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End of Semester Wrap Up

Some things I noticed as my time at Discovery World was coming to a close was how much they appreciate their volunteers there. Every time Kelly would come by she thanked me for giving up my time to volunteer. The work really wasn’t so bad and it was for a required class, so I don’t think I deserved it, but it felt nice to be appreciated I guess. 

Also often times when I ran the volunteer-only tank I would get guests that would be excited to see the tank open, seeing as it’s closed when no volunteers are working that day. It felt good to know people were experiencing new things thanks to me just simply opening up that specific touch-tank that day.

I guess something I learned about Discovery World's mission that I appreciate is their willingness to teach anyone. From young kids to their adults with them, Discovery World’s main goal is to teach and get people involved with science and technology. Whether its a friendly staff member or volunteer teaching guests or the exhibits themselves teaching people, Discovery World is accomplishing their goal every day in small ways.

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Research Question #5

My final research question is a simple question about Discovery World itself. I wondered how big it is compared to most science museums of the US and of the world. I actually found a picture taken at discovery world on the Wikipedia page for the round stingray, so I assume it could be kind of a big deal, at least in the US. 

I checked some of the first results for “Top science and technology museums ranked” and most lists had huge impressive museums found all over the world. While Discovery World is not anything huge and spectacular, I think it’s a well-oiled smaller organization that really pushes the involvement of kids and learning. It was on a list of top 20 science and technology museums for kids in the US, which makes sense to me seeing as it’s so kid-friendly.

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Research Question #4

One of my questions concerned The Atlantic and round stingrays we have on display. I wondered if they were the kind of stingrays that can kill with their stinger. I actually found through research that they, in almost all cases, cannot kill with their stinger. It’s mostly just a painful experience, rarely anything life-threatening. 

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Research Question #3

So on my first day, Kelly gave me a packet that covered a lot of information on the animals I would be talking about. One thing that surprised me was the usage of horseshoe crab blood under trivia for them in the packet. Apparently it’s used in the medical field to detect toxins in humans. I wanted to know more, so I did research on it.

So there is a protein in horseshoe crab blood, which, by the way, is blue in coloration, called  Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (or LAL.) The thing it can detect in humans are endotoxins which are bacteria that can be fatal to humans in some cases. The reason their blood is blue is because of a copper-based pigment in it called hemocyanin.

The way scientists harvest the blood is just collecting them from the wild and bleeding them out,often returning them to the wild after they finish. Some horseshoe crabs would die due to blood loss or even stress from the travel. This method is actually going out of style, however, as scientists have developed an easier way. They can isolate a specific enzyme found in the protein that does the same job and since then it has become manufactured. Still, it’s pretty amazing to think scientists have relied on an animal like the horseshoe crab for something so important.

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Volunteering (4/19/19)

Today I worked in the afternoon, which typically feels a lot longer than the morning shift because less people come in around the later hours and you’re mostly just sitting around. There was an event going on nearby where a handler took the python on display out of its box and answered questions while kids got to touch it. I wish I could’ve been closer, it seemed pretty cool.

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Volunteering (4/6/19)

Today was Discovery World’s egg hunt. It was fun seeing kids running around looking for eggs hidden around. There were extra volunteers in charge of hiding eggs for people to find, I met a few of them. I talked to an older woman volunteering who remembers the stingray Discovery World used to have. This stingray was blind so she was all black, because she couldn't camouflage to her surroundings. It was a really cool way to explain to people visiting how camouflaging is reliant on the stingray’s sight.

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Volunteering (3/31/19)

It was a slower day today, not as many people visiting. On days like these, it’s less of me having to yell over loud crowds and more chances for me to actually teach people a little bit about the animals we have on display.

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Research Question #2

I was wondering about lake sturgeon and whether they were an endangered species or not. On the Wikipedia page for them, they are listen under LC or least concern. However, there was a time where they were in danger of being eliminated. 

In the mid1800s they were seen as a nuisance to fishermen because they would damage fishing gear. After killing them, they were used as fertilizer, fed to pigs, burned, dumped back into the lake, and even used as fuel for steamboats. Pretty much anywhere people could dump these fish they would. It was not until the late 1800s and early 1900s that their their meat and eggs became something to be sought after. Then, they were over fished to hell. 

Since their reproductive cycle takes a long time, seeing as females have a long adolescent life cycle and live for up to 150 years, it has taken them a long time to recover from that boom in the fishing industry.

It was largely due to the collaboration of Native Americans, like the Ottawa Indians in Michigan and some tribes in Wisconsin, and biologists in the US that the push for restoring this species in the great lakes really started. In 2001 they began documenting lake sturgeon’s spawning cycle and life cycle, which has helped to better understand and preserve the species. Today, recreational fishing of lake sturgeon is monitored and limited to certain seasons.

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Overview of Discovery World

Discovery World is a science and technology center in Milwaukee, right on the lake. Due to their location, they strive to teach about education others about the Great Lakes and working to preserve them. 

It was founded by Robert Powrie Harland, Sr. as the Science, Economics and Technology Center around 1981. It was originally a part of the Milwaukee Public Library and has since expanded into having its own building today. 

Discovery World is a non-profit organization that revives no public funding. It is largely kept running from donations from a lot of local donors.

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Volunteering (3/24/19)

A kid, no older than seven, told me he knew one of the lobsters in the touch tanks was hungry and asked me when they were going to be fed. I’m still wondering if he was just being a kid or if he really knew what that lobster was thinking SOMEHOW.

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Volunteering (3/17/19)

I  worked by the sturgeon tank today. Sturgeon’s are really cool animals because, like horseshoe crabs, they have been around on the Earth for a super long time and have not changed a whole lot over the years. I got a couple of questions from people visiting about them I actually couldn’t answer based on my knowledge gained from the packet I received about the animals. I googled a lot of these questions and discovered some stuff I did not previously know about a cool species!

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Research question...

Working at Discovery World, a lot of children and adults alike ask me questions about the animals on display. Kelly, when she first showed me around on my first day, said I may get a lot of questions I might not be able to answer and it was okay to reply “I don’t know” and possibly do research on it later.

Children ask a lot of simple questions like “will it bite?” or “what do they eat?”, things that I have read about in the packet Discovery World gives touch tank volunteers to study. One woman asked me one day if the lake sturgeon in the tanks were the type of sturgeon caviar was harvested from. I actually had no idea that caviar came from sturgeon, so that question vexed me. I also felt bad for the sturgeon, having to hear that question about humans eating their eggs.

After briefly looking it up I discovered that yes, caviar is eggs of certain types of sturgeon, but not the lake sturgeon we have on display. Caviar is harvested mainly from the beluga, osetra and sevruga species. I sated my curiosity, but I began to think more about it. Caviar is an expensive delicacy, so I wondered about whether it was harmful to the species as a whole or if it was harvested safely.

I did some reading and found that sturgeon are mostly killed to harvest caviar, but people are actually working towards harvesting caviar without killing the fish, which may make it more abundant and affordable in the future

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Volunteering day 3 (3/16/19)

I’ve noticed, after being stationed at the horseshoe crab tank again, that so many people mistake them for stingrays. I have to explain repeatedly that these are horseshoe crabs and stingrays are in the other tank. Many people see the horseshoe crab’s tail and instantly think it is something that can hurt them. A little misconception or ignorance can go a long way.

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Volunteering day 2 (3/12/19)

The next day I worked was my first “official” day working. Since there was a volunteer stationed at the sturgeon and stingray tank, I stationed myself at the horseshoe crab and slipper lobster tank. That tank is actually solely volunteer run; where there is a staff member and a volunteer at the sturgeon & stingray tank, there is only a volunteer at the other. 

There was an older man who spoke English as a second language (I believe he was French) who came by the tank I was stationed at. I explained to him that he could touch the animals in the tank (gently, of course) and he did... at first. He attempted to grab one of the horseshoe crabs from underneath and flip it over, so I politely intervened saying to only touch them from the top! This is because he could potentially harm the animal and the animal can potentially harm him, with its pinching claws underneath the shell. The horseshoe crab looked a little messed up at first, but straightened itself out after. The man was polite and thanked me afterwards. I honestly expected the first person to lift one of the animals from the tanks (a no-no at the touch tanks) to be a child, but to my surprise it was a grown man!

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Volunteering day 1 (3/8/19)

My first day was orientation. I arrived and was shown around the whole museum by Kelly. I learned the duties of a volunteer at the touch tanks from Julien, who is also in our class :^) My first day I spent mostly learning to interact with the kids who visit the touch tanks and learning about the animals Discovery World has on display. I learned about the lake sturgeon, stingrays, horseshoe crabs, and the slipper lobsters all at the touch tanks.

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Volunteering at Discovery World

So as things worked out, my two options (MPL and Charles Allis art museum) were full and couldn’t accept me volunteering there, I turned to Discovery World which was my third option. Fortunately, Discovery World is always accepting new volunteers because they depend on them for lots of things there. 

I chose to work at the touch tanks because I have a strong love for all animals, even fish, and was excited at the prospect of working with them. I also appreciate museums that allow its patrons to interact with the wildlife on display; it makes it easier to teach kids and adults about wildlife when they can directly interact with it.

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My own personal mission statement: Take risks, be creative, and respect others who do the same