As an aid to the domestic science teachers, an exhibit showing proper daily food for a child has been prepared in conjunc Traveling tion with the Department of Public Health. Twenty duplicate sets have been made. The exhibit consists of models or samples of foods, put up in a small carrying case, and so arranged that they can be assembled to show a proper meal for a child. The food value of each portion is clearly indicated, and the exhibit is further explained by a set of eight charts giving dietary facts and figures. A leaflet prepared by Miss Mary Greig, setting forth fundamental principles of the diet, accompanies each collection. This circulating exhibit was prepared at the suggestion of Superintendent Gustave Straubenmüller, and will be distributed to the schools. A further extension of loan service to schools is being developed under the advice of Dr. James P. Haney, Supervisor of Art, and a special Committee of art teachers appointed by him. Through their coöperation, certain natural history specimens, especially good as subjects for drawing and other art work, will be loaned to the schools for use in the art classes. Art and Lectures for The various lectures for school children given by the members of the Department and those associated with them have been well attended and are increasingly popular. As heretofore, the subjects are designed to supplement the classroom instruction in geography, history and natural science. This year considerable care was exercised to select topics of current or wide general interest. The subjects included "The Story of the Pilgrims," "France and Her Neighbors," "Russia in Europe," etc. All the lectures are illustrated with lantern slides and films. Local Lecture Centers Continuing the policy of recent years, the Museum has given lectures in four lecture centers and in several of the schools. The most satisfactory center has been maintained in the Washington Irving High School, in coöperation with Miss Florence Slater. This center approaches the ideal. The classes from the elementary schools within easy walking distance come to the auditorium of this high school and the Museum lecturers meet them there. In this way the Museum is brought to children who cannot afford the carfare to go to the Museum. Series of lectures were also given in Public School No. 64, Manhattan, Mr. Louis A. Marks, Principal; in Public School No. 42, Bronx, Mr. Eugene B. Gartlan, Principal; and in Public School No. 30, Bronx, Miss Mary A. Conlon, Principal. Service to the Training School for Teachers A new line of contact with the schools which bids fair to be the most important of all has been developed through a series of lectures given by the Museum staff in the New York Training School for Teachers. In this school alone several hundred young women are in intensive training for teachers. The great majority of them enter the New York City System. It is of importance, therefore, for them to become acquainted with the Museum and its educational resources before they take up their profession. The lectures have a twofold purpose: To give the student teachers greater breadth of vision, and to demonstrate how they can use Museum material. A good beginning has been made and we hope and expect that very practical results will follow. General In addition to these regular lecture courses, a considerable number of special lectures have been given at the Museum or in the schools. During Regents' Week in January and in June, large numbers of high school pupils visited the Museum for lectures and laboratory work. In the regular courses of lectures for Members and Children of Members, 16 lectures have been given, with a total attendance of 12,029. The lectures to school children in the Museum numbered 67, with an attendance of 40,005. Lectures to children outside of the Museum numbered 49, with an attendance of 33,761, making a grand total of lectures to children of public schools of 116, with total attendance of 73,766. The lectures to private schools and other organizations numbered 17, with an attendance of 3,078. There has been a gain of nearly 29% in the number of lectures given to school children, and a gain of 50% in the attendance over the year 1919. The lecture work is under the general supervision of the Associate Curator, Dr. G. Clyde Fisher, upon whom the largest burden of lecturing falls. Lending of The most conclusive evidence of the growing appreciation of the real value of visual instruction material is the great increase in the number of slides used in the schools. Although we have been unable to meet all demands, the number of slides circulated has risen from 80,468 in 1919 to 138,133 in 1920, an increase of nearly 72%. A more accurate index, however, is in the separate loans. These have risen from 1,470 in 1919 to 2,435 in 1920, an increase of nearly 66%. This rapid growth may be attributed to several reasons: First, the active coöperation of the Bureau of Visual Instruction under Director Ernest L. Crandall has been an important factor (not only has the Bureau encouraged the teachers to apply to the Museum for slides, but its efforts have been concentrated upon equipping the schools with lanterns, rather than in producing slides); second, the simplicity of the methods of obtaining the slides (Museum messengers deliver the slides and call for them at the end of the loan periods); third, the overcrowding of the schools necessitates the modified Gary plan with an auditorium teacher who lectures with slides; fourth, the great stress that has been laid upon visual instruction methods in recent educational gatherings. The comparative statistics with previous years are given below: Again, it has been shown that the teachers find the Lecture Sets with manuscripts great time savers and therefore even more useful than the general slide collections. About 43% of the slides loaned during the year were in these sets. This percentage would have been higher had more duplicate sets been available. As it was, the Department was unable to fill all the requests for several of the sets. Several new sub jects have been added recently to the series, namely: Set No. 28-Our National Parks, by Grace E. Fisher Fisher Set No. 30-Plymouth and the Pilgrims, by Jannette Lucas There are thirty prepared lectures, and, as several of these have been duplicated, the total number of sets in circulation is forty-five. A new edition of the general catalogue of lantern slides was issued in October, 1920. This catalogue gives the different topics in geography, history, natural science, and industries, and the number of slides available under each group. The lending of slides is the one phase of the Museum's educational work which receives any direct financial support from the Board of Education. In 1920, $2,000 was appropriated for this work. This is the same amount allowed as in 1916, although the circulation of slides has increased 260%. This appropriation is wholly inadequate, but rather than see the work stop, the Trustees met the deficit for 1920. Support from The slide distribution is under the immediate direction of Miss Grace E. Fisher, whose services deserve special commendation. Work with the Blind The work with the blind and sight conservation classes, under the direction of Miss Ruth E. Crosby, has far surpassed its previous records. From the twenty subjects which were offered during the year, an unusually large number of talks were chosen by the teachers, and good weather permitted regular attendance. During the year, 117 talks were given to 17 different classes, with a total attendance of 1,656. This growth is due in part to the organization of new classes in the public schools and the enlarged enrolment of the existing classes. In addition to this work with the public schools, two naturestudy classes from the New York Institute for the Blind have been conducted through the Museum halls to study some of the mounted animals. Both in the public schools and in the New York Institute for the Blind, the children have the opportunity of examining nature study specimens loaned by the Museum. Eleven of the regular sight conservation classes are now provided with large relief globes made by the Museum especially for their Thirteen more of these globes are at present being completed to fill requests of other teachers. use. The extensive work with the blind is made possible through the Jonathan Thorne Memorial Fund, which provides for running expenses, new equipment, and even the transportation of the classes to and from the Museum talks. In order to coöperate as fully as possible with other agencies, the Museum has recently become a member of the New York State Federation of Workers for the Blind. Mr. Sherwood has been made a member of the Board of Directors as a representative of the Museum. |