AMNH Trip

Although many of our labs take place at Baruch, we are focused on the outside world!  The New York metropolitan region offers the chance to observe many different natural habitats, ranging from valleys, streams, and rivers to the Atlantic Oceans.  In addition, you can observe organisms and learn about environments from around the world (and across millennia) through local collections (zoos, museum, etc.).  During the semester you will take advantage of these local resources to visit some local sites.  These may include botanical gardens, zoos, and/or museums.  These visits will enhance the class by extending ideas we have already introduced in lab and introducing some new ones.  

These instructions focus on a trip to the American Museum of Natural History.  

Overview

Students will explore concepts including evolution and diversity and relate it to local environments by visiting a museum.

Objectives

Students should be able to

• Discuss major issues facing global diversity and critique commonly offered solutions

• Discuss how diversity has changed in New York due to major changes (glacial cycles, land use, European colonization)

Directions and Ticket Information (http://www.amnh.org/)

The Museum is located at 79th Street and Central Park West and is easily reached by public transportation. The main entrance to the Rose Center for Earth and Space is located at 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.  For more information, please check http://www.amnh.org/plan-your-visit/admissions-ticketing.  Admission is a suggested donation of $19, but you can pay what you can. However, you do need to reserve a ticket time. Visit https://www.amnh.org/plan-your-visit to do so.  These instructions focus on areas you can enter with a basic ticket; special exhibits and some areas (like the IMAX theater) require more reservations and an enhanced ticket (not available for the pay-what-you-wish option) and are not included here.

Assignment Instructions

The AMNH covers over 2.5 million square feet and houses over 40 permanent exhibits.  You shouldn't plan to see the all in one visit, and these instructions only focus on  you visiting three exhibits in the AMNH (two assigned plus one you choose).  However,  I encourage you to spend the whole day at the AMNH and look at as many exhibits as you want.  It may help to grab a map on the way in or download the museum app for help navigating.  I also recommend reading the questions before you go! Then you can explore and look for the answers.  

The first exhibit we'll focus on is the  Susan and Peter J. Solomon Family Insectarium, which is part of the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation.  It's on the first floor of the museum.  

Insects are the most diverse group of organisms on earth, and we will encounter them in several labs.  Here we will make some connections and extend those ideas.  Look around the exhibit to answer these questions.  

1.  In our labs focused on species diversity, we will encounter the term richness (the number of species in a focal area).  What is the typical richness of insects in a suburban backyard?

2. Several of our labs will focus on evolution (or this one) .  Evolution is the process that leads to populations being adapted to their surroundings, which includes other species.  We will consider speces interactions in several labs.  When species evolve to interact with each other, this may be called co-evolution.  This can include positive and negative interactions.  Give an example of each from the exhibit (take a picture and summarize the information).  

3. Co-evolved interactions are occuring among species, but they are also occuring in the physical environment.  We may consider this in a lab on climate change and butterfly phenology.  Find an example in the exhibit of how the physical environment can impact species interactions (take a picture and summarize the information).

4. Evolution also leads to diversity.  Why are there so many species of insects?  (take a picture and summarize the information used to answer the question).

5.  Evolution is commonly pictured in a phylogenetic tree or cladogram.  This basic structure show how species (the tips of the tree) are related to each other.  Common ancestry is indicated by when the tree branches.  Find an example of one of these focused on insects in the exhibit.  Take a picture of one part of the visual and name two closely related groups/species.  

6.  While the focus of the exhibit is insects, these organisms obviously interact with other groups (you may have named a few question 3).  One unusual example in the exhibit focuses on predatory plants. Find the information in the exhibit. Take a picture of it and summarize the information.   

7.  Explore the rest of the insectarium. What is your favorite part of the exhibit?  Why? Take a picture of it and summarize the information.   

8. What is one other topic that relates to a lab we have explored in class?  Take a picture of it and summarize the information.   

9. What is one connection to your home or New York?  Take a picture of it and summarize the information.   

We'll continue to focus on biodiveristy by next visiting the Hall of Biodiversity (also on the first floor).

To get a picture of diversity, observe the Spectrum of Life Wall.  It's in the form a cladogram, which is similar to a phylogenetic tree in that it represents evolutionary relationship (it's different because it doesn't indicate the amount of divergence).  The Wall also contains information on some of the ecosystem services each group provides.  

10.  Choose one group from the wall. Take a picture of it.  What are some ecosystem services the group provides to human or natural communities?  

 11.  Next, note the circle  embedded in the floor in front of the Spectrum of Life Wall.  It is a time line of the five previous major extinction events—periods of unusually high levels of extinction—with fossils from these periods.  It's important to note that species have gone extinct throughout the history of life.  However, we are currently in the middle of a 6th major extinction event. Why is it different? Take a picture of the exhibit that you used to anwer the question.  

Now visit the opposite wall (the Resource Center).  

12. One side (Transformation of the Biosphere) highlights changes humans have made that have led to the current biodiveristy crisis.   Pick one exhibit. Take a picture of it and describe the issue.

13. The other side  (the one with kiosks and screens) highlights solutions.  Choose one specific example. Take a picture of it, describe it, and how it relates to the larger group (big blue image) it is connected to.

14. Sit at one of the stations along the Solutions Wall. Watch one of the BioDocs (you may recognize some of these from class!)(it's it too crowded, just get a shot of the screen and look for the video on youtube!).  Which one did you choose? What did you learn, and how does it relate to biodiversity.

Your last assignment is to choose one additional exhibit to go to.  I suggest the 4th floor vertebrate evolution exhibit (the exhibit is huge and takes up most of the entire floor and is one of the best evolution and fossil (including dinosaurs) exhibits in the world), but just go see anything you think will be fun.

15.  Describe what exhibit you went to see.  Was there any particular reason why you chose this exhibit?  What did you learn there that you did not know before? 

16.  Did you enjoy your trip?  Do you think you would come back to the museum again?