Page Museum to Be Open on Monday

Extinct saber-toothed cats, ground sloths and imperial mammoths are some of the animals that roamed the Los Angeles area 10,000 to 38,000 years ago. Fossils of these animals have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits and can be seen at the George C. Page Museum nearby.

Although usually closed on Mondays, the Page Museum will be open June 28, the Monday before Independence Day. The museum houses a premier collection of Ice Age fossils such as the saber-toothed cats, dire wolves and other plants and animals caught in the sticky asphalt in what is now the Wilshire corridor. But no dinosaurs are found there because they died out about 65 million years before the La Brea record began.

Visitors can watch as paleontologists and volunteers sort fossils and do research in the glass-walled La Brea Laboratory. For information, call (213) 936-2230.

ASTRONOMY

* The San Diego State University astronomy department’s Mt. Laguna Observatory will be open to the public Friday and Saturday evenings at sunset through Sept. 4. Visitors can view celestial objects through the 21-inch Buller telescope. The Forest Service office on Sunrise Highway has tickets on a first-come basis. Call (619) 594-1413.

* Taking pictures of the night sky will be the topic of the Los Angeles Valley College planetarium show as it presents “Astrophotography for Beginners” on campus at 8 p.m. Friday. The observatory’s 16-inch Celestron telescope will be available for viewing the sky after the program. Call (818) 781-1200, Ext. 335.

SCIENCE FOR FAMILIES

* A California king snake, a desert tortoise and a vulture are some of the live desert animals that Wildlife on Wheels will bring to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park on Saturday. The animals will be featured in a family workshop, “Whale’s Tales: Desert Dwellers,” at 1:30 p.m. Call (213) 744-3534.

* Families with young children can look for animal homes, observe an insect or “meet” a tree in “Discovering Nature,” an outdoor walk offered by the William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom at the Sooky Goldman Nature Center at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Call (310) 858-3834 for reservations.

* Children ages 4 to 7 can learn about the plants and animals of the local mountains through games and activities in an “Ecology Hike,” sponsored by the Wilderness Institute at 10 a.m. Saturday. Call (818) 991-7327.

MEDICINE/HEALTH

* Women can learn about the latest developments in breast cancer and other health care issues in the first “Women’s Cancer Education Day” at the Eisenberg Keefer Breast Center at 9 a.m Saturday at St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica. Registration is required. Call (800) 6-KEEFER.

ANTHROPOLOGY

* Leading anthropologists and art historians will discuss the relationship between ancient art and the natural world as exhibited in archeological sites in “Ancient Americas: Religion, Ritual and Art,” a one-day UCLA Extension course at 9 a.m. Saturday. The course is based on an exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is included in the course fee. Call (310) 825-2272.

MARINE SCIENCE

* Cabrillo Marine Museum staff members will lead visitors on an outing to Point Fermin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday to look for tide pool animals as part of the “Science at the Seashore” series. The early hour will coincide with a low tide. Call (310) 548-7562.