Education policymakers have promoted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Education as vital to our nation's future. Innovation depends on a solid knowledge base in math, science, and engineering. Without innovation, our industrial base will erode.

What key unlocks innovation? For many people, the arts provide an uncanny ability to illustrate abstract concepts and open the mental doors to new ways of looking at problems. Education Week recently reported on experts who are making a case for adding the Arts to STEM--creating STEAM.

The NSF-funded project Art of Science Learning explores how to fortify STEM learning by using the arts. Director Harvey Seifter says, "We believe there is a powerful opportunity here to use the arts and arts-based learning to spark transformational change in science education." He mentions a 2008 study which revealed that Nobel laureates in the sciences were 22 times more likely than scientists in general to be involved in the performing arts--think of Einstein and his violin. Others point to Leonardo da Vinci who, in addition to creating some of the world's most enduring art, also created plans for a wide assortment of innovative machines.

Some schools integrating the sciences with art include projects from elementary grades through high schools such as:

• Elementary math students exploring abstract concepts of fractions and geometric shapes through art-making projects, including a "fraction mural"
• Middle school biology students creating watercolor paintings of cell structures
• High school science students competing for the annual ArtScience Prize. This year's theme is Virtual Worlds, and next year's is Synthetic Biology.

Not all educators are "sold" on STEAM, and early results are mixed. However, I wonder if the integration of the arts in the sciences may help our visually attuned generation of students retain more information and stay interested in attending classes.

"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things." - Steve Jobs