Collecting, Grouping, Sorting, Naming, math & the museum

Collecting and museums go hand in hand.

...wouldn't you say? No? You don't think so? I do. Think about it... The Strong National Museum of Play for example. What are some things you think of right away? I think of toys! The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site: Theodore Roosevelt, History. The Buffalo Museum of Science: Science. The Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum: Carrousels, Amusement, Band Organs. 

Those museums are homes to collections and collect the things they embody. But what do they do with them? Museums groups them, sort them, preserve them, research them, display them, share them. But wouldn't it be silly if you went to... let's say The National Cowboy Museum, excited to see things all related to cowboys in history and today. You pay for your admission tickets and you walk in and it is just one big room. In the center piled high to the ceiling is a mound of cowboy boots, spurs, posters, film reels, photographs, horse shoes, a random alarm clock that says "GO GET'EM COWBOY". Why is that there? 

Museums need to Categorize, which means to place in a particular class or group, their collections. But then what? They probably place them in subcategory, which means a category within category. For example the Herschell Carrousel Factory Museum is home to a collection of Amusement. We have Kiddieland inside and outside. Inside is a small collection of examples of parts from Kiddieland rides, an Allan Herschell category of rides designed for small children. But outside we have the Kiddieland Testing Park - four functioning complete rides for small children to enjoy as they were originally made. Kiddieland is the category, working rides and parts of rides are the subcategories. 

Now you try!

Get out in nature and collect a bag full of items you find on the group. Make sure they are safe to take first. If you are unsure of what a plant might be, leave it. Once you have your items ready, dump them out on a sidewalk, patio, or driveway. Something that will be easy to see all of your collection. Next break them up - what are your categories going to be? 

Next break each category up even further. What are your subcategories going to be? How many are you able to make? 

Once you have sorted all of your collection in their categories and  subcategories, what are they? How many subcategories do you have?

You can take this a step further and make your own nature museum, how will you display your collection?