"One of our goals is to make it as multidisciplinary as we can," Casanova said. "Teachers are so strapped these days and for some they only get one trip a year." The center combines wildlife and wetland activities, plant science activities, and energy and water conservation activities into one trip.

"You can see it in a text and talk about it but when you can actually experience it there is nothing like it," said Poll. "Food and bugs — you will always keep their attention."

The center also features the Utah House, a spacious and open model house that demonstrates ways of building facilities and landscapes that are energy-efficient and conserve water. The model home, with its strategically placed windows and cutting-edge appliances, only uses 60 percent of the water and energy the average house does.

It often houses training sessions for developers and designers in resource-efficient building that fit the center's mission — raising awareness among all generations to preserve natural resources.

In the future the center will also be the site of a 9/11 memorial designed by the Davis County Youth of Promise, which will be a garden and wall honoring those who died in 2001 as well as those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The center will be holding an Arbor Day celebration on April 23 that will feature outdoor workshops, crafts and spring gardening tutorials. For more information on the Utah Botanical Center visit www.utahbotanicalcenter.org.

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E-mail: terickson@desnews.com