By MacKenzie Coffman
Medill Reports

Stepping into the Field Museum’s new exhibit “Jurassic Oceans,” visitors won’t need to fear that dinosaurs will come to life.

“Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep” is open through Sept. 5, and looks and feels like a traditional museum exhibit upon entering the space. On loan from the London Natural History Museum, the exhibit winds up and down the dimly lit corridors. Yet, it’s filled with interactive pieces that allow guests to learn in ways they simply can’t online or even in conventional exhibits.

Meet the ichthyosaur, or “fish lizard” in ancient Greek. This dolphinlike marine reptile greets visitors entering the exhibit. Although they could grow to be almost the size of a blue whale, this cast of the former apex predator just shows guests the scale of its head.

“When we think about (our exhibitions), we think about them as experiences,” said Emily Parr, an exhibitions project manager at the Field. “So it’s not just the place to come to get facts about the Jurassic ocean, but it’s a chance to learn in a whole new way beyond just reading on Wikipedia.”

Until a few decades ago, visitors went to dramatic but much more static exhibits and typically had to rely on other resources to continue exploring. Now, the Field Museum and most other museums have taken on the need to be a resource even before guests arrive and after they have left the building. Yet, this poses a challenge to the museums — the Field relies on ticket sales, so if they give the public too much, then what’s left to draw them in?

The immersive, interactive exhibit is the answer.

“Science, in particular, lends itself to a very kind of tactile experience. So sometimes with concepts and biological science, you need to have hands-on experience,” said Jason Foster, a biology teacher at Evanston Township High School. “You’re limited just by having a two-dimensional experience on a screen.”

The Field Museum has incorporated interactivity in unique ways for many exhibitions. Most notably, their exhibit “Wild Color” incorporated smell into the experience; however, that function was taken away due to COVID-19 and masking requirements.

Since “Jurassic Oceans” is on loan, there is less flexibility in determining what kinds of interactive experiences are available. Still, the Natural History Museum of London, where the exhibit was created, included many casts of fossils and replicas of ancient dinosaur skins speckled through the show for guests to touch. Beyond just seeing the size of ancient creatures, hearing what the environment was like and touching the fossils offer a unique interactive experience that’s impervious to becoming outdated in the way other types of digital interactive experiences do.

Jane Healy, a science teacher at St. Francis de Sales High School, has taken students on field trips to the Field Museum almost every year since 1993 — as have legions of other teachers in the Chicago area. She’s a huge advocate for the museum and has converted many of her students into fans as well. Frequently, her students had never been to the museum before going on a field trip with her. But after learning about how to get free passes from their local libraries, they make sure to go back.

She took her students on her latest field trip to the Field during the first week of March. As much as she loves taking them, it’s difficult even when there isn’t a pandemic because, as she put it, “buses cost a flaming gob of money.”

In her time corralling students through the museum’s halls, Healy has changed how she wants them to experience the Field. She used to give her students packets to complete to verify they were learning. Now, she asks her students to be present in the museum so they can find moments of awe. For some of her students, this feeling took place a week before their class trip when a small group got to see the opening of “Jurassic Oceans.” Walking around the blue winding halls, some were especially impressed with the size of the plesiosaur, the long-necked marine reptile that lived around 200 million years ago and grew to be between 15 and 50 feet long.

This feeling of awe is not unique to visitors. Even Parr mentioned she was blown away by the collection, particularly with the leedsichthys tail, which she eventually saw in person after planning the exhibition.

“I had seen it on spreadsheets and things coming in, but the scale was surprising, even to me, having seen the measurements and the drawings,” Parr said.

To create that feeling, Field Museum workers curate stories around their collection so it isn’t just a “room full of stuff,” as Parr said. Plus, visitors can actually watch researchers working. Since they’re behind glass, this may resemble a zoo exhibit on first glance. But Healy said her students were blown away by seeing actual scientists who show them viable careers in these fields.

“I don’t think we can ever replace like that magical moment of the ‘aha’ when you’re in the museum and you’re speaking to a scientist or seeing a specimen,” said Stacy Dilling, the executive director of marketing and communications.

Over the pandemic, Dilling said the museum shifted to focus on bringing much more material into the virtual world. Before, the Field Museum offered several toolkits for teachers. When school went remote, they made those resources available for parents too. Healy has long used these museum resources, and while Foster hasn’t, he said the increase of virtual learning resources is a huge benefit specifically for students of color. He explained he’s seen many of his students experience racism at the hands of classmates, hindering their class experience. Virtual resources allow them to learn without distractions.

Similarly, the Field Museum’s digital components also can be vehicles for accessibility, Dilling said.

“It can be the entry point for people that might not want to come to the museum, but might be curious to learn more,” Dilling said.

Each year the Field welcomes approximately 1.2 million visitors; yet, its audience has grown to well beyond the confines of its stone walls. Still, Parr, Dilling, Healy and Foster were all adamant about the irreplaceable experience of visiting the museum in person.

“That’s the beauty of science,” Healy said. “We can be so hands-on and experiential.”