Gardens surrounding the Kroc Center for Peace and Justice and the Shiley Center for Science and Technology were designed to complement each other and to serve as teaching tools for botany, ecology, and environmental studies courses. Botanists on the faculty guided the landscape architects in choices of plants, particularly for the ‘Garden of the Earth' surrounding the science center which features drought tolerant plants, ancient species, and Southern California natives. Meandering through the garden is the DNA path where the sidewalk forms one helix, its complementary strand is comprised of a hedge row, and the ‘bonds' joining the double helix are rows of aloes and other plants exhibiting convergent evolution. The strata plaza features concrete textured and colored to represent the 13 geological layers of San Diego County . USD geologists worked with the contractors to select the appropriate finishes and to sculpture the appropriate layering lines and lenses of fossils, rocks, or shells to achieve a remarkably beautiful and instructive patio.