Walk on the Moon

I admire the ideas our curators and exhibit planners develop to engage the public. During the recent Earth Sciences weekend, families could stand on top of a piece of the moon. The ultimate photo op!

Walk on the Moon temporary exhibit photo source : Lorie Pierce

This is a temporary installation that can be easily dismantled and stored. Note the iconic backdrop with our own Blue Planet visible. This simulation makes you feel like you are actually there with these amazing astronauts who got the chance to do it for real.

Neil Armstrong – Apollo 11 – July, 1969

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin – Apollo 11 – July, 1969
Charles “Pete” Conrad – Apollo 12 – November, 1969
Alan Bean – Apollo 12 – November, 1969
Alan Shepard – Apollo 14 – February, 1971
Edgar Mitchell – Apollo 14 – February, 1971
David Scott – Apollo 15 – July, 1971
James Irwin – Apollo 15 – July, 1971
John Young – Apollo 16 – April, 1972
Charles Duke – Apollo 16 – April, 1972
Eugene Cernan – Apollo 17 – December, 1972
Harrison Schmitt – Apollo 17 – December, 1972

The ‘Moon’ the public walks across is a lunar meteorite from our Earth Sciences Collection. It’s encased in a heavy acrylic shield to withstand the trampling. Notice the detailed ‘pockmarked’ moon surface.

What is a lunar meteorite? A piece of the moon that got knock off and then landed somewhere on Earth. These are not moon rocks brought back by astronauts. They got to Earth the same way other space rocks do.

close-up of the lunar meteorite photo source : Lorie Pierce

This popular exhibit does not require staffing but is usually located adjacent to other curated activities. When used as a stand-alone exhibit, a volunteer can be assigned to encourage participation (a lot of people are surprised that we want them to walk on an exhibit!). The volunteer also hands out stickers announcing ‘I Walked on the Moon’.

 

A Personal Thank-you to the Site Historique Maritime de la Pointe-au-Père, Rimouski, Quebec

The worst maritime disaster that ever happened in Canada, occurred 99 years ago today….and most people will have never heard about it. My great-great grandparents, James and Ellen Faulkner, were among the passengers who died.

Empress of Ireland photo source : Klausen

The Empress sank on May 29, 1914 on a return trip from Quebec City to Liverpool. It was hit in a fog bank by a Norwegian coal vessel.   

Only 465 survived. 1,012 died. Of that number, 840 were passengers—eight more than died in the sinking of the Titanic two years earlier—making this the worst passenger death toll in peacetime history. http://www.empress-of-ireland-klausen.com

It was devastating for my family, who went on to lose other family members in WW1.

As a child, I always wondered why no one seemed to know about this horrible tragedy. This is what I have figured out.

1. Unlike the Titanic, this was not a much publicized maiden voyage. The Empress had made 70 previous round trips across the Atlantic.
2. The were no major public figures aboard, although the Salvation Army lost 167 members and have a memorial in Toronto in their honour.
3. Within two months of the sinking, WW1 broke out.
4. The anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic happens two years earlier. Most museums I have contacted about considering an exhibit about the Empress of Ireland disaster point to the fact that they have recently had shows about the Titanic and this would be too similar.

And that brings me to a unique Historic Maritime Museum set on the south bank of the St.Lawrence River, east of Rimouski, Quebec. It is with profound gratitude from myself and my family that I thank them for their efforts to keep this story alive through the construction of permanent exhibits dedicated to the Empress of Ireland, including one building shaped and set to represent the wreck as it lays on the floor of the St.Lawrence River.

Empress of Ireland pavilion, Rimouski Quebec

The Site Historique Maritime de la Pointe-au-Père is a non-profit organization that receives no funding from federal or provincial governments. Its income comes mainly from entry fees and gift shop sales.

For years, their website was only in French but now anyone can a learn about the site and the disaster in English as well. Take a look.

http://www.shmp.qc.ca in French

http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/home.html  in English

100th anniversary commemoration logo

My spouse and I are planning a trip to Rimouski next year for the 100th anniversary. Luckily he is totally fluent in Quebecois French.

 

 

sightings – Helmet Heaven

Open a storage cupboard in a museum and you never know what you will find !

Medieval Europe helmets photo source : Kiron Mukherjee

Get to know a Curator – hint #1

In my recent ‘Meet a Museum Blogger’ profile at http://www.museumminute.wordpress.com I advised that someone wishing a career in museums should get to know one or two curators. However, I didn’t give any suggestions how to go about doing that. This is the first of several hints based on my own experience.

#1 Back pocket question

Ever since I started working at my museum, I have wanted to find a way to hang out with the Palaeontologists. Since my workspace is in an entirely separate area from theirs, I did not often cross paths with them. So I decided when I did have a chance to run into one, I would have a question prepared to ask that was brief, relevant to their work and something that would enhance my work within the museum.

If you do this, I would recommend staying away from basic information that you could easily look up (say on the museum website or in any publications they have authored). Make it something that demonstrates your interest in their work (or specialty) and does not make them feel like you are holding them up from something more important. If they do not have a minute for you at that time, ask if you can e-mail them the question.

 

Have a bag handy

When doing craft activities in a museum space or offsite, there are not always handy waste bins nearby. Place a paper lunch bag marked ‘garbage’ at each activity area. It will bound to be used and there will be less clutter to deal with later. Remember to check the bag for any recyclables and place them in their appropriate bins.

a bag named ‘garbage’ photo source : Lorie Pierce

Ask a Biologist website

I was really glad to come upon this resource from Arizona State University. The worksheets provide an extra activity for older kids at the offsite events. Plus they are great for takeaways for kids to do later on. The website URL is shown on the printouts so the families can check back to the original source.

http://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/coloring

Here is the activity we used in our recent ‘Around the Museum’ event.

human bird bat limb comparison photo source :askabiologist.asu.edu

The pdf contains both the colouring sheet and the coloured key sheet that shows which bones are similar in each species. Along with the activity, we had a bat skeleton that was viewable from both sides. We also made and decorated bat hats, and discussed the latest research on bats being done by our specialist, Burton Lim.                                 http://www.rom.on.ca/en/collections-research/rom-staff/burton-lim

NOTE : takeaway bags are left at the venue for those families who were not able to attend the event. We make up both pre-school and school-aged packages. They are given to the venue who leave them at their front desk for anyone to take.

help yourself to an activity bag photo source : Lorie Pierce

sightings – green among the stonework

Spring on the east frontage, ROM photo source : Lorie Pierce

Welcome to the tenacious new plant life clinging to the facade of the museum’s 1930’s wing.

Walking, standing and walking some more

Rockport World Tour Oxfords photo source : rockport.com

Replaced my basic working shoe recently with this model. In any front of house job at a major attraction, such as a museum, you benefit from comfortable footwear. But there is a break-in period with even the most supportive shoes, when you wonder if they are ever going to seem wearable for a whole day.

However, after a few weeks of wearing these on and off for short periods, I was able to do a whole day shift without thinking about running into a back room to change into a backup pair of sandals. And what a day it was! We threw our doors open to celebrate Iranian Heritage Day and I wore my pedometer to track my mileage.

Total score for the day = 12,042 steps,

subtract 5,000 steps for the commute to and from work,

leaves at total of aprox. 7,000 steps around the museum to do my shift !

Moral = make sure you wear quality footwear that fits, and take the time to break them in.

musings – exhibits I'd like to see……….Otzi

Otzi : the Iceman                                                     photo source : Augustin Ochsenreiter

The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology and EURAC Research Balzano have a travelling exhibit about this incredible find. A modular exhibit with replicas, according to the exhibit description.

Ötzi is a well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived about 3,300 BC. The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps, hence Ötzi, near the Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. Wikipedia

Check out the website of this museum. There is a kid’s section. http://www.iceman.it

I got intrigued with naturally mummified humans when I saw the bog people in Ireland’s National Museum of Archaeology, Dublin.

National Museum of Archaeology, Dublin photo source : Lorie Pierce

Here is the more complete of the two bog people in this museum.

bog person, National Museum of Archaeology, Dublin, Ireland photo source : Lorie Pierce

Sometimes humans left behind some pretty remarkable things in those same bogs.

collars from local Irish placer gold      photo source : Lorie Pierce

And bling, again. There are similar collars in the Roman Gallery at my museum.

twisted gold collar, Dublin photo source : Lorie Pierce

 

 

 

 

Meteorites and a Gneiss (nice) rock

During our recent Earth Sciences Weekend, I helped staff a touch table with unusual rocks.

The Acasta Gneiss – piece of the oldest rock in the Earth’s crust found in N.W.T., Canada (approx 4.2 billlion years old)

Acasta Gneiss – oldest crustal rock photo source : ROM

Springwater Pallasite – portion of the mantle of an asteroid – equivalent to what our planet looks like 3,000km down

Springwater pallasite meteorite photo source : ROM

Chondrite Meteorite – rock formed at the beginning of the Solar System, before planets had formed, approx 4.5 billion years ago – not the actual one we were showing but filled with small spheres (chondules*) like this one has.

* A peculiar rounded granule of some mineral, usually enstatite or chrysolite, found imbedded more or less abundantly in the mass of many meteoric stones, which are hence called chondrites.- Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary

 

chondrite meteorite photo source : D. Ball, ASU

In addition, we had a 2 billion year old sedimentary rock showing fossilized waves – like those shown in this photo.

fossilized waves in sedimentary rock photo source : rockcliffbythesea.blogspot.com

And to attract visitors to the table, an amethyst geode….for the bling factor.

 

amethyst geode photo source : bigquartz.com