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Description
Option #2: Museum displays
I visited the Rochester Museum and Science Center about thirty minutes away. It’s a one-building museum, but has four floors, including the basement/ground floor mezzanine cafe. The first floor has the Adventure Zone that has a simulation ride, a play tunnel system, weather simulator, small rock wall, amongst other things. The second floor contains the historical exhibits such as the Native Americans of New York and the ‘Underground Railroad’. It also has a section for a travelling exhibit. The third floor contains the more interactive and science exhibits such as the ‘Electricity Theatre’, ‘Exhibition Earth’, ‘K’Nex’ and ‘How Things Work’. I only had time to visit floor two so I won’t describe the other floors in as much detail.

The second floor has the exhibition ‘At the Western Door’ which is located on either side of the floor. The first side relates mainly to the relationship between the Seneca and Haudenosaunee Indians and the Europeans. It is fairly organized in the respect that it sticks to this general subject. Otherwise, the exhibition tends to jump around a bit from category to category (one moment you are reading about food and hunting, the next it’s about clothing and jewelry or tools of warfare), although the setup does encourage you to move forward and, by the time you reach the end, you have heard the story that is being told.

The other side of the floor is a bit more scattered. It is set up in a sort of maze which makes it easy to miss a few things. There is also a random kaleidoscope on this floor that appears to be more appropriate to the science floor, as opposed to the floor relating more to history of people, not technology. The windows are set up well (the dioramas are absolutely stunning), although still sketchy as one window will have a fair amount of information about little pieces such as fishing hooks or carbonized corn and their uses, and the next will have nothing but a note stating what the object is, sometimes not even that much. This side of the floor also jumps from exhibit to exhibit quite suddenly. The signs for each exhibit are hung from the ceiling, and so, are not entirely noticeable, which means that you don’t tend to realize you are moving from one exhibit to a completely unrelated one. The way the room is designed causes some confusion. From where the door is located you are lead straight forward instead of to the left where the rest of the Native American Exhibit is located. So you tend to start with the Native Americans, move into the Underground Railroad, pass through one about Guatemala (cannot remember the full name of this exhibit) and another seemingly random exhibit and then come around full circle to finish the Native American exhibit. Although the final section is the part which contains the larger artifacts (clothing and woodcarvings) and the dioramas, whereas the section you start with has the smaller objects (sherds and food), it is still confusing and unusual to be split down the middle of viewing this section with unrelated subjects. In all though, you tend to see all of each exhibit and come out with quite a bit of information. Some of the windows even have buttons you press which narrate a story, some of which are taken from diaries of real life people.

As for the audience this museum is aimed at, the first floor of the museum, with the Adventure Zone, tends to be aimed more towards children as it consists of mainly games and activities. The third floor, outside of the Exhibition Earth exhibit which tends to appeal to both children and adults almost equally, is aimed more at children as well. The second floor, on the other hand, is more for the adults, aside from a few life-sized replicas such as a cabin, rowboat and a sort of hollowed out tree trunk with an ‘opening’ at the top where you can view the ‘constellations’. This floor is less interactive in terms of things to actually do, outside of reading the descriptions and viewing each window, and is more history oriented than hands-on.

I would recommend this museum to others. It is very interactive and aimed at all ages, covering the past and present equally, in many different ways. The history of New York state is explained, but so are weather, technology and science just as the name of the museum signifies. I would advise those more interested in history to visit the second floor. Those who are interested in Weather and Geology would be best led to Exhibition Earth (adults and children) and the Adventure Zone (mostly children) on the first and third floors. Children also enjoy the highly interactive exhibits located on the third floor, (‘Energize It!’, ‘Keva Planks’ ‘How Things Work’ and ‘K’Nex’) and, of course, everyone should visit the gift shop, and the mezzanine if hungry. The Planetarium, located right next door to the RMSC, and the Electricity Theatre within the museum itself are highly recommended if you wish to view a show that will stick with you and entertain your dreams for weeks to come.

Description
Option #2: Museum displays
I visited the Rochester Museum and Science Center about thirty minutes away. It’s a one-building museum, but has four floors, including the basement/ground floor mezzanine cafe. The first floor has the Adventure Zone that has a simulation ride, a play tunnel system, weather simulator, small rock wall, amongst other things. The second floor contains the historical exhibits such as the Native Americans of New York and the ‘Underground Railroad’. It also has a section for a travelling exhibit. The third floor contains the more interactive and science exhibits such as the ‘Electricity Theatre’, ‘Exhibition Earth’, ‘K’Nex’ and ‘How Things Work’. I only had time to visit floor two so I won’t describe the other floors in as much detail.

The second floor has the exhibition ‘At the Western Door’ which is located on either side of the floor. The first side relates mainly to the relationship between the Seneca and Haudenosaunee Indians and the Europeans. It is fairly organized in the respect that it sticks to this general subject. Otherwise, the exhibition tends to jump around a bit from category to category (one moment you are reading about food and hunting, the next it’s about clothing and jewelry or tools of warfare), although the setup does encourage you to move forward and, by the time you reach the end, you have heard the story that is being told.

The other side of the floor is a bit more scattered. It is set up in a sort of maze which makes it easy to miss a few things. There is also a random kaleidoscope on this floor that appears to be more appropriate to the science floor, as opposed to the floor relating more to history of people, not technology. The windows are set up well (the dioramas are absolutely stunning), although still sketchy as one window will have a fair amount of information about little pieces such as fishing hooks or carbonized corn and their uses, and the next will have nothing but a note stating what the object is, sometimes not even that much. This side of the floor also jumps from exhibit to exhibit quite suddenly. The signs for each exhibit are hung from the ceiling, and so, are not entirely noticeable, which means that you don’t tend to realize you are moving from one exhibit to a completely unrelated one. The way the room is designed causes some confusion. From where the door is located you are lead straight forward instead of to the left where the rest of the Native American Exhibit is located. So you tend to start with the Native Americans, move into the Underground Railroad, pass through one about Guatemala (cannot remember the full name of this exhibit) and another seemingly random exhibit and then come around full circle to finish the Native American exhibit. Although the final section is the part which contains the larger artifacts (clothing and woodcarvings) and the dioramas, whereas the section you start with has the smaller objects (sherds and food), it is still confusing and unusual to be split down the middle of viewing this section with unrelated subjects. In all though, you tend to see all of each exhibit and come out with quite a bit of information. Some of the windows even have buttons you press which narrate a story, some of which are taken from diaries of real life people.

As for the audience this museum is aimed at, the first floor of the museum, with the Adventure Zone, tends to be aimed more towards children as it consists of mainly games and activities. The third floor, outside of the Exhibition Earth exhibit which tends to appeal to both children and adults almost equally, is aimed more at children as well. The second floor, on the other hand, is more for the adults, aside from a few life-sized replicas such as a cabin, rowboat and a sort of hollowed out tree trunk with an ‘opening’ at the top where you can view the ‘constellations’. This floor is less interactive in terms of things to actually do, outside of reading the descriptions and viewing each window, and is more history oriented than hands-on.

I would recommend this museum to others. It is very interactive and aimed at all ages, covering the past and present equally, in many different ways. The history of New York state is explained, but so are weather, technology and science just as the name of the museum signifies. I would advise those more interested in history to visit the second floor. Those who are interested in Weather and Geology would be best led to Exhibition Earth (adults and children) and the Adventure Zone (mostly children) on the first and third floors. Children also enjoy the highly interactive exhibits located on the third floor, (‘Energize It!’, ‘Keva Planks’ ‘How Things Work’ and ‘K’Nex’) and, of course, everyone should visit the gift shop, and the mezzanine if hungry. The Planetarium, located right next door to the RMSC, and the Electricity Theatre within the museum itself are highly recommended if you wish to view a show that will stick with you and entertain your dreams for weeks to come.