<p>How do we see what we see? This collection is about seeing the world in unexpected ways through human innovations and animal adaptations. Meet a teen who invented a new way to see infrared, a visually impaired woman with a bionic implant, a shark whose eye is similar our own, a Giant Squid with the world's largest eyes, a mantis shrimp who sees many colors in all directions, and a nocturnal sweat bee who navigates the jungle in the dark. Learn about why human vision can only see a certain type of light within the electromagnetic spectrum. Background information from the website Neuroscience for Kids provides an overview of how the eye and brain function together, and experiments to try. The collection concludes with a cross-cultural examination of seeing from a Tibetan monastic Buddhist perspective. How might their experience of sight differ from your own? <br /><br />Based on exhibition project work through <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/">Science for Monks</a> and <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/world-of-your-senses-web-tour/" target="_blank">The World of Your Senses</a> Exhibition (2010).</p>

<p>How do we experience the sense of smell? This collection explores the variety of human and animal smell experiences. Videos examine ants that use smell to communicate, orchid bee perfumery, and the unique smell adaptation of the maned wolf. Background information from the website Neuroscience for Kids provides the structure and function of the nose, as well as olfaction experiments. The collection concludes with a cross-cultural examination of touch from a Tibetan monastic Buddhist perspective. How might their experience of smell differ from your own?<br /><br />Based on exhibition project work through <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/">Science for Monks</a> and <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/world-of-your-senses-web-tour/" target="_blank">The World of Your Senses</a> Exhibition (2010).</p>

<p>How do we taste what we taste? This collection is about the kinds of tastes that the human tongue experiences. Background information from the website Neuroscience for Kids provides an overview of how the tongue and taste function. Included are experiments to try, as well as examples of the kinds of tastes: sweet, salty, sour, hot and bitter. The collection closes with a cross-cultural examination of tongue function and tastes from Tibetan monastics—who recognize thirty-six different tastes!<br /><br />Based on exhibition project work through <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/">Science for Monks</a> and <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/world-of-your-senses-web-tour/" target="_blank">The World of Your Senses</a> Exhibition (2010).</p>

<p>Use the worksheet, videos, images, and informational texts for the activity "Challenging Perceptions of Zoos," to discuss how zoological and conservation parks carry out their mission to save species. Through the lens of the Western Lowland gorilla, Cuban crocodile, Sloth bear, California sea lion, and the Asian elephant--consider how these animals--endangered in their natural habitats through climate change, human conflicts, or hunting--are being conserved, or saved from extinction through the work of scientists and staff in zoos and conservation parks. <br></p> <hr> <p>KEYWORDS: student engagement, teen council, conservation biology, Earth Optimism, #earthoptimism, animals, zoos, zoo, zoological</p>

<p>"The World of Your Senses" shares parallel perspectives from Tibetan Buddhism and western science on sensory perception. This collection explores the questions: How do we see? How does hearing work? How do we perceive smell? How does taste function? How do we sense touch? In addition, the Buddhist perspective includes a sixth sense... mind consciousness!</p> <p>"The World of Your Senses" is the result of many years of work growing out of directives from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his long history engaging Western scientists in dialogue. The script, content, and imagery were envisioned by a dedicated and curiosity-filled group of thirty Tibetan Buddhist monastics-in-exile from monasteries and nunneries in India, through the "Science for Monks and Nuns" program. The creation of the physical exhibit, launched in 2010, was supported through a unique collaboration between the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LWTA in Dharamsala, India), the Sager Family Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. (SCEMS/SCLDA/OET & OEC/Smithsonian Exhibitions), and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. It has since traveled to the United States, Nepal, and Bhutan.</p> <p>The resource is bi-lingual: English and Tibetan.</p> <p>RELATED COLLECTIONS:</p> <p>Senses Series – <strong><a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/n2f39XxkfBRJeHPk" target="_blank">Sight in Humans and Animals</a></strong>      (<a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/n2f39XxkfBRJeHPk">http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/n2f39XxkfBRJeHPk</a>)<br><br>Senses Series – <strong><a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7EbVTM49NgWiGrzA" target="_blank">Hearing</a></strong>      (<a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7EbVTM49NgWiGrzA">http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7EbVTM49NgWiGrzA</a>)<br><br>Senses Series – <strong><a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7LjjBHybUk9HE8Wj" target="_blank">Smell</a>      </strong>(<a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7LjjBHybUk9HE8Wj">http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/7LjjBHybUk9HE8Wj</a>)<br><br>Senses Series – <strong><a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/2w7r7PVoAgghiYmL" target="_blank">Taste</a>    </strong> (<a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/2w7r7PVoAgghiYmL" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/2w7r7PVoAgghiYmL</a>)<br><br>Senses Series – <strong><a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/oon5rHojeyrEwNEE" target="_blank">Touch</a>     </strong>(<a href="http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/oon5rHojeyrEwNEE" style="background-color:rgb(63,63,63);">http://learninglab.si.edu/q/ll-c/oon5rHojeyrEwNEE</a>)</p> <p><br>This collection is based Science For Monks, <a href="http://scienceformonks.org/world-of-your-senses-web-tour/" target="_blank">World of Your Senses</a> (2010).</p>

<p>What does it mean to be influenced by the world around you? This collection looks at the technical innovations, design influences (Japanese Zen Buddhist, Italian, Bauhaus); location influences (Yosemite, Silicon Valley); and cultural and musical influences (Bob Dylan, Edwin Land) which inspired Steve Jobs to "think different" and create digital products which changed the world.<br></p><p>Today, owning an iPhone is almost ubiquitous--seamlessly integrated into our modern lives. I'm typing on a MacBook Pro as I write this metadata note. But, I'll always remember the feeling of excitement as a kid--my first personal computer, an Apple //c. (1984). I spent hours, upon hours on it, exploring a strange and wonderful new world; and years later, a Macintosh followed, that took me to college. I remember wearing earbuds for the first time, and listening to my personal music collection on my first iPod Gen 4 (2004). Besides being a seminal technology influence in my life, I was inspired to create this collection about Steve Jobs after creating a family day program at the Smithsonian based on the <em><a href="https://www.si.edu/Exhibitions/The-Patents-and-Trademarks-of-Steve-Jobs-Art-and-Technology-that-Changed-the-World-4838" target="_blank">Patents and Trademarks of Steve Job</a></em> traveling exhibition (2012). I hope the story of Jobs and Apple inspires the next generation to think different and change the world through technology.</p> <p>Keywords: inventor, biography, technology, innovation</p>