Nature on Display
The frog exhibit was the most interesting to me. There was a wall where people told their most memorable moments they had with frogs. My most memorable moment was when I was about 8 years old. At this time I was terrified of frogs and one had landed itself into the backseat of my dad's car. We were on the expressway on the way to school when I felt the frog jumping around my feet. I basically sat in fear of the frog for 20 minutes until I got to school. At the time I was horrified but now it is hilarious. It was also interesting to learn about the poisonous dart frogs. The picture on the bottom right pictures the vibrant colored frogs. They are the most poisonous animal. Their skin produces toxins that were once used in darts for hunting. The bottom left picture shows what a dart gun would have looked like. It was great to have an exhibit like this one on display because I got to learn about so many different types of frogs and their functions in the world. Under normal circumstances, I would not have even gotten remotely close to any type of frog.
Nature and Ethics
Leopold says that we should "love, respect, and admire" nature. The butterfly exhibit is the perfect way to do this. This exhibit allows people to be completely immersed into the butterfly world. While in the exhibit, I was one with the butterflies. I was able to appreciate their beauty and elegance more than I ever had before. Everyone else who was visiting felt the same way. A butterfly landed on this woman (pictured on the far right) and I thought about how they were connected. It reminded me of how we should be a "biotic community" rather than "conquerors of the land." She calmly walked around the exhibit with the butterfly on her arm until the butterfly flew away. This exhibit was truly helpful in understanding the way in which nature needs us and we need nature.
Nature and the Human Spirit
Heschel says for us to connect to the eternal. This exhibit allows me specifically do this because it features Native American people in South Florida. My grandfather is a mixture of a few Floridian Native American tribes. This exhibit allowed me to connect with my ancestors and understand and visualize their way of life. I found the body decorations, used by the Calusa people, very interesting. They made body decorations out of their surroundings: deer bone, stones, rattlesnakes, etc. While I was in this section of the exhibit, I imagined myself in a South Floridian tribe and what my life would be like. This, I think, is what Heschel wants us to do; take a step back and connect to something beyond ourselves which will in turn help us find ourselves.
Overall my time at the Florida Natural History Museum was a good one. All of the exhibits provided me with a new experience and it taught me something that I wouldn't have been able to learn in any other atmosphere.
All of my pictures were taken by me and my friend Garrett Brown. The woman pictured in the butterfly exhibit gave permission to have her photo taken