I had never been to the museum of the Earth before and was not sure what to expect. When we got there, our guide gave us each a fossil so that we could be a part of the journey. As we went from exhibit to exhibit, she collected the fossils that had gone extinct. I had a brachiopod which is the picture of the fossil in my hand. I did not make it vary far, in fact I made it through only three exhibits before my fossil was sadly taken away. Throughout the tour I found it fascinating to see which species appeared and disappeared. The part that I found the most interesting was the very last exhibit which featured a large Mastodon skeleton which was nearly complete. I found this to be the most interesting as we were able to see what coexisted with the earliest human beings.

Another piece of information I found interesting was that the clams survived the longest.  When they first appeared, they were very large, much different from the common clams we know and eat today. There was also a piece of petrified wood that I found quite beautiful. Overall, it was interesting to see what species became extinct and when. It was also interesting to see the giant Whale skeleton hanging in the building. It’s size was overwhelming.

Last Saturday, I took a trip with the Rose Scholars to see the Museum of the Earth, located just close to Cayuga Medical Center. To be honest, I had no idea that this place existed, but it was a small little treasure trove of information in the outskirts of Ithaca. The museum was created by Cornell Professor Gilbert Harris in 1932, originally founded as the Paleontological Research Institution as a place to further research and learning in paleontology. Over the years, it’s been open to the public as a museum, and especially is very kid friendly.

Our tour guide took us through an overview of the historical eras — about 4.6 billion years’ worth. To keep things interesting, she handed each of us a small fossil and by the end of the tour, each of us would get to figure out if we survived or not (I kind of figured that my dinosaur bone would not be here today).

My favorite part of the trip was being able to see many of the dioramas and figures that were transported from the Smithsonian Institute. Once we had reached the Jurassic era (and my dinosaur bone was rendered extinct after the mass extinction), we saw a large figure of a Stegosaurus made in 1904 out of paper mache. I loved this not because of the authenticity of it (because I wouldn’t be the one to know what a dinosaur looks like), but because of the creativity that went into making it. 

I also loved the dioramas of some of the early marine life in the Silurian Sea, dating from about 410 to 430 million years ago. These were also transported from the Smithsonian.

I had no idea that Ithaca housed a well known museum home to one of the largest fossil collections in the world.  I love museums and I can’t believe I didn’t know about this sooner but I’m so glad I got the chance to explore this amazing place.

I loved the tour we were given and how she made it so personal to all of us.  I was handed the fossil of a trilobite and sadly soon found out that I did not survive the 2nd mass extinction.  It was definitely awesome that she let us handle a tiny fossil and made the experience personal and more interactive.

My favorite fossil was the one of the Hyde Park Mastodon, which is one of the most complete mastodon fossils in the world.  I believe our tour guide said it is nearly 98% complete with just a few missing toe bones.  It was amazing to be able to see a complete fossil like that in person.  There was also a replica of the ancestors of the sharks and I have to say that I would never go near the ocean if I knew things like that still swam in its depths.

My only complaint is that I didn’t have enough time to go explore everything in that museum but I’ll be sure to go back sometime in the future!

Last Saturday, I and other Rose Scholars had the opportunity to tour Museum of the Earth. I had a wonderful time learning about the Earth and the many species that have inhabited it. It reminded me that an innumerable number of organisms lived on Earth before us and that many more will be here after we are gone. As a child, I wanted to become an archaeologist after watching The Land Before Time because I was curious about what life was like before humans existed. I also lived in Washington D.C. when I was in elementary school and frequently visited the Smithsonian museums during weekends, which piqued my interest in dinosaurs and extinct/endangered animals.

During the tour, I learned that the cooling of the Earth’s climate was associated with widespread glaciation in the Southern Hemisphere. This cooling caused the first mass extinction about 400 million years ago, killing many marine organisms.

I also enjoyed looking at fossils of different phyla and replications of dinosaurs:

Another exhibit I found fascinating was this:

It is a block of ice that we might have seen at the exact spot 14,500 years ago. When I touched the ice, I was surprised that it was cold. I really wanted to know how the museum keeps it refrigerated.

Overall, I really enjoyed this excursion to the museum! This museum is a historical gem for Ithaca. I learned a lot and also connected with some Rose Scholars. This was a great way to start out my Saturday.

This past weekend I attended a tour of the museum of Earth. It was my first time there, and I thought it was really cool. They had a bunch of large bones that were very impressive to see. One of the coolest things they showed was a bunch of dioramas that showed the evolution of animals. It was neat to hear that they had one of the best collections of them, and it clearly showed. In order to make the talk more interesting, we were each provided out own fossil. Mine can be found below, I apologize it is rotated, i’m not the best with this website.

The ‘coolest’ thing I found was the below image. It was an exhibit about the change in the average temperature throughout the history of earth. The bittersweet part was that when dinosaurs roamed, the temperature was 80 degrees F. I sure wish that was the same case today!

Today I discovered a gem in Ithaca: Museum of the Earth. This was my first time at the museum, I was impressed with the abundance of exhibition and quality of the facility. The rose scholars received a geologic time tour of the museum. To make things interesting, the tour guide gave each of us a fossil to follow during the tour. I received a brachiopod fossil, shown below.

It looks similar to a clam at first, but the shell symmetry is different when closely observed. I learned that the Phylum Brachiopoda existed over 500 million years ago. Considering that Homo Sapiens have appeared on Earth only about 5 million years ago, it’s clear that the brachiopods have a much longer history. Although they were very abundant in prehistoric periods, they now reside mainly in deep or cold water, away from larger predators.

I recognized some of the scientific names because I studied the taxonomy extensively during my biology class. Anyone else remember the mnemonic Dumb Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Sand? (Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) It was fun to connect what I learned from textbooks to actual fossils on display. When studying them, I often wondered why scientists came up with so many difficult to memorize names, but when I actually see the diverse shapes and uniqueness of each specie, I can understand why taxonomy has developed to be so complex. The tour gave me a better sense of what species appeared and went extinct over the broad time period. I hope that future discoveries can fill in the gaps and expand our understanding of the fascinating history of the Earth.

At first, when I heard that we were going on a tour of the Museum of the Earth, I was a little disappointed. I’m someone who usually likes trying everything out myself and just exploring on my own time. But in the end, I’m actually glad we were given a tour of the museum. The tour leader was an enthusiastic woman who brought us on an incredible journey through time by using a fun activity to simulate natural selection.

Learning about the Earth’s history always astounds me, primarily in two ways. Firstly, the fact that we have obtained so much knowledge about the world. The fact that we have managed to learn so much about events that happened millions, even hundreds of millions of years ago blows my mind. I mean, I can’t even remember what I ate for dinner yesterday. The fact that we can know that a specific brachiopod came out of central NY however many million years ago or that it averaged 80 degrees in Ithaca 350 million years ago is so crazy to me.

The exhibits were cool, and information was interesting, but what I took away was really the sense of humbleness and the magnitude of spacetime and Earth’s history. Today’s event just reminded me again about how small we are and how short are lives are in the grand scheme of things, and it gave me a sense of peace to think about how even when bad things happen to us, when you think about it in the scope of Earth’s history, it’s not as significant as it seems at the time. I’m hoping I’ll be able to remember to carry that sense of peace with me throughout college, because it’s a lesson I often forget as I get bogged down with the weight of stress and tests and getting through school.