Use of Technology in Museums

LEAF SNAP


"The Smithsonian released a crowdsourcing app called LeafSnap that encourages users on the Eastern Seaboard to take photographs of leaves with their smartphones, identify trees from a vast database and then upload these to a central location, automatically tagged with GPS coordinates. The data helps give researchers a better picture of the distribution of species across the region while also honing people’s skills and knowledge in identifying trees in a fun way."

http://mashable.com/2011/09/14/high-tech-museums/

COOL INTERACTION WITH STRINGS

EMMA LAZARUS; POET OF EXILES
"The tour was produced using Tristan Interactive’s platform, Autour, and includes GPS recognition and a map. Each stop will consist of annotated historic tour sites, a slideshow, and audio commentary. Actress Julianna Margulies narrates the tour, and the app also includes a reading by Meryl Streep of Emma’s most famous poem, “The New Colossus,” which appears on the bronze base of the Statue of Liberty (which is pictured below, as shown in the app)."   

Here's your top ten deadliest bugs so watch out!

http://listverse.com/2007/11/15/top-10-deadliest-insects/

How can we compare our size & skills to their size & skills?!

How old are bugs?
How far can they jump?

University of Floridas: Book of Insect World Records

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/index_order.shtml

Biggest, Fastest, Bloodiest: Earth’s Most Extreme Insects

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/insect-awards/

The 16 Largest Insects in the World

The 16 Largest Insects in the World

Thoughts & Potential Exhibit Topics

I started by looking to the museum's website for thoughts on what they already know about weird bug stuff, and what they've done behind the scenes that they don't really talk about. I'm in the process at looking at each of the insect scientists to see what they chose to focus on in their studies, but these are some general things that I picked up on.

These ideas came from the links below, and also seem to be some of the things that John Rawlins brought up when we were talking to him on Wednesday:

http://www.carnegiemnh.org/iz/info.html

http://www.carnegiemnh.org/assets/science/iz/books-to-bugs.doc

http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/walker/ufbir/chapters/index_order.shtml



- "good bugs" vs. "bad bugs," but still promoting a positive image of bugs (bad bugs only do bad things to survive)

- bugs as pest control

- bugs as a major link in the food chain and as pollinators (without them, all other life would cease to exist)

- don't fear bugs, but respect them

- urban myths about bugs (swallowing spiders in your sleep, etc.)

- being able to identify the major arthropod groups (this could be where we make visitors feel like bug scientists or use gigapans)

- which insects live in which regions in PA or the U.S. or around the world (ex: these insects live near you, bring home this PA identification book and see which bugs you can spot in your own backyard)

- insect world records (we could see if the museum has any of the insects that make the world record list, and hopefully find some weird things to talk about)

- cockroaches are the oldest insects on Earth, dating back 300 million years (evolution of bugs, what lived 300 million years ago, why insects can survive extinctions, etc.)

- bugs as decomposers (without them, we would be buried in dead animals, plants, waste, etc.)

- the lives of bugs

- the "yuck factor" (accentuating the positive side of yucky habits, ex: dung beetles eating dung)

- why bugs do what they do

- transformation from larva to adult

- how many bugs exist in one place at one time