I saw this brief article about a school which invested in creating an entirely new avenue for children to learn about the living world–a Botanical Garden and Aquarium on the school’s site. Despite the small scale of the aquarium (which is basically a bunch of store-bought tanks) and the raised planters that can hardly be called a ”Botanical Garden,” the high school in New York does illustrate an admirable dedication to enhancing the science curriculum.
With national cut-backs in education, and battles over what and how we teach science (especially in Texas!), I find this story to be inspiring. Not only will educators be able to show their students the abstract concepts they are studying, but kids will also get a taste of a few science-based professions, like horticulture and zookeeping.
As a parallel thought to the idea of evolving all science institutions (zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, science centers, etc) into one all-encompassing Living Center, incorporating small gardens and animal exhibits into schools seems completely logical. Remember the connection you had to the classroom hamster? Imagine having raccoons or deer or even a monkey or two just outside your classroom! Inspiring children to learn about science shouldn’t just occur on field trips and the occasional family day to the zoo. Professional training in high school shouldn’t just mean shop class and drafting. We should encourage our schools to make these types of additions, despite the associated costs, since the benefits would surely outweigh the costs.
Good Job Gates-Chili High!
I’ve been finding tidbits of news about new aquaria and new additions to old aquaria around the world recently. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find anything in depth about ANY of them, so I decided to make a single posting with links to some of the soon to be built / soon to be open / recently opened aquaria making news these days. If you happen to have any info on any of these, or others, please let me know.
Guadalajara Zoo's Aquarium
Guadalajara Zoo’s New Aquarium in Jalisco, Mexico: $2.5 million addition to existing zoo with 95 species of fish. The main attraction is the aquarium’s great white shark, previously only temporarily exhibited successfully by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. No details on the Guadalajara Aquarium’s exhibit.
Steinhart Aquarium at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco: Expansion of existing aquarium adds California Coast exhibits, including 100,000 gallon main tank and the world’s deepest coral reef tank at 25 feet deep. Opens September 27 as part of the new Science Museum which also includes a Living Rainforest, Penguins, and Alligator exhibits, as well as a planetarium and natural history museum. The Museum complex is another example in the evolution of the science institution as outlined in a previous post.
Xanadu Aquarium at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey: Controversial aquarium in the works, awaiting approval by the New Jersery Governor, plans to be the second largest aquarium in the U.S., behind the Georgia Aquarium. Estimated cost: $200 million. Estimated attendance: 2.5 million annually.
Chiang Mai Zoo’s Aquarium in Northern Thailand: Expected to open in October of this year, the aquarium boasts 8000 individual animals of 250 species. Nearly 88,000 sf in area, the aquarium will supposedly have the world’s longest acrylic tube through a tank (the length is undisclosed). Approximate cost: $17 million.
The Blue Planet Aquarium in Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish designers, 3XN, recently won the design competition for the new aquarium which, as far as I can tell, is the newest in the Blue Planet family seen across Europe. Details are scarce, but design images are not.
3XN's Vision for Blue Planet, Copenhagen
With national cut-backs in education, and battles over what and how we teach science (especially in Texas!), I find this story to be inspiring. Not only will educators be able to show their students the abstract concepts they are studying, but kids will also get a taste of a few science-based professions, like horticulture and zookeeping. 
