wide-eyed in amazement.

Have you’ve ever been to a museum and seen that person that stops to read every sign? Yeah, that’s me, so I found myself getting quite an intellectual workout. When it came time to come to the Oceans room, I found myself staring at a replica of a Blue Whale and feeling like a kid again in wonderment.

I made my way through the maze of educational videos and signs that were associated with whatever animal replica they were in front of. The information provided was astonishing and extremely fascinating, but I was lacking something.

It wasn’t until I was staring into the eyes of a fake polar bear when I realized that this stuffed thing was meaningless compared to staring into the eyes of a real, breathing polar bear. The memory of a living polar bear behind a piece of glass a few inches think makes my heart beat faster even just writing it.

When I left the room of plastic marine life I discovered what was missing – inspiration. While the information and replicated life was fascinating to look at, it did little to inspire me to go protect the planet.

This example proves the concept that entertainment, along with the ability to connect with living things, inspires over replicas and signs. Zoological facilities such as SeaWorld provide a better learning experience through their ability to educate the public while also allowing them to be face to face with them.

It’s rather difficult to explain the countershading of a killer whale, but when you have one to view it allows for a better understanding.

Furthermore, if you’ve ever been to a museum with children you’d know that it isn’t very easy to keep their attention. They simply don’t find a stuffed arctic fox interesting and therefore don’t care to learn anything.

Now go to a zoological facility and show me a child whose eyes weren’t huge and full of excitement. It’s when children get excited that they care to learn. There’s something about having the ability to look at an animal you’ve read about in the flesh that leaves us inspired and ready to teach others.

That is why we need more places like SeaWorld, Theater of the Sea, and Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Without them we are left to try to inspire our children with words from a page rather than the tools to show them the animal and all its greatness.

It’s when people of all ages get excited that they care to learn. So please, let’s have the access to get a bit more excited and to learn a bit more than we already know.