Abstract
Animals which move attract the attention of visitors, including elementary students. Does a moving animal exhibit automatically attract visitors or are there other factors which have an influence in drawing the students’ (and other visitors’) attention in terms of staying time and conversational content? This study compares the content of conversations generated by elementary school groups at animatronic animals displayed in the zoo as a temporary exhibit and in a natural history museum as part of the permanent exhibits in a redesigned Dinosaur Gallery. Analysis of conversations provides insights into those aspects of the exhibits which interest the students and engender comment. Previous research has indicated that animatronics in a natural history museum were the more effective type of exhibit in terms of having their story commented upon by both family and elementary school groups than were live animals in a zoo or preserved museum animals. The study reported here indicated that the moving animal models—the animatronics—in themselves are insufficient to induce many visitors to talk about them in other than a superficial, cursory manner. The results of this comparative study imply that careful exhibit design, incorporating a clear story in the exhibit, is crucial if students in a zoo are to be interested in and talk about animatronic models. A moving model in itself is not enough.
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Tunnicliffe, S.D. It’s the way you tell it! What conversations of elementary school groups tell us about the effectiveness of animatronic animal exhibits. J Elem Sci Edu 11, 23–37 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173788
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173788