The goal of the annual science festival

As regular hikers in the Santa Monica Mountains, Alison Watters and her two young children were in familiar territory Saturday at the fourth annual Science Fest at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills.

“This event increases awareness of this area, and it’s right in our own backyard,” said Watters, of Calabasas, who came with her 6-year-old son Jack and 8-year-old daughter Mason.

The family was among an estimated 4,000 children and adults from Los Angeles and Ventura counties who gathered for the festival,Home energy monitor which featured numerous hands-on activities with scientists, live animal shows and other attractions.

“I liked the animal show the best,” Mason said. “The bobcat was the biggest and really really cool.”

Saturday’s event was hosted by the National Park Service and co-sponsored by the Children’s Nature Institute, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, NatureBridge, the Santa Monica Mountains Fund and the UCLA La Kretz Center.

Highlights included marine touch tanks, guided hikes with uniformed park rangers and a live kelp dive broadcast from Channel Islands National Park. Presentations covered topics including the ecology and conservation of wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains, as well as chaparral,Home energy management  California’s most extensive ecosystem.

A children’s corner with science-based arts and crafts gave youngsters the chance to tear apart an owl pellet to learn what it ate. They also made animal masks and oak leaf prints, as well as nature bracelets and bookmarks.

“This event is very well-done,” said Karen Post, of Oak Park, who came with her husband and three sons, ages 4, 3 and 1. “At this age, they are naturally interested in science, so they pick it up really well.”

“I got an email this morning about this event and my children wanted to come,” said Almaguer, whose children engaged in fossil guessing and other activities. “This is much better than staying at home with video games.”

Linda Valois, a park ranger,Power monitor  staffed an archaeology station that featured tools made out of deer bones and flint and rope made from a yucca plant.

“We want to children to know that Native Americans didn’t have stores — they had to make their own tools,” Valois said. “It helps them understand the concept of finding things in nature to create what they need. Life was much harder back then.”

The goal of the annual science festival is to build stewardship of nature through science, and to introduce new audiences to Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, spokesperson Kate Kuykendall said.

“We have lots of locals who may already be familiar with the great open space opportunities in Santa Monica Mountains,” said Kuykendall, further noting that the area is a unit of a national park system that encompasses more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

“Exposure to the outdoors in general, especially given the nature deficit that has been well-documented among today’s young people, is very important,” Kuykendall said.