Consider which animals are present in the animal trail, and which kinds of animals are missing. Are there a lot more birds than rodents? More warm-blooded animals that cold-blooded? More animals with backbones (vertebrates) than insects and other invertebrates? More generally, are some animals underrepresented in the objects on display in the museum? What about the animals you see on TV shows or in children’s books? Why do you think this is?
Exercise 1: Create a story for an underrepresented animal.
Take a walk through the museum and select an underrepresented animal. Create a story about it. You may choose to write or tell the story in a different form – a diagram, a family tree, a comic or visual narrative, a dance, a song.
After you have created the story, reflect:
Are there additional challenges to storytelling for these kinds of creatures, perhaps in accessing their worlds of perception or getting audiences to care?
Exercise 2: Find a story about an underrepresented animal.
Search for stories about our relationships with underrepresented, or less-loved animals. Consider how the author invites us to find affection or respect for a creature we might not consider as loveable as a pet dog or cat.
Some examples include the film My Octopus Teacher, The Wilderness Society campaign ‘Save Ugly’, children’s films such as Babe or books like Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy.