7^th Grade students worked under the direction of art teacher Heather Graessle and guest artist Cliff Mendelson on this large scale ceramic tile mural.

This interdisciplinary mural depicts the biodiversity of the planet and how interconnected animal and plant life are to its existence. One of the seventh grade science teachers, Tanya Broccolo, supplied Ms. Graessle with the 7^th grade science curriculum units. Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life. It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation (number of species) within an area, biome, or planet.

Our role as artists is to explore the world around us and bring it to life in a visual way, not only for our own enjoyment but for others to experience as well.  We explored Earth's biodiversity by creating three-dimensional relief tiles.

How can you help protect the diverse life around us? Here are some basic ways to start living a sustainable life:

1.   Recycle

2.   REUSE

3.   Compost

4.   Walk, Bike or Bus

5.   Conserve Energy & Water

6.   Buy or Borrow Local and Reused Products

7.   CLEAN GREEN

8.   Bring your own bags

9.   Drink from the tap 

10.  Get growing!

The funding for our guest artist was provided by the Arts in Education program. All costs for materials were supplied by Ms. Graessle’s work with Artsonia.com. Thank you to all of the parents who bought personalized keepsakes from their children’s online portfolios! We would also like to extend a very special thank you to Ray Cilento and Steve Papineau for displaying this heavy work of art in the hallway.

Teacher Artists