Your kid likes science.

Despite the subject’s reputation, and the fact that schools treat it like the class where fun goes to die, kids are more excited about science, on average, than math, English and social studies, according to a new report.

“Kids come out of the chute liking science,” NASA astronaut Mae Jemison said. “They ask, ‘How come? Why? What’s this?’ They pick up stuff to examine it. We might not call that science, but it’s discovering the world around us.”

Then something happens.

“Once we get them in school, we turn science from discovery and hands-on to something you’re supposed to do through rote memorization,” said Jemison, who was the first African-American woman to travel in space when she flew the Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1992.

Jemison has teamed up with Bayer Corp. to advance science literacy across the United States by emphasizing the importance of hands-on, inquiry-based learning opportunities in public schools. Bayer announced recently that it will provide 1 million hands-on science experiences for kids by 2020.

In advance of the announcement, Bayer commissioned a survey of teachers and educators about children’s relationship to science.