Individual M-Term: Paleontology

Today I arrived a bit early so I was able to take a brief look at the touch cart again before going right into presenting.  After I felt pretty confident, I went to get ready in front of the malacology exhibit. Luckily, there were a lot of visitors, including numerous tours for school field trips, so there was no problem in presenting today.  I am happy to say that this time I was able to get some images of me presenting, and not just pictures of the cart. Ms. Leap helped me in doing this: she stood in front of me, so she was able to get pictures of me and the backs of the visitors watching.  When there were groups of younger children, having also the teachers present meant that there was a more in-depth explanation for the specimens I was showing. I tried my best to make each presentation as interactive and coherent as possible.  I decided to put in the left-handed whelk , the Texas state shell, instead of the tiger cowrie . I think that was a good call since it seemed that it was a s

Today went very well. Unfortunately, I did not present... but I definitely plan to do so tomorrow, so I spent today getting ready for that. The first thing I did was spend time practicing with the paleo cart, going through the usual processes of research and note-taking. Hopefully, I'll be able to move on to other paleo carts soon. In the meantime, I am satisfied with how the presentations are going for the malacology hall, so I'll definitely continue with those.  Then, about halfway today, I also went to get the malacology touch cart, to get more comfortable with more specimens so I could present them tomorrow. As I established yesterday, having pretty but durable specimens on display is an approach I prefer, especially with how lively the younger visitors can get. So I tried to apply this logic to those that I chose today.  While I had the malacology cart, I spent some time exploring what different specimens I could use while still keeping the pattern of "one class each&

Today, I was able to present! I am happy I was able to get some practical work done today, and that the research I've been doing has paid off. To sum it up, the presentations went very well, and I aim to do more of them throughout the rest of the individual study. Unfortunately, I didn't present the paleo touch cart, but rather I had presented more with the malacology one.  I started by working with the "hammer oyster," "left handed whelk" and "chambered nautilus." Again, it is very much encouraged for docents to only have up to three specimens at once on display; this is for the very simple reason that they are easier to keep an eye on. I wanted to start with one specimen for all three of the classes, something that I did not do the last time I presented. Another thing I made sure I did was to choose items which were smoother and less fragile. Last time, I picked some specimens which were beautiful but had very fine features. Today I was nervous t

Today, I got to work on my end product throughout most of the time at the museum, which was a nice change from the usual activeness during more crowded days. Also, as Ms. Leap had to leave early today, I had a chance to work a little more on my own, which also went smoothly.  To sum it up again, my end product for this independent study will be an overview of the malacology touch-cart, including some information on the specimens, and some examples of how a docent could structure a presentation. I've seen some of the other touch carts around the museum, most of them from the paleo hall, and they all have a flexible outline someone can use to practice with before presenting. Since the malacology one does not, I think it would be beneficial both to me and future volunteers.  One of the first things I set to doing was taking note of the specimens this cart had. I plan to give some basic information on what they are, and divide them according to class. Out of the eight classes of mollus

Returning from the weekend, today was pretty calm in comparison to some of last week's days. I did not feel ready to present with the cart I had briefly seen at the end of Friday, so I decided to focus on getting more familiar with that today.  I signed out the Permian touch cart in the paleo exhibit and took it to the same spare room that I spent the majority of last week. This past weekend I revised the research papers Ms. Leap gave me for this specific cart and although it was pretty clear and detailed, I still wanted to see if I could apply what I had learned to the actual casts and models this cart offered. So, I set to looking through the objects it contained, and had a more practical approach to the research.  Below are two of my favourite pieces that I worked with today: Dimetrodon Coracoid Cast & Mold The first box contained a model of a mold and cast. So, obviously these are not fossils and rather replicas. A docent might use these during a presentation to demonstrate

Today was really exciting! I am pleased to say that I got to officially present today in front of the malacology exhibit.  This morning, I got to signing in and leaving my bags, then got to extracting the touch cart from its original space, and briefly brought it to another empty classroom on the lower floors. I took a bit of time to briefly review the specimens again, seeing the research papers for those for more information, and did some mock presentations before I went up again.  Ms. Leap had, yesterday, showed me a place she recommended I set up with the touch cart in order to get the most flow of visitors. That spot is the junction between the malacology exhibit and the hall of gems and minerals. Since the stairs were in the immediate vicinity when it began nearing 10, it started getting pretty crowded ...  There were groups of younger students coming and going for the majority of my set-up, and I discovered pretty quickly that small children will want to touch the "up for gr

      Today, I was able to work with the malacology touch cart! This was my plan for today, so I'm really happy I was able to get that done.  It was the first thing we got to do this morning, after the usual routine. Ms. Leap brought me to the "George W. Strake Hall of Malacology," where, under one of the glass exhibits, was an opening which showed a large cart specific to this exhibit. When it was closed, all you could see on the top were a bunch of gastropod shells showcased behind a glass panel. We then moved the cart to a spare room on the Ground Floor, and I got the chance to work with and study the objects the cart held inside. Here is what I was working with today: The cart's contents are all property of the museum and they are (almost) all available for being physically held by visitors; only some are the exception, and can only be held by the docent because of how fragile they are.  All of the specimens were arranged in specific boxes according to their class

    Since the professor wasn't here, I spent today putting what I learned these last few days into practice.  Unfortunately I found out this morning that he was busy with another class, and would only be free later in the afternoon, but by that point I would have already left the museum. So, I figured that I could still try my hand at some beginner practical work, one which wouldn't require his assistance: classifying mollusks.      I found out that he might be busy until Friday, where he should be having the morning free to show me the resources he wanted to discuss. Until then, Ms. Leap suggested that I have a go with seeing some of the fossils and mollusks he uses to teach in the office I entered on Monday. There, while some fossils and specimens were closed in plastic containers, others were not and some did not even have labels.  So, we took one small open container with hand-sized mollusks, and these were not labelled. After confirming that they were not unauthorised to u

    Beginning today's blog by saying that I was  able to visit the paleontology exhibit today, I think, would be a good place to start.  I started off similar to yesterday morning: I arrived at the museum, got signed in, and met with Ms. Leap to get some research papers to get me started with the chosen exhibit of the day... the Morian Hall of Paleontology!      The most notable thing that I took notice of upon arriving at the exhibit is that it was not stagnant, instead all the displays were in the midst of action . All the specimens were in a vivid struggle for survival  —  engaging in hunting, eating and escaping  —  where we are simply spectators to this "active" walkthrough.       I actually crossed paths with another M-Term taking a trip to the paleo exhibit when I arrived, and ended up having an intricate and very detailed tour done by another of my classmates! This was very helpful as an introduction to the research, and was very much appreciated. We toured throug

    Today was my first day interning at the Houston Museum of Natural Science for my independent M Term study. Specifically, I will be working in the "paleontology" exhibit  —  centred on the study of fossils  —  alongside James Washington, whose professional background is with paleontology and geology. This being the beginning of the project, I was first shown by Carolyn Leap around the main areas of the museum I would be visiting, to ensure I didn't lose my way...     The first thing we did was tour the main offices at the Lower Level of the Museum, with Ms. Leap helping me with signing in and out of the system to log in. I was also shown one of professor Washington's rooms which he uses to teach lessons, full of minerals and boxed mollusks and remains.  However, the professor will be busy these first two days and won't be in until Wednesday, so I was advised to not touch anything that seemed to be conserved since I do not yet have extensive hands-on knowledge o