One of the exhibits that was particularly appealing to me was the frog exhibit. This is only a temporary exhibit, but to me, it was one of the most interesting. I found this exhibit interesting because it allowed me to see many different species of one animal from many different regions of the world that I may have not been able to ever see in my lifetime. The sheer number of different types of frogs that were included in this exhibit captured and held my attention. I learned that different species of frogs perform many different tasks and have many unique characteristics, which I had not known this before to the extent that the exhibit displayed this. Another thing that made this exhibit so enjoyable was that it was very aesthetically pleasing. All of the individual displays were set up to mimic the frogs' natural habitats, which contributed to the authentic experience.
Nature and Ethics
In the category of nature and ethics, I feel as though I did experience nature in the way that Leopold recommends, particularly through the butterfly rainforest exhibit. This exhibit made me feel up close and personal to the butterflies. Rather than learning about a species through fossils and pictures, it allows you to develop a respect and admiration for these creatures. I feel as though while many of the exhibits are interesting and engaging, most of the museum visitors were probably the most intrigued with this particular exhibit. This specific part of the museum allowed visitors to connect with the wildlife by getting a direct sense for how they live, what they eat, and where their environment is. I feel as though the delicate nature of the butterflies and the extent to which the museum protects them from harm by screening everyone who enters the rainforest helps to instill an ethical responsibility in the visitors.
Nature and the Human Spirit
The Natural History Museum does a great job of allowing its visitors to step out of their ordinary lives by transporting them to the location or time period depicted in each specific exhibit. Personally, I thought that this was best displayed by the underwater portion of the marine life exhibit. This created a sense of majesty and immediately made me want to learn and spend more time in this portion of the museum. By making the majority of the exhibits realistic looking and by applying them to everyday life, it makes the visitors more eager to become personally invested in the subject matter.