Hi all,
 
I agree with Michael Huggins and Mary Graham, about the "hands on",
"tactile" concept. I think also that an interdisciplinary approach
would benefit all subjects. Math was ruined for me at school by
seeming unrelated to anything I might be interested in. What if we
took a collection of a certain species of shells and then had kids
measure them, and plot the measurements on a graph to demonstrate bell
curves, or perform other statistical analyses? What about taking
unidentified shells, or shells where the data slips were replaced with
a number (so that shell and data slip can be paired afterward), and
then have the kids identify the shells with the aid of reference
books? Sometimes an innocent question can lead to great discoveries.
 
I still think that actual ownership adds another dimension to
knowledge that is without substitute, and lets face it, there are not
enough museum people in the world to be completely responsible for all
of the myriad specialties represented by public collections. Too much
stuff is archived and forgotten -- collectors also work for free ;-)
 
Regards,
 
John Hooker
 
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