This article discusses visitors' ability to interpret geographic maps. It describes a study that examined how easily adult visitors to the Bronx Zoo were able to identify two continents and countries on maps, and their interpretation of the term "range." Findings suggest a need to revise maps in exhibit labels to improve visitor comprehension and the authors make recommendations on how to do so. The appendix includes a copy of the interview protocol used in the study.
In 2003 and 2004 a summative evaluation of the Jellies: Living Art exhibition was conducted. The exhibition is a 4,650 square foot special exhibition at the aquarium that is open from April 2002 through January 2005. It includes live displays of domestic and exotic jellies and a collection of artwork in a variety of media: paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and three large site-specific installations. Though the aquarium has displayed art previous to Jellies: Living Art, this exhibition represents the first time the aquarium has displayed both art and live species together. There were seven
The John G. Shedd Aquarium opened an exhibition entitled Wild Reef: Sharks at Shedd in April 2003. Wild Reef immerses visitors in an Indo-Pacific ecosystem where they experience firsthand the connections among animals, habitats and people. This 2,800 square-foot exhibition spans nine rooms and contains one of the largest and most diverse collections of sharks in North America, along with the Midwest's largest public display of live corals. The primary message of Wild Reef is: Philippine coral reefs support an amazing abundance of life and anchor a delicate network of dependencies between
This front-end evaluation assisted in design and development of the Wild About Otters special exhibition at the Monterey Bay Auqarium, which opened in 2007. The evaluation included structured interviews, both a short and a long form. This report includes short interview and long interview forms in the appendix.