Natural History and Science Museum Visit

A few weeks back i went to london for a trip to a couple of the museums. There are a number of pictures i've taken that follow this post. Alot of thought was put into the exhibits and the manner in which they were displayed for the public to see. For example in the science museum, one section i remember srtongly, was the second floor covering research into the human genome. The whole floor was divided into sections via clear perspex walls with human DNA strands written or depicted across the entire length. within, or next to these walls the individual exhibitions and articles were shown.

Throughout the entire museum, all exhibits were designed in a manner that was very interactive for visitors. ranging from pushing buttins that show information, to quizzes and short films with seating areas. Lighting was very powefully used in the science musuem, especially in some of the higher floors. On the ground floor alot of classic machines were shown, an apollo landing craft, a stack of mini's, one atop another on th wall. old steam engines, some aircraft etc. alot to take in.

In the natural history museum there were a number of really interesting sections. Of course there are the dinosaur fossils, these were a must for me to see. the whole section of the musuem followed a timeline throughout. showing the evolution of the dinosaurs throughout time, and ultimately their extinction. Most of the dinosaurs were hung from the ceiling so they could be seen as if standing in real life. to accopmany the fossils some realistic, flesh and skin, models were also displayed. and a number of these were animated. in particular an allosaurus (may have been a small t-rex i can't actually remember perfectly) which had a fully animated head and roared. it was set in surroundings typical of it's time, to help visitors imagine life in that era and what the creatures actually looked like in their own habitats.

My favourite section however was the cocoon. atleast i think that's what they called it. This was actually a working laboratory and exhibition centre, showing thousands of examples and specimens of life. you could actually watch the scientists working from within the cocoon. The temperature inside was warm and humid to help preserve the specimens.

Just as an extra in one of the shops in the science musuem alot of innovative re-used materials were sold as products. i've included a number of pictures. for example a vinyl disc moulded into the shape of a bowl. beer bottles cut in half and inverted to create wine glasses. PCB boards used as front and back covers for books. ''elephant poo'' paper. a bit strange but a lot of people were buying it.

All in all a very usefull day out. not just to see the interesting articles and exhibits, but also to see the manner in which these articles were put together and the themes used to display them. This will prove very useful when creating our exhibition at ARU.