As part of the Watershed Integrated Science Partnership (WISP), students and teachers from three different school districts worked together with Dr. Bob Chen and his graduate students to produce an 1,100-tile mural of the Neponset River Watershed. With help from potter Bradley Backer, each student produced a tile depicting one inhabitant of the watershed ecosystem. When assembled, the resulting mural both displays a map of the watershed and illustrates the complexity of the ecosystem.

In June of 2004, the 10-foot by 15-foot mural was presented on display at the New England Aquarium, slated to be taken down after six months. Proving to be a popular and useful teaching tool, six years later the mural still hangs in the Aquarium cafeteria.

Watch this video to hear the story of the Neponset watershed mural.