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  • Out Quiet Yourself exhibit
  • Foxwalking is a simple technique used by trackers like Doniga Markegard to avoid disturbing wildlife.

  • Step into the world of wildlife tracker Doniga Markegard, who relies on her carefully honed listening skills to tune into nature’s subtle clues.

  • Out Quiet Yourself exhibit
  • How to Foxwalk
  • The Language of Nature

Out Quiet Yourself

How quietly can you tread this gravel path?

As you walk across the gravel floor of this short tunnel, a sound meter measures your loudness and gives you a score. Can you beat your previous score? Can you beat your friends’ scores? 


Where:   Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Reflections
Exhibit Developer:   Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough, 2006

What’s going on?

Walking quietly isn’t easy. Here are a few tips from an expert Apache tracker:

  1. Before taking a step, look carefully at where you will place your foot.
  2. Bend your knees slightly.
  3. Touch your foot lightly to the ground, with the outside edge of the ball of the foot hitting the ground first.
  4. Next, roll the foot inward, toward the inside edge of the heel, until the whole surface area of the foot is on the ground.
  5. Try not to shift your weight until your forward foot is quietly and firmly on the ground. Be patient—this requires considerable balance and practice.
  6. When you are ready to shift your weight forward, slide, don’t bounce. 

The secret to ultra quiet walking is patience—and practice, practice, practice.

 
Keywords: attentive listening
Aliases: Fox Walking, Rock Box, Shaking, Walking on Gravel
Collections: Listen, Young Kids

More to explore

Listen to the Softest Sound
Listen to the Softest Sound

What's the quietest sound you can find – and how can you find it? Download listening tips.

Science activity that demonstrates sound conduction
Sound Bite

Tune in to tunes with your teeth.

Listen: Making Sense of Sound
Listen: Making Sense of Sound

Examine the art and science of listening through a series of online activities, videos, and more.

Related exhibits

Listening Vessels
Listening Vessels

Hear here—with the help of a giant parabolic “ear.”

Echo Tube
Echo Tube

Talk, clap, yodel, yell—your sounds bounce back at you.

Shhhh . . . Quiet
Shhhh . . . Quiet

Sometimes no sound is what you want.

Archimedes
Archimedes

Parabolic dishes collect and focus sound waves and reflect them to participants seated within them.


IMLS acknowledgment

This web project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MA-30-16-0175-16].

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