Kids already say the darndest things under normal circumstances. But take a group of fourth graders out of math class for the day and into a living classroom at the UCLA Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, and the results can be unforgettable.

On a recent Wednesday morning, 48 fourth graders from Toluca Lake Elementary arrived at the garden for a field trip filled with "bee cheese," Kool-Aid plants, field journals and more than a few moments of wonder.

The students split into two groups. One headed into the garden classroom, where they would take part in a hands-on life science lesson about photosynthesis and pollinators, followed by an examination and dissection of their own Peruvian lily. The other set off on a guided nature walk through the 7.5-acre garden, field journals in hand, ready to their record observations. Later, the groups would switch.

By the end of the morning, they saw owls perched high in a tree, learned that some plants smell like Kool-Aid and discovered that certain bees make something that smells remarkably like cheese.

"This is so much better than math," said student Skylar, twirling a pair of tweezers between his fingers in between cuts into his Peruvian lily.

Throughout the academic year, the botanical garden welcomes thousands of K-12 students and community groups through admission-free, curriculum-connected field trips designed to bring classroom science to life. During the 2025-26 school year, more than 2,500 students participated in guided tours and hands-on lessons. About half come from Title I schools, with transportation provided by gifts from garden donors to help remove barriers to access.

For UCLA, the program is both an educational resource and a way of giving back to surrounding communities.

"I don't want them just to think, 'Oh, a garden is a place to come and run,'" said Victoria Sork, director of the garden and herbarium and a distinguished professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "I want them to get a chance to connect with nature, learn a little bit of science. Maybe some of them will realize you can study nature and be a scientist, and demystify what it's like to be at a university campus."

Inside the classroom, educator Amanda Bueno-Kling guided students through the anatomy of a flower. Small hands carefully pulled apart petals and stems, arranging each piece neatly on black trays.

"I found the pistil!" one student shouted, waving tweezers triumphantly in the air.

Nearby, another poked at a blossom with intense concentration before announcing, "Surgery!"

Students peered through magnifying glasses, compared discoveries with classmates and asked whether the flowers would still grow after being taken apart.

"We hope they not only learn something but also have fun while doing it," said Chantal Ochoa-Clark, the garden's

manager of education and outreach, who has spearheaded the program over the last four years. "It's more memorable when you're doing something kinesthetic than hearing something verbally. When you add that experience, it becomes memorable."

Outside, educator Boaz Solorio led the second group along winding garden paths. He carried a butterfly net and spoke with the rapid-fire enthusiasm of someone eager to share every marvel in sight.

Within minutes, Solorio had stopped the group beneath a large orb-weaver spider web and invited the group to touch it. Most did.

"What's cool is that spider webs have the tensile strength of steel," Solorio told them, explaining that spiders and bats help keep mosquito populations in check.

Then came the lesson students may remember longest: digger bees.

Solorio explained that female digger bees line underground nursery chambers with a waterproof substance rich in lipids. To human noses, it smells surprisingly like …

"No wonder it smells like cheese here!" one student exclaimed.

Elsewhere on the walk, Solorio crushed a sprig of pitcher sage and passed it around for students to smell.

"It smells like Kool-Aid," Solorio told them, prompting excited reactions.

He pointed out cherry blossoms often featured in anime imagery and paused often for squirrels, birds and unexpected moments of discovery. Near the pond, students spread out to sketch what they saw in their journals, many gravitating toward a ledge with the best view of the lily pads.

Earlier on the tour, students craned their necks to admire two owls perched in a towering Moreton Bay fig tree.

"I feel like I'm in heaven," said student Tristen. "This makes me calm. It's beautiful."

Those reactions are exactly what educators hope for.

"A lot of the kids that we have on field trips don't grow up around green spaces," Bueno-Kling said. "So a lot of them are just excited to be out in a botanical garden and see nature up close."

Seeing a squirrel or spotting an owl can become a formative memory, she added, the kind that sparks lasting curiosity.

"We want them to leave with a sense of wonder at nature," Bueno-Kling said, "a sense that they're part of something bigger than themselves."

For some students, the experience also changes how they view a college campus.

The botanical garden, founded in 1929, has long served as an outdoor laboratory for UCLA students and faculty. But on school-day mornings, it also becomes a place where young visitors can imagine themselves here someday - as scientists, researchers or college students simply comfortable in a university setting.

By lunchtime, the fourth graders gathered in the garden's amphitheater to eat beneath dappled sunlight, comparing journal notes and favorite moments from the morning.

Some mentioned the owls. Others the lily pads. "Bee cheese" had its supporters.

For Sork, those moments are exactly the point.

"We want them to learn as they go and realize how much science there is," she said. "Connecting with nature makes them appreciate why gardens or green spaces are important."