Smithsonian’s Object of Wonder Exhibit is So Cool and Here’s Why
Explore some of the iconic ‘objects of wonder’ from the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is located in the United States’ capital, Washington, D.C. The museum is open to the public seven days a week and admission is free! Being one of our nation’s largest museums, one can easily ascertain that this unique museum hosts many featured exhibitions from all over the world. One of the coolest exhibits they have on display is the ‘Objects of Wonder’.
Why is this exhibit so cool?
Recently, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Esri StoryMaps team partnered to create an illuminating story based on the very popular exhibit, Objects of Wonder. This particular exhibit demonstrates the vastness and diversity of the NMNH’s collections, which includes upwards of 147 million items and grows each day. Fun fact: Many of these objects are actually stored off-site at the Museum Support Center in Maryland.
What are these wonderous items?
There are so many wonderous objects included in this collection that it’s hard to do justice by writing the words down vs. witnessing them in person. While not everyone can experience this exhibit in person, this story takes you through a visually engaging journey of the collection and info on objects such as:
- Coralline alga – these can live to be hundreds of years old and provide scientists new insights into past water temperatures!
- Baleen whale earwax – whale earwax can be used to determine the age of a whale as it plugs up over the lifetime of a whale. Scientists can also track pollution and stress levels throughout the whale’s life. How cool (and sad)!
- Passenger pigeon – Martha, believed to be the last of this species, passed in 1914 and has been preserved for future study.
While we might not all be able to visit the incredible exhibit in-person, in the virtual world we can gain an appreciation of these unique objects via descriptive blogs and stories made with ArcGIS StoryMaps! Be sure to check out the Collections define a museum blog and the Objects of Wonder story to learn about these objects and this exhibit for yourself!
Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMaps allow users to create inspiring, immersive stories that combine text, interactive maps, and multi-media content. Stories can affect change, influence opinion, create awareness, or represent really cool objects from museums and where they originate from around the world. Learn more about ArcGIS Storymaps to get started.