The above photo was taken at the SciQuarium at the Greensboro Science Center. In the last few years, the science center has been undergoing an amazing transformation. The aquarium, only one part of the center’s  multi-phased expansion,  is the only inland aquarium in North Carolina. The facility is a 22,000 square-foot LEED designed complex. It has been open for about a year now and has proven popular with the community.* Children delight at being so close to fish, stingray, and sharks.

Today is ABC Wednesday and they are now starting Round 15. For this round, GDP is focusing on science. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (S.T.E.M.) programs are trending in America’s schools. Some STEM programs have evolved to incorporate the arts and are known as STEAM programs. STEAM programs acknowledge that science has an artistic component. For example, in the above aquarium, water pH matters, species compatibility matters; however, design and aesthetic matter, too. When you wind through the SciQuarium and stand face-to-face with the underwater world, you realize that STEM without art would lack steam. So, for Round 15 of ABC Wednesday, our theme is STEAM and A is for Aquarium.

*references and more, here.