Chris Meyer, a research zoologist and curator for the Smithsonian, wants you to come see “Life in One Cubic Foot,” the new exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History. Then he wants you to get out and do some work yourself.  The “one cubic foot” of the exhibit’s title refers to the size of biocubes, open-sided boxes that scientists (or anyone; we’ll get to that) place outdoors to observe various ecosystems. By cataloging the living contents of the box — plants and animals — they can measure the biodiversity of the larger ecosystem as a whole.  Why 1 cubic foot? The measurement is “common sense. Everybody gets it,” Meyer says. “You have to have a representative sample that gives you enough information about that ecosystem. If you get too small, you don’t have enough players. If you get too big, you can’t handle it.”  The centerpiece of the exhibit, a series of pictures taken by photographer David Liittschwager, shows just how much that little box can hold. He’s photographed the contents of biocubes in places as diverse as French Polynesia and Rochester, N.Y.  “He has a way of bringing out the personalities of every individual thing that he’s photographed,” Meyer says. “He can make a flatworm look interesting.”  The point of the exhibit, though, isn’t photogenic flatworms. “The whole middle section [of the exhibit] is devoted to citizen science, our backyard biology approach,” Meyer says. (Parents, listen up: This is the science fair project you’ve been looking for.) At workshops tied to the exhibit, attendees can learn how to build their own biocubes and get step-by-step instructions on how to register them and send their findings into a worldwide database.  “You can do it anywhere,” Meyer says. “There’s a good chance if you get this into the classroom that kids are going to find things that haven’t been documented” as appearing in their area.  While technically, the cubes can be placed anywhere, some plots of land are more suitable than others — Meyer had a little trouble doing this science project in the museum’s own backyard. “We spent a lot of time trying to find a ‘natural’ site around the Mall,” he says. “It was really hard, because it’s so manicured. The most diversity is in the pile of leaves they haven’t gotten to yet.”  Still, he emphasizes that the work is never dull, even when it’s on the nation’s tamed front lawn. “I’m going to see something I’ve never seen before, I’m never going to be bored, it’s never the same day twice, no matter where you do it,” Meyer says. “That’s the little kid in me that never grew up.”  National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW; opens Friday, free.  Get into the act Detailed instructions can be found at qrius.si.edu/biocube.  Sign up with iNaturalist and join the Biocubes Project. Build your biocube (the supplies are cheap and the directions simple).  Find a site. Put your biocube there. Watch from a short distance and observe if any birds, small mammals or large insects come through the cube. If large insects do, avoid screaming and running away.  Collect specimens: Use a net to grab small insects (avoid screaming and running away); do the same for aquatic life if the cube is in water. Gather representative samples of the grasses and plants.  Sort, photograph and document everything you find. (Estimate if you have to; you don’t have to count every ant or tuft of grass.) Then put everything back in the cube.  When home, try to identify everything you found, using online resources or these things called “books,” some of which have handy pictures. Report your findings to the iNaturalist site.  The documentary ‘Trapped’ looks at laws targeting abortion clinics  Michael Flatley discusses his retirement from ‘Lord of the Dance.’  Alan Cumming covers Miley, Adele and Billy Joel for his Valentine’s Day show at Strathmore  Kristen Page-Kirby covers film, arts and events for Express.
A new exhibit at the Natural History museum aims to make a big world small — and they need your help.