Energetic by Nature

For a kid-friendly activity high in nature content but low in impact on nature, catch one of the free, live performances by the troupe “The Environmental Defenders” Saturday in Northridge and Glendale.

Max Mastrangelo and Jennifer Lettellier will put on a version of the high-energy touring show they have presented to area schools on behalf of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

They will appear at Borders Books & Music at 11 a.m. in Northridge and 1:30 p.m. in Glendale.

“Kids are very smart; they know a lot,” said Mastrangelo, a veteran Los Angeles stage and TV actor born in Argentina.

Mastrangelo and Lettellier perform the 30-minute, one-act play several times a week for audiences of schoolchildren. Lettellier is a veteran of Nickelodeon and PBS children’s shows.

Part of their show is an audience-participation game called “Pollution and Consequences,” in which Mastrangelo plays a time traveler from the future and Lettellier a teacher into whose “classroom” he has mysteriously popped up. When the performers get around to asking the audience questions about littering and recycling, hundreds of little hands shoot into the air.

Some kids put up both hands, and talk in English and Spanish about protecting the beach by not throwing trash into storm-water drains and how plastic bottles can be melted down for reuse.

Participants in the quiz have a chance to win sets of trading cards with pictures and information about characters in the “Environmental Defenders” show. Children who attend Saturday’s shows will also receive cards.

The show includes a read-along of two popular children’s books about the environment--”Where Does Pollution Come From?” and “The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute Anymore.”

Also appearing will be a “Radio Disney Street Team” of live deejays, playing music from the Disney radio network and giving away prizes.

BE THERE

“Environmental Defenders” at Borders Books & Music, Saturday, 11 a.m. in Northridge, 9301 Tampa Ave., (818) 886-5443; and 1:30 p.m. in Glendale, 1600 S. Brand Blvd., (818) 241-8099.