Report of Museum Visit

To everyone back home,
I am writing to share what information I have gathered thus far, my curiosity would not let time go to waste, I must make the most of my short visit. Upon arriving on earth, I wasted no time learning about the planet and the creatures that inhabit it. I found myself in front of a large stone structure named the Texas Natural Science Museum. Inside was a collection of what I perceive to be the ideas and creatures that inhabit earth.
There were four different levels with separate titles each sharing something new. I visited the highest level first entitled Hall of Biodiversity. Humans believe that all creatures are interconnected. One of the first humans to hold this belief was Charles Darwin, he went to the Galapagos Islands researching plants and animals. He focused on several different birds that he later came to find were related which led him to the conclusion that at one point all creatures shared a common ancestor. Humans believe that they are closely related to monkeys and that their differences developed over several thousands of years through a process called evolution. Evolution is the process by which living beings change over time producing distinct features and species. There are four forces that determine evolution: variation (differences between species), inheritance (what traits are passed to offspring), selection (which traits are better than others), and time (process of selection causes change in order to survive). All creatures are thought to be made up of a series of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts forming what is called DNA that determine what traits a creature has. Any difference in the order of these letters distinguishes separate humans and other creatures.
The level underneath entitled Hall of Texas Wildlife contained several different creatures stuffed, in jars, or pinned to boards. These animals were posed in what I assume to be a natural stance and with background that portray their natural habitat. Some animals were in packs like the bison while others were alone, surrounded by several different creatures. Some had wings; others belonged in water, some on dry land, and others in forest. The times of day in which these characters are active also appeared to be different as some preferred night time over day time. The diversity of animals was amazing however I wasn’t able to witness any creatures that appeared to be alive. They were all behind glass panel prohibiting any contact.
The second level up (ground floor) called the Great Hall had the skeleton of a huge bird hanging from the ceiling with the help of wires called a pterosaur. There were also tons of skulls next to a tag that gave clues for humans to decipher what creature it was. Mounted on a wall were several pictures of birds in flight. On the other walls a dispersed around the room there were tons of rocks that had been cut open or chopped up only to find beautifully bright colored stones named gems. On one side of all these fascinating artifacts was a store that was full of toys, books, puzzles, etc., on animals and their natural environments. People continuously entered this store and purchased items as if they yearned to learn about the creatures and wish to surround themselves with their presence.
The basemen level called the Hall of Geology and Paleontology was my last stop on my first exploration of earth and the creatures that inhabit it. In this hall the lives of several different animals are divided into different time periods throughout the history of earth. Displayed are different bits and pieces of bones belonging to several different animals that were dug up. There are also tons of fully constructed skeletons held up together with string and poles. These animals are different from those on other levels of the museum. Detailed imprints of shells and plants in rocks are also displayed. Some of these things are said to have been found close to museum which would mean that at one point this part of the world was underwater. This is interesting because it shows that the world like the creatures on earth changes over the course of time. In the corner of the room is a table built from a trunk of tree, it is one of the few signs of plant life on earth. There is also a little area called the Paleontologist Lab, this is where scientist teach the humans about their findings regarding the life of previous earth creatures based on fossils like the ones presented throughout the museum.
While in the museum I found an infatuation with Texas: their animals, their discoveries, and the formation of the land itself but it doesn’t seem to be a fascination with the things of today instead it is with the things of the past. If I just take into account what I have witnessed today, I would say that while humans do live on this planet I don’t believe that other creature exists anymore. They did exist several years ago and there were several of them probably outnumbering humans. But as changes over time occurred to the land and to the DNA make up of creatures they started dying out decreasing their numbers severely. It might also be the case that the evolution of man has led to the decay of other creatures.