greatly increased access to clean drink- 

 ing water in rural communities of 

 Africa. 



A microscope station allows visitors 

 to see the world of microbes in a single 

 drop of untreated water, while what is 

 seen through the eyepiece is projected 

 on a large screen. One drop 

 of water from a lake, river, 

 or ocean can contain thou- 

 sands of tiny organisms, 

 like algae, protozoans, bac- 

 teria and viruses. (Most 

 are harmless — fewer than 

 i percent of bacteria cause 

 disease.) 



Throughout the exhibi- 

 tion, live animals, models, 

 fossils, and taxidermy spec- 

 imens embody the varied 

 and surprising adaptations 

 animals have evolved to 

 survive in extremes of wet 

 and arid conditions. Visi- 

 tors will learn, for example, 

 how wood frogs freeze to 

 hibernate in winter; Pompeii worms 

 survive plumes of near-boiling water 

 on the Pacific floor; and albatrosses, 

 which spend months flying or floating 

 on the ocean, drink water too salty for 

 most birds and land animals. A vivar- 

 ium of live mudskippers offers a look 

 at curious "fin-footed" fish that can live 

 for extended periods out of water. Be- 

 neath a model polar bear on a faux ice 

 floe, younger children are drawn to a 

 matching game in which blocks, when 



properly aligned, trigger videos about 

 life where ice is the norm. 



Also making dry statistics real is an 

 interactive quiz testing visitors' "H2O 

 IQ" with such questions as how much 

 water it takes to make a T-shirt or a 

 hamburger, an exercise that's fun, in- 

 formative, and surprising. 

 In fact, anyone visiting 

 Water isn't likely to soon 

 forget that nearly 900 gal- 

 lons of water are needed to 

 produce just 2.2 pounds 

 of rice! 



Early in the exhibition, 

 visitors pass through a 

 re-creation of a water- 

 sculpted slot canyon, a 

 graphic portrayal of the 

 power of water to shape 

 the contours of the planet. 

 The human effect on the 

 landscape is starkly repre- 

 sented near the end of the 

 exhibition with a haunt- 

 ing, life-size, walk-through 

 diorama of Mono Lake and its once- 

 submerged tufa (or limestone) towers, 

 exposed when the water level dropped 

 some 45 feet over decades of divert- 

 ing fresh water to Los Angeles. On 

 the brink of collapse in the late 1970s, 

 Mono Lake's ecosystem is now on the 

 mend through efforts by the state of 

 California, spurred on by graduate stu- 

 dents and concerned citizens — a mes- 

 sage of hope that human action can 

 also act as a healing force. 



Water: H2O = Life is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www. 

 amnh.org), and Science Museum of Minnesota (www.smm.org) in collaboration with Great Lakes 

 Science Center, Cleveland; The Field Museum, Chicago; Instituto Sangari, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 

 National Museum of Australia, Canberra; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada; San Diego 

 Natural History Museum; and Singapore Science Centre with PUB Singapore. 

 The American Museum of Natural History gratefully acknowledges the Tamarind Foundation for its lead- 

 ership support of Water: H2O = Life, and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future for its assistance. 

 Water: H2O = Life is supported by a generous grant from the National Science Foundation. 

 Exclusive corporate sponsorship for Water: H2O = Life is provided by JP Morcan. 

 The Museum also extends its gratitude to the Panta Rhea Foundation, Park Foundation, and 

 Wege Foundation for their support of the exhibition's educational programming and materials. 



Science on a Sphere: 

 The "Globe" Theater 



If you've ever longed to see Earth 

 from space, now is your chance — 

 with Science on a Sphere, a spectacu- 

 lar feature at the heart of the new ex- 

 hibition Water: H2O = Life. 



In this exhibit, a six-foot-diameter 

 globe hangs suspended as if floating, 

 depicting in living color how water 

 defines and drives the planet. The 

 stunningly realistic effect, showing 

 shifting conditions on a seemingly ro- 

 tating orb, is achieved by four full-mo- 

 tion video projectors, placed at the four 

 corners of the room and controlled by 

 a central computer, beaming images 

 derived from data gathered by NASA 

 satellites and other scientific sources. 



In one sequence, Earth's surface, of 

 which nearly 71 percent is covered in 

 water, is contrasted with frozen Mars 

 and hot, dry Venus, as well as with the 

 Moon, which is waterless. Through 

 time-lapse projections, Earth's water 

 cycle springs to life as tropical areas 

 turn green, then brown; ocean cur- 

 rents move warm water from the trop- 

 ics to polar regions and cold polar 

 water toward the tropics; and snow 

 cover comes and goes. 



Even deep beneath Earth's surface, 

 water in minerals that make up Earth's 

 mantle is seen to be on the move, mak- 

 ing possible the movement of conti- 

 nents, and causing volcanoes, earth- 

 quakes, and the rise of new mountain 

 ranges. Science on a Sphere presents 

 patterns of water and population distri- 

 bution, and graphically shows how little 

 water is suitable for fresh human use. 



Science on a Sphere is an amaz- 

 ing educational tool for both kids and 

 adults. Dynamic and realistic visual 

 interpretations of actual scientific data 

 illuminate Earth's systems and ask us 

 to think about how and why Earth is 

 changing before our very eyes. 



Science on a Sphere (SOS) is the creation of the Global 

 Systems Division, Earth System Research Laboratory of 

 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

 (NOAA). Support for SOS is provided by the National 

 Science Foundation and NOAA with technical assis- 

 tance from the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA 

 Coddard Space Flight Center. 



The contents of these paces are provided to Natural History bv the American Museum oi Naiurai History. 



