The Carnegie Museum of Natural History To Improve Access For All

This is one of a series of posts sponsored by CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a commitment to making life better for children with disabilities. 

This year, the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust chose The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA as the recipient for one of its grants. Mom-Blog interviewed the museum’s Manager of School and Group Programs, Laurie Giarratani, and Manager of Outreach and Community Programs, Chelsey Pucka, and to learn more.

MB: What is the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s mission?
LAURIE: We want to inspire visitors of all ages to become passionate about nature and science. Behind the scenes, scientists work with our museum collection, which is like a library that houses more than 22 million objects that document the history of the earth. These include specimens from nature such as fossils, insects, and skulls, artifacts made by ancient Egyptians and artwork made by contemporary American Indians. Using these collections, museum scientists investigate questions that push the edge of knowledge in their field, and generate new scientific knowledge – and more questions. Museum visitors can view about 10,000 of our most fascinating specimens and artifacts that are on display for exploration. We want to help visitors engage with the collections and experience discovery in the same ways scientists approach their work: with enthusiasm, curiosity and creativity!

MB: I was interested to hear that you offer hands-on and immersive learning experiences. Can you tell me more about it?
CHELSEY: The Carnegie Museum of Natural History Education department provides authentic science experiences by allowing visitors to interact with artifacts and use scientific tools, providing our visitors with a higher level of engagement and better connection to our collections and science.

MB: Congratulations on being awarded the grant from the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust. How does the Museum plan on using it? Are there any specific goals you’d like to achieve?
CHELSEY: The education department, with partnerships from local experts and organizations, plans on making our immersive learning experiences more inclusive by offering a series of professional development workshops with support from our partnerships for most of our museum educators.
LAURIE: We will also revamp and expand our collection of educational scientific tools to ensure that we provide options to make exhibits approachable for all learners and visitors and to enhance inquiry into an object, revealing new and surprising detail that may not appear visible at first glance. We are looking at which magnification tools work best for different ages, learning styles, and interactions. For example, a digital video microscope may be a good way to engage a family so that they can all look at an image together, whereas a young child might reach for an easy-to-use large magnifier to explore on his or her own. This combination of training and tools will allow us to provide a more inclusive and immersive experience for visitors.

MB: How will you address access to your exhibits for kids with disabilities?
CHELSEY: We plan on exploring different types of presentation equipment that will allow viewing from multiple heights and distances, and we will support that equipment with activities adapted for a variety of learning styles and differences. These strategies will help us create a greater and more diverse learning experience that visitors can connect to and use to explore our exhibits in new ways.

I want to thank Laurie Giarratani and Chelsey Pucka for taking the time to share more about The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and their upcoming plans. If you’re in Pittsburgh, be sure to take your kids to this amazing museum!

Photo Credits: Carnegie Museum of Natural History