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There's a buzz at Saint John the Baptist Catholic School about a new garden that's helping students understand plant biology, gardening and bee pollination patterns. Full of lavender plants, marigolds and, of course, plenty of bees, young students are getting an early start in biology as they observe the insects and how plants grow.

"We've got a field trip right here in our own backyard," said second-grade teacher Susan McElroy.

The organic garden was planted by students and parent volunteers last Earth Day and is now a "living laboratory" where students can learn hands-on lessons, added garden coordinator and parent volunteer Mary Phillips Quinn.

"They learn a lot through their own observations," McElroy said.

This was clear during a lesson last week on how seeds are dispersed in the wild, in which students used magnifying glasses to find seeds in the garden and guess how they could be spread. Wind wanderers, animal scatterers, water followers and pop-gun plants were topics of conversation for one third-grade class.

"Usually magnolia trees end up near a river ... since it's mostly particles of wood, it would probably float," said student Ian Moore, who found a magnolia pod in the garden, on how this particular type of seed could spread by being a "water follower."

Other students were entranced by the garden's many bees.

"I see a bee pollinating a plant!" exclaimed third-grader Dalena Garcia, who proudly used a term learned in science class.

The learning extends beyond the garden, teachers say. Second-graders in George Ellis' computer class are using stories written about observations in the garden to create digital stories, which combine voice recordings of the students reading their stories with photos and hand-drawn pictures of the garden and its insects.

"I like this kind of flower, with the long stem and the purple flower," said second-grader Jessica Moore as she pointed to one of her crayon drawings of the garden.

"It's a lavender hyssop!" corrected Julian Moore, another second-grader, who is no relation to Jessica.

The garden will continue to grow as the students progress through the school, Quinn said. Plans for a monarch butterfly station, bible-themed plant garden and commemorative stone are in the works for the next year, she said.

For the remainder of the fall, the slightly scared— but mostly intrigued— students will continue checking out the bees, secretly planting seeds they've found and learning about plant parts.

"Plants are so intelligent, even though they don't have a brain," said third-grader Ian Moore as he headed inside to his next class.