The document summarizes Cameron Wood's event presentation on two exhibits at the Houston Museum of Natural Science: the Morian Hall of Paleontology and the limited-time Death by Natural Causes exhibit. The Morian Hall of Paleontology features reconstructions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures throughout history. The Death by Natural Causes exhibit focuses on things in nature that can kill humans, like plants, animals, and diseases. Cameron provides analysis and interpretations of both exhibits, praising the Morian Hall of Paleontology for transporting visitors back in time while calling the Death by Natural Causes exhibit tragic and morbid.

1. Houston Museum of
Natural Science
Event Presentation By
Cameron Wood

2. Analysis
-I chose to do my event presentation over the Houston Museum of Natural
science. I went to some of their permanent exhibits like the Morian Hall of
Paleontology, and then some of the limited exhibits like Death by Natural Causes.
The Morian Hall of Paleontology is curated by Robert T. Bakker and the exhibit
focuses on the prehistoric beasts. From the tyrannosaurus rex to the Triceratops
and the evolution of the human species, the morian Hall of paleontology focuses
on the history living beings. The Death by Natural Causes exhibit is only at the
Museum till September 4th. This Exhibit focuses on things that can kill you in
your everyday life. For example Mushrooms, snakes, spiders, food and other
things.

3. Morian Hall of Paleontology
-Here there was a Prehistoric Crocodile, Wooly Mammoth, and Horned Deer.

4. Analysis
The Morian Hall of Paleontology was organized in a very specific way. The exhibit
started at 237 million years ago in the late Triassic period all the way to 66 million
years ago to the late cretaceous period. The attractions range from sea life like a
prehistoric shark jaw to prehistoric sea turtles and then onto real
reconstructions of the dinosaurs like the triceratops, the T-Rex, the Wooly
Mammoth, the Giant Sloth, and many other creatures. The emphasis was
obviously on the larger recreations like the T-Rex and the Triceratops with those
being some of the largest reconstructions. My critique for this exhibit was that i
just wish it was longer. The exhibit itself is fairly long but for the subject matter I
could spend all day reading about these animals and seeing their skeletons.

5. Morian Hall of Paleontology
-Here is the evolution of the skull from Homosapiens to the modern day human
and next to that is the infamous T-Rex

6. Death by Natural Causes
-Here is the entrance to the Death by Natural Causes exhibit, and to the right is 3
human skeletons holding an anaconda and then a human running from a
komodo dragon

7. Analysis
The limited time Death by Natural Causes exhibit was a very interesting exhibit.
The exhibit was organized into types of things that would kill you. For example
there was a section on deadly plants, vegetables, and fungi. Then a section on
deadly animals like snakes, lizards, and anacondas. And finally a section on
diseases and germs. This exhibit was very eye opening and makes you think
about how many deadly things you come across in your everyday life. I would say
the emphasis of this exhibit was the human/animal skeletons and the disease
section. I wish they had focused more on the deadly plant section as that seems
much more interesting than seeing an anaconda that you know can obviously kill
you.

8. Death by Natural Causes
-Here there is a real plague doctor mask from the plague, next to that are some
toxic mushrooms native to North America, next to that is real death certificates
with interesting causes of death, and finally there is the end of the Death by
Natural Causes exhibit.

9. Interpretation
The expressive qualities for the Morian Hall of Paleontology was definitely
unique and shocking. Just seeing all of those different creatures and imagining
them being on the earth today is a little mind boggling. To see a T-Rex the size of
a house and stand next to it, it is very scary how large and intimidating these
animals must of been. The work in this exhibit almost takes me back in time and
makes me feel as if I am out of place in a room full of prehistoric beasts. This is
just a small look of what our Earth used to look like before we were here.

10. Interpretation
The only two words I can think to describe the Death by Natural Causes exhibit is
tragic and Morbid. Reading some of the death certificates you can see the morbid
reality of these people's deaths. But when it came to the many plagues that were
put all around exhibit they went into some graphic detail on what certain plants
and diseases would do to your body and the types of pain you would experience.
This exhibit reminds of the fact that people are not invincible and it does not take
alot to kill you. The message of this exhibit resonates around the world. Everyone
is going to die, but the ways you can die are almost endless because in reality
anything can kill you even nature.

11. Evaluation
Everything about the Morian Hall of Paleontology was a success. I feel that the
goal of this exhibit was to open the eyes of people about what the earth used to
be like millions and millions of years ago. And in that environment, in that room,
where you are the smallest creature, I think the exhibit does just that. The only
other thing I can compare this exhibit to is reading books about dinosaurs. It is
like listening to your favorite band sing your favorite song and then watching
them perform it live in front of thousands of other fans. There is no comparison.
I feel that this work is original but not unique, because I know there are bigger
and better dinosaur exhibits but the Morian Hall of Paleontology is a great one.

12. Evaluation
I think that the Natural Causes of Death exhibit was also a great success. I feel
that the goal of this exhibit was to open the eyes of the people of how we are just
as fragile as any other living thing and that there are plenty of things that can kill
us in an instant. Personally I can not think of anything else that this compares to
but it is something like body world, but it doesn’t have real bodies and it is
focused on what kills you not just how your body works. For others I would judge
this exhibit on how much you learned from it and how much of it genuinely
interested you. I feel that this work was very original and was one of a kind. It is
an exhibit dedicated to things that can kill you, so it is full of “danger”and very
unique.

13. Conclusion
In conclusion I had a lot of fun with this project and enjoyed my time at the
Houston Museum of Natural Science. I would recommend that you go sometime
over the summer to see the museum and some of its permanent and limited time
exhibits.