Hope you had a “Gneiss” Weekend!
Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing long weekend. I hope it was relaxing! I spent part of my weekend at the museum helping out with earth science weekend, and it seemed as though many of you were there too. I thought it was a great turn out and I’m thankful for all those who came out for a visit. If you missed this weekend, don’t worry we still have a few more themed weekends.
We had some fantastic activities running; we were making our own rocket, starting our own rock collections, we got to touch a piece of outer space, and (my personal favourite) walk on the moon. For those who came out, did you notice that we also tried to fit the whole solar system into our first floor? We started by using the centre of the old main entrance as the point for where our sun would be and proceeded to place all the planets at their proportional distances. Neptune ended in the China gallery! Walking back and forth and setting up was definitely a workout.
With this scale, did you know that if we were to include Pluto, it would have had to be placed outside of the museum out in the back?! Imagine setting up for that! (Jokes aside, Pluto, you’ll always be considered a planet to me). We also had this great puzzle where we could create our own constellations and our very own ROM made tectonic plate/ Pangaea puzzle (thanks to Chris for the time and effort, it was brilliant).
Overall I thought everyone had a great time, whether it was setting up or doing the activities, and I hope you agree too! Now that the break is done, time to start up on the next weekend. Stay tuned to see what we have planned next….
MORE ON EARTH SCIENCES WEEKEND!
Learn about the planets and check out our scale model of the solar system today at the museum! twitter.com/ROMKids/status…
— Kiron/ROMKids (@ROMKids)
only 85 rare palisite meteorites found on Earth and we have one you can touch! @romtoronto Earth Sciences Weekend, Sun & Mon.
— Lorie Pierce (@CreativeLorie)
Today: I’ll be teaching kids how to hunt meteorites! Drop by @cpsxnews booth at the ROM. @romkids @westernu @csa_asc twitter.com/MarianneMader/…
— Marianne Mader (@MarianneMader)
Everyone is building their own rock and mineral collections @romtoronto Earth and Space weekend twitter.com/geokatgirl/sta…
— Katherine Dunnell (@geokatgirl)
Getting ready for our noon starlab show! Starring @romtoronto’s Bethany, w/ a guest appearance from @cbctoronto! twitter.com/ROMKids/status…
— Kiron/ROMKids (@ROMKids)
Rocks from space! @cpsxnews booth at ROM with Lisa Cupelli& @mariannemader @romkids #westernu twitter.com/MarianneMader/… twitter.com/CPSXnews/statu…
— CPSX (@CPSXnews)
We came for the conservation display, but got pleasantly distracted by the @cpsxnews astro folks & Egypt tour. Too much here @romtoronto #fb
— JustinTrottier (@JustinTrottier)
… and check out this awesome photo set from one family’s visit HERE!
Rachel is currently finishing up her Education degree from Trent University by completing her intership with ROMKids. With her background in Archaeology and Education, she is all prepared for her eventual time travel experiences. Check her posts HERE.
RIGHT NOW at the Royal Ontario Museum, you can walk on the Moon!
A piece of the moon brought down during one of the Apollo missions, is now on display at the Museum. It’s been put in a wonderful platform for you to walk on.
So you can tell your all your friends you’re one of the few to have ever walked on the moon. #the wittiest thing we’ve ever done
Remember! We also have the Moon on display year around, as well as meteorites from Mars!
“ROCK” on at the ROM
It has been the second week of working with ROMKids, and I am extremely excited for this coming weekend.
We have been busy planning for our Earth Science themed Weekend! The ROM is very well known for their collection of World History, but the Natural Science Galleries of the ROM is just as extensive! Don’t’ just take my word, come out and see for yourself.
This week I learned that at the Royal Ontario Museum, Earth Science is not just limited to the Science related to the earth (yes I know that part seems obvious, but please bear with me…) but it is also related to outer space as well (mind blowing isn’t it? Outer space is considered to be part of Earth Science… EARTH Science). With that being said, I have helped plan a variety of fun activities, that are part and off this planet. I also found out that the ROM has pieces of the moon on display! I have to admit, I don’t know where they are, but I’ve made it my goal to find out this weekend (Spolier, I found them! See the photo above!). Who knew we could see something so cool, so close to home?
We have some more work to complete before we’re all set for this weekend. But I guarantee that this weekend is going to be OUT OF THIS WORLD!
I hope to see you all at Earth Science Weekend 2013!
Find out more information on Earth Sciences Weekend HERE!
Rachel is currently finishing up her Education degree from Trent University by completing her intership with ROMKids. With her background in Archaeology and Education, she is all prepared for her eventual time travel experiences. Check her posts HERE.
A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHRIS HADFIELD’S GIFT TO EDUCATION, COMMUNICATION & ACCESSIBILITY
You know my love for Chris Hadfield. You can see my first post about him here, “Reasons for Chris Hadfield”.
In my opinion, he is the embodiment of the modern scientist. Someone who is not only a researcher, but a tentpole around which we can build science accessibility and education.
He went up an scientist, but he’s seemingly returned to Earth an icon of education and communication, of which the world has rarely seen.
I honestly don’t even know how I can even go to bed now without a “Tonight’s Finale” photo from Chris of the world.
And with that I want to thank Chris deeply for all that he’s given to us.
I want to also send two special shout outs
- To his son, Evan Hadfield, for coordinating all these efforts, and making it possible for us to talk to an astronaut. Up in space. Forever far away, but seemingly closer than most scientists I’ve ever met. Thank you for making this a possibility.
- To the Canadian Space Agency, who I could not appreciate more. Exploration of space is not just about discovering the the final fronter, but about realizing what we as humans are fully capable of. Thank you for helping us all experience this.
MEDIA
- Above is Chris’ “Space Oddity” cover video which is INSTANTLY the greatest video ever made.
- Below is Chris talking about Social Media, something we all know and love.
- And HERE is a great article from the CBC on Chris, Evan and the Canadian Space Agency exploration of Social Media in space, and their plans for the future.
“Early Life” of My ROM Internship
Hi! I’m Rachel, and I’m a Teacher Candidate studying at Trent University. Back in the day, I used to volunteer with the ROM Summer Club and I had a fantastic experience. When I had to leave I couldn’t get the ROM out of my head, so when I was presented with an opportunity to complete my internship at the ROM, I couldn’t say no! This opportunity will not only let me continue working with children, but will also allow me to explore different types of jobs that I could branch out to (hint: I’m currently looking for a job, so if you’re interested let’s talk).
This week was the first of my 4 week internship, and this first week was action packed! After being introduced to the crew (shout out to Kiron, Chris and Suzanne) and being given a tour of the museum (before opening hours I might add), I had the opportunity to help out with creating the activities for Family Fun Weekends. This week’s theme: Early Life.
My tasks leading up to the weekend included painting a mural and creating the crafts for the children to come in to use as an example. I haven’t touched paints since my elementary school days, so when I was given the task to paint I was worried I would make something that was not presentable to the public. Luckily that didn’t happen, and it turned out better than I thought (everyone was very nice about it too).
Interesting facts I’ve learnt this week that I’d like to share.
- Here are some of the prehistoric animals that lived before the dinosaurs: Trilobite, Eurypterid and Anomalocaris.
- The Trilobite has its name because it’s made of 3 parts
- the Eurypterid is also known as the sea scorpion
- and the Anomalocaris was the length of your arm.
Though these are not as famous as some of the other creatures that have lived (I’m looking at you dinos), they are just as interesting and important to learn about.
I’m used to seeing the how the museum works as someone who visits on a weekly basis. But the next weeks will open my eyes to see how the museum works behind the scene. I sure hope these weeks don’t go by as fast as this first week did.
Rachel is currently finishing up her Education degree from Trent University by completing her intership with ROMKids. With her background in Archaeology and Education, she is all prepared for her eventual time travel experiences
To get ready for Early Life Weekend, I took a trip up to the Royal Ontario Museum’s palaeontology department and hung out with Dave Rudkin.
DAVE RUDKIN
Dave Rudkin is the Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at the ROM and a truly great guy. Dave’s been busy preparing for the Gallery of Early Life, a permanent gallery opening in 2014, but he still found time to show me around the invertebrate palaeontology collections.
What I like most about Dave is that he always has time to support children’s programming, whether it’s to lend a few objects for a weekend, or just chat about palaeontology. His energy is infectious and he loves trilobites SO MUCH.
VERTEBRATE PALAEONTOLOGY
As all y’all know, I LOVE dinosaurs, and have spent a ton of time up in vertebrate palaeontology collection (of which you can see a few photos of here), but I’ve have had merely a glimpse of the workings of the invertebrate side.
This photo set features all sorts of animals from BEFORE the dinosaurs, the time when life first evolved on Earth. The ROM is a world leader in research on first life, specifically from the Burgess Shale site, so we have an absolutely PACKED collections room full of prehistoric treasures.
This weekend (May 4/5) at the Royal Ontario Museum is Early Life Weekend! We’ll be showcasing some severely underrated fossils from the time BEFORE dinosaurs, when life first evolved!
This is all in an effort to promote our next big permanent gallery, the Gallery of Early Life, which opens in 2014, in time for the ROM’s 100 year anniversary!
THE EARLY LIFE WEEKEND PROGRAM LINEUP!
- ROM palaeontologists Cédric Aria and Lorna O’Brien will be out this weekend to talk to you about palaeontology, their research and the Burgess Shale!
- We’ll have touch tables showcasing fossils from the incredible Burgess Shale.
- We’ll even have a sneak peek at a few fossils that will be installed in the Gallery of Early Life!
- We’ll have daily showings of Sir David Attenborough’s incredible documentary ‘First Life’!
- For all the families out there, we’ll also have some Burgess Shale inspired puppets for the kids to make, costumes, puzzles, murals and more.
- The Dino Lounge also makes a return for all those families with kids under 5!
- And let’s be real, you can’t do a palaeontology themed weekend and not talk about dinosaurs and the ice age. We’ve brought out some very special objects from the vaults to show off at our touch tables!
- All this and MORE this weekend!
- And remember folks, special activities run from 11 to 3!
- Meet Jean-Bernard Caron, Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology at the ROM, mastermind behind our upcoming Gallery of Early Life, and a world leader in the field. Toronto’s Grid newspaper recently listed him as one Toronto’s 10 best young big thinkers!
- Learn more about the Burgess Shale HERE:
-ROM Burgess Shale Projects
-The Burgess Shale: Evolution’s Big Bang
-Re-examining the Burgess Shale - And check out this great video on the Burgess Shale hosted by Jean-Bernard himself!
- Learn more about the upcoming Gallery of Early Life HERE.
- Though we’re running the documentary ‘First Life’ throughout the weekend, you may want to watch it in advance. It’s an incredible film, hosted by the LEGENDARY Sir David Attenborough, and features a guest appearance from Jean-Bernard! Check out THIS blog on the ROM’s research featured in the doc.
- Check out our Burgess Shale website, built with Parks Canada HERE. It’s a fabulous resource full of images, videos and all sorts of content!
See you this weekend!
SSSSsss… c-CAW! RrAwr! GIRAFFE!
(an animal story)
I used to walk through the halls of my high school (yes, high school - I don’t know what was wrong with me either) making animal noises. Not the normal ones like “moo” and “oink”, but the more obscure ones (I guess it’s the hipster in me). For instance,
my impression of the Komodo dragon had a sort of snake and bark sound,
and the giraffe, since I had no idea what sound they make (do you?) was just, “giraffe, giraffe!”.
I pretty much made the sounds up as I went along.
I guess it’s weird that I did this in my teenage years, since unabashedly making animal sounds is definitely a fun aspect of every kid I’ve ever encountered. But, the call of the wild never really left me. I remember I taught a 5 year old group at Saturday Morning Club once called Animal Alphabet. Every week as we walked through the galleries, we would make the sounds of the animals we saw in the cases. It would start pretty calmly
… stalking past the tiger, we would “purrrr”;
…tiptoeing passed the snakes, we would all speak in parseltongue;
…flapping past the birds, we’d sing.
In the end, the kids abandoned the idea of mimicking different animals and decided all they wanted to do was roar since it was the most fun – even when we passed the giant squid, though it did evoke a few “ooh”s and “aaah”s.
Pretending to be an animal is so liberating. It allows you to fully embrace your imagination and become something new entirely. You can fly like the albatross, jump like a cricket, even nap like cat. I love how kids can snap into such imaginative roles and really run with it.
NOTES
FINAL POST from “Wesley Goes To The Museum: Ends/Cycles
As a history student, it pains me to write this last blog entry. History, to me is ongoing; for as long as the universe is in existence, history is unfolding. So for me to bring closure to this blog and to make it finite gives me a sad feeling.
These last few days at the ROM were spent on organizing shelves, more resource collection, working on the photo tour, and shadowing instructors at the ROM. I followed Gayle Gibson, internationally renowned Egyptologist for one class. I was amazed to see her pick up an artifact and start to talk about it effortlessly. Thank you Gayle!
The ROM is often overlooked, bypassed by university students rushing to their classes or by businessmen/women having lunch in ritzy Yorkville. History forms the roots from which the present is grown. This is something that should not be taken lightly. I’m only 23 but I’m already starting to see how cyclical history is. Politics, music, movies especially are repeating history. The Star Wars franchise is coming out with another film, almost 40 years after the release of the first Star Wars movie. Prequels and sequels to movies that did well years ago are being produced ad nauseum. Yet it’s not often one finds teenagers looking at this history, and the many parallels that run through time. As a teacher and student of history, I don’t want to stand for this, and I hope that I can change this trend with students of my own.
I truly appreciate the opportunity I’ve had here at the ROM. Three weeks have come and gone far too quickly and I have had the chance to meet many great people in this short time. As I return to Kingston for my last month of school, I must bid farewell for now. I never thought I would come back to the ROM as more than just a visitor, but then again I never thought I’d go to Queen’s either. It’s all a part of the ups and downs of life and the cycles of our histories.
As part of his placement, Wesley will be blogging his adventures with our special feature “Wesley goes to the Museum”! He’ll also lead our initiative to digitize and blog our campers work from Museum 101.
Thank You, and Last Museum 101 Thoughts
Thank you to the Royal Ontario Museum for an awesome March Break Camp! The Museum 101ers had a blast during the week and were treated to wonderful speakers and gained further insight in their favourite exhibits. The Museum 101 instructor, Sudharshan was a wealth of knowledge for the students, and they enjoyed his teaching enormously. Assistant Sandra, and Volunteer Katie were great people to work with, and the students enjoyed having them there. They are also aspiring teachers itching to get into the education system. I can definitely see them as model educators in the near future, and I am sure any 101er reading this blog will agree with me 101%.
As the first group of its kind, the students of Museum 101 were given a high priority. I had the privilege of conducting a very frank and open discussion with the group regarding the ROM. They shared with me their likes, dislikes, and offered their view on what to change about the 99-year old institution.
They really loved the content and the number of exhibits here, they enjoy the wide spectrum of exhibits and artifacts on display.Conversely, they would like to see a greater WiFi presence in the museum so that they can tweet live at the ROM or check in on Facebook.
I would say Museum 101 was a huge success. The students of Museum 101 came to the ROM as your ordinary high school students. But throughout the week they formed a social cohesion that cannot be matched elsewhere. The ROM’s slogan is “engage the world”. By Friday, they left the ROM as a group of individuals, willing to venture back out into the world with a greater, fuller understanding of not only their peers, but their history.
Post by our ROMKids intern, Wesley.
See what else Museum 101 got up to this March Break at the Museum HERE.
Thoughts on our children's programming at the Royal Ontario Museum, as well as science, natural history, art and more! Commentary and photos (unless otherwise noted) by our Coordinator, Kiron Mukherjee.
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