Arboretum Offers a Lively Introduction to the Environment
The Environmental Education Fair, today at the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum, may have a dry name but it is a lively convention. The point of this ambitious annual event is to get youngsters thinking about their environment and to teach them at an early age how to care for it.
Children can make solar water heaters with plastic bags and black paper. They can touch live sea creatures in “tide pools” brought by the staff of the Cabrillo Marine Museum. And they can visit with raccoons, owls and reptiles from the Wildlife Waystation.
Addresses Various Issues
More than 60 exhibits--inside and outside Ayres Hall and in a circus tent--will address issues of transportation, air quality and conservation in terms that children can understand. Youngsters can participate in water experiments, weaving and gardening. Nature games, at 9:15 a.m. and 2 p.m., will use activities to illustrate concepts such as food webs (a complex version of the food chain) and animal perception (blindfolding children to help them understand how animals use other senses). There also will be walking tours of the arboretum at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Admission to the arboretum and fair is $3 for adults, $1.50 for ages 13 to 17 and students, and 75 cents for children ages 5 to 12. There is parking at nearby Santa Anita Fashion Park with shuttle service to the gate. Clowns will entertain shuttle riders with environmentally oriented games. The arboretum is at 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Information: (818) 446-8251.
