Personal Narrative: My Field Trip To The Hall Of Ocean Life

I thought the field trip was very interesting. All areas of the museum had parts that intrigued me, and in many areas I could connect what I saw to our science class. My favorite part of the trip was going into the exhibit of human origins. My least favorite was the Hall of Ocean Life.
The exhibit of human origins was my favorite because I thought it was very interesting. Throughout the exhibit I saw examples of evolution, just like we talked about in class. What I saw in examples of human skeletons was how our bones developed and grew. In the exhibit, I witnessed the first skeleton ever found, called Lucy. She was incredibly small compared to modern day humans. There was a part in the exhibit that showed three progressive skeletons of humans overtime. The first skeleton was of a human, bent over, with large hands, feet, and a long face. The second skeleton had adapted to its environment, and had begun to walk on two feet. Its hands and feet had also begun to shrink, and its head was smaller. Finally, the last skeleton was of humans today. The skeleton was more proportionate to our bodies, and good for our habitat. What I saw
between these three skeletons was evidence of evolution, the change over time. This exhibit made me wonder what evolutionary changes would happen to us humans over the upcoming thousands of years.
The Hall of Ocean Life was my least favorite, although it was still very interesting and had a lot of information that could relate to class.
Throughout the exhibit I saw many examples of adaptation. Under each unique display, there would be a description on how the organism would live in there habitat. One example talked about their tails, and that some were more flexible and broad, for sudden bursts of speed to attack prey or escape danger. Others would have stiff, sickle shaped tails for endurance on long journeys. Another example of adaptation is the blubber of whales and manatees. In colder these animals climates contain more blubber to keep them insulated from the cold. This exhibit made me realize the significance in adaptations and how important they are in life, without the necessary adaptations, many species could die
out.
In conclusion, the Museum of Natural History was really interesting and a great experience. I witnessed many examples of evolution and adaptation throughout the exhibits that related to what I learned in class. They were all very interesting and the displays were truly compelling. Overall, I believe it is helpful to go on fieldtrips because they give examples outside the classroom that help one get a better understanding of the concepts they’re learning. On this fieldtrip, I felt that witnessing the exhibits made things easier to understand then in the classroom, and were fun to go to.