This is the VOA Special English Education Report , from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Outdoors, in the
open air, seems like a natural place to study natural science. It also makes
sense in a place like Southern California where people like to be outside a lot.
Now the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is working to bring the
indoors to the outdoors for its visitors. The museum has redesigned an outdoor
space into a living exhibit. This is a big change for the one and a half hectare
area. It used to include a parking lot. Now, instead of cars, it welcomes birds,
butterflies and other living things.Scientists who work at the museum come
outside to describe plants and insects in the natural setting of this outdoor
laboratory. Greg Pauly specializes in studying turtles, like the western pond
turtle. He tells the students how development has changed its natural habitat.
He says these turtles are happiest around small bodies of water that grow and
shrink with the seasons. He tells the students that one hundred fifty years ago,
before there were very many people in the area, all the streams were just
seasonal streams. "And the western pond turtle loved that habitat," he says,
"and with people, we have changed the habitat." Today, he says, there is a lot
more permanent water, like a pond at the Natural History Museum itself. And he
says the changing habitat is one reason why western pond turtles are shrinking
in number.In addition to science lessons, the open-air exhibit can provide
contact with nature in a way that some city children rarely get. Landscape
architect Mia Lehrer says children can get real-life answers to questions they
may be wondering about. For instance, she says some children do not know that
ketchup comes from tomatoes. And they can see what strawberry plants look like,
to know that strawberries do not just come from a container in the store. Only
parts of the new outdoor campus are open now. But Karen Wise says more changes
are coming. Ms. Wise is the museum's vice president for education and exhibits.
She says, "Now we are opening up the whole museum, making it an indoor-outdoor
experience, so that our visitors can be a part of the experience." The work is
expected to be completed by June of twenty-thirteen. Next year is the museum's
one hundredth anniversary. For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal.You can
read, listen and learn English with more education stories at
voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find a video about the new outdoor exhibit
at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. (Adapted from a radio
program broadcast 17May2012)
원문출처 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpqdlDV9Wy4&feature=youtube_gdata
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