76 REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION, PUBLICITY 



AND RESEARCH 



The Honorable Board of Fisk and Game Commissioners of the State of 

 California. 



Sirs: We have the honor to submit herewith a report ou the work 

 and accomplishments of the Bureau of Education, Publicity and Re- 

 search, covering the period from July 1, 1918, to June 30, 1920, this 

 being the third report since the inception of this department. Although 

 war conditions prevented an enlargement of tlie work, yet we believe 

 meritorious accomplishments in the field of education and publicity have 

 l)oen achieved. 



EDUCATION AND PUBLICITY. 



LECTURES. 



The Bureau has continued to emphasize work in the schools, conse- 

 ciuently a large proportion of the lectures given during the past bien- 

 nium have been delivered to high school and grammar school students. 

 High school principals have been particularly sympathetic with the 

 work, and in many instances return lectures have been requested. In 

 some instances all the schools in a city have been concentrated for the 

 purpose of hearing a lecture and seeing wild life films. It has been sur- 

 prising to find how little definite information regarding the life history 

 and habits of game birds and mammals is had by the average high 

 school student. Furthermore, there is evident lack of information as to 

 the present status of fish and game and the need for its conservation. 

 As the lectures are often followed by a quiz, or the demand for a 

 written paper, by the biology teacher, the results should prove very 

 much worth while. 



Early in 1920, the California Academy of Sciences was furnished 

 with a series of four popular science lectures by employees of the Com- 

 mission. 



Another fruitful field which has been entered is that of the Boy 

 Scouts of America. Many lectures have been given to groups of scout- 

 masters and also to the boys themselves. In the summer of 1918 several 

 boy scout summer camp groups were visited and instruction given by 

 means of field trips and camp-fire talks. 



The usual series of nine lectures on fi^sh and game were given to a 

 large class in general forestry at the University of California, in the 

 spring of 1919 and again in 1920. Short field trips designed to give 

 students a first hand acquaintance with the common birds on the 

 campus, and to stimulate their interest in natural history were also 

 given. The response of this group of students has been particularly 

 gratifying. A series of lectures and field trips were also given to a 

 group of prospective teachers in a course in advanced vertebrate zoology, 



