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Before starting the course, I was excited to take my first science class in college. I had heard great things about my professor and I was ready and eager to learn from him. I had heard in the past that science in college would be difficult and unenjoyable but I still decided to take the class because I need the credit and I honestly wanted to learn more about biology rather than any other science subject. I thought that the class may have been boring because science in the past for me wasn't the most intresting subject but I'm very glad that I took this course.

During the couse, the professor never assigned us homework and had us do all of our work during class which was great. This made me engage myself more during the class time and I could focus on what the professor was teaching us live much easier. The professor had us learning about different parts of biology, such as an animals ecosystem, different types of species, cells, viruses, and many more. The professor also had the students work with each other which gave the class a great sense of community. It was very easy to speak to and write about the other students after we all introduced ourselves to each other. Padlet was used in this class as a personal portfolio and it was very awesome how we were able to put all of our work into one space.

After completing the course, I was surprised to have learned a lot more than expected. I learned many new things that I hadn't known before about several different parts of biology. Thanks to this class, I have a very different perspective on science then what I thought beforehand. The course went very smoothly and it was nice to have a relationship with some of my peers and professor.

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Geckos are one of the most popular lizards, and few people realize just how long these pets have been around.Unlike humans, birds and other species that have greatly changed with evolution, the geckos of today are almost identical to the way they once were.The earliest gecko fossil, studied by scientists of Oregon State University and the National History Museum of London is dated to be 100 million years old.Over time, eleven different hierarchies of gecko evolved adhesive toe pads to climb smooth surfaces. However, nine of these hierarchies lost their adhesive abilities because of unknown reasons.Only because of these incredible sticky pads are geckos able to walk on vertical walls, even upside down.Over the course of time, geckos have evolved several techniques to fit in the environment.Geckos have adapted more than one feature to defend themselves. They have a characteristic appearance to disguise in the environment. Unlike other animals, they can change their appearance according to the environment and can camouflage. Most importantly, they can release the tail when a predator catches.

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The animal that I chose was the leopard gecko. I chose this animal because I own one and find them very interesting. These animals live in the australian desert and are very accustomed to living in very hot and very cold temperatures. Climate change could cause temperatures of these deserts to become very hot and dry or even a bit colder. Research shows that leopard geckos have been shown to be very adaptable to many different climates. A hotter or colder temperature wouldn’t have much of an effect on leopard geckos but these climate changes could cause other species that they hunt to die out. If this happens then this could be a threat to them because they wouldn’t have food to eat in their areas.

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The padlet that I chose was Melody Garcia's padlet. I chose this padlet because hers really interested me. In her biography, she explains how she's grown up in miami her whole life and how her home campus is Kendall, just like me. We also have other similarities like how she loves animals and wants to be a veterinarian in the future, while I do not want to be a veterinarian in the future i did when I was a child and still love animals. Another thing that interested me in her padlet was the species she chose. She chose bats as the species she wanted to talk about. Bats are a pretty cool species and no one really talks about them. They have a lot of different qualities that make them special like their amazing sense of hearing. I didn't know they were endangered but now I do because of melodys post about them. All in all I think Melody's padlet is great and she seems like a fun and chill person to be friends with.

https://padlet.com/melodygarcia001/my-portfolio-ypsscf0mesd3anv7

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What caught my attention in this video is that even after completing the metamorphosis stage and turning to a beautiful butterfly, they still gain their memories from when they were caterpillars. Another thing that caught my attention, was that they transform into beautiful butterflies from once being caterpillars.

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The life cycle of the butterfly - Franziska Bauer

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One topic in the video that caugh my attention is positive feedback. Positive feedback happens when something bad happens but benefits their environment in the long run and causes their link to thrive. What's interesting about the whole process is how everything is always connected to each other regardless of how small one interaction is.

0:52-1:25

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Feedback loops: How nature gets its rhythms - Anje-Margriet Neutel

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Hello fellow classmates, my name is Melanie Garcia. I'm from Miami, Florida, born and raised, and my home capus is Kendall campus. Currently, I am majoring in business administartion and this is my second semester in college. I took my last semester in person in the campus but I had taken one online class and really liked how it worked so now, I'm taking my classes online full time now for this semester. One thing I am really proud of are my parents, they came from from Cuba and started a new life for my sister and I, and faced many extremely difficult hardships. I want to make them proud with what I do in my future. Aside from college, I also work during the days I'm not studying. I work at a sushi restuarant for take out and it is my first and only job I've ever had. I enjoy working there and I'm comfortable there. Some things I enjoy doing in my free time are reading and buying books, painting, hanging out with my friends, or hanging out with my boyfriend. My favorite food is sushi (funny enough) and pasta. My favorite color is purple. And I also have a pet leopard gecko, and his name is "Goku".

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Leopard geckos are native to dry, sandy, rocky desert-like regions throughout the Middle East. Even though we keep them as pets in our homes, these little guys wouldn't survive in industrialized cities that we live in; it's far too noisy and populated for them there. Leopard Geckos thrive in very harsh conditions like extremely hot deserts due to them having the ability to store large amounts of fat in their tails, allowing them to go a very long time without food or water if necessary. Their habitat is hot and arid most of the day, they prefer to be crepuscular. Crepuscular means that they are usually active during dawn and dusk when it's cooler in the hot arid desert. During the day they like to bask in the sun on rocky outcrops when they need to thermoregulate. The rocky sandy area they live in provides great spaces to burrow in away from scary predators and also provide plenty of insects to eat!

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Over the past few decades, leopard geckos have become one of the most popular pet reptiles on the planet. Nowadays, just about every pet shop seems to have baby leopard geckos of varying colors and patterns available. However, it wasn't always this way. If you own one of these delightful lizards or are thinking about adopting one, you may have thought at some point: what is a leopard gecko habitat like in the wild? Where do they live?

Keep reading to learn more about the leopard gecko's habitat in the wild. We'll also cover what a captive leopard gecko habitat should look like if you're considering adopting one of your own.

Where Do Wild Leopard Geckos Live?

Leopard geckos are native to sandy, rocky desert-like regions throughout the Middle East
©iStock.com/Daniel Castillo

Although leopard geckos are now living in homes on nearly every continent, their native habitat is actually a fairly small region tucked away in the Middle East.

These unique lizards come from some of the hottest, driest deserts in countries like Iran, northern India, Afghanistan, Nepal, and parts of Pakistan. There are five total leopard gecko subspecies. All of these subspecies are distributed throughout the same general location.

You won't see leopard geckos often in populous, industrialized areas like cities and towns full of people, either. They are fairly skittish, solitary, and secretive in the wild. As a result, they tend to avoid humans, preferring to hide under and around rocks and in dense scrublands.

What is a Wild Leopard Gecko's Habitat Like?

Leopard geckos enjoy basking on large, warm rocks in the wild
©Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock.com

As we touched on briefly above, leopard geckos thrive in very hot, dry deserts, semi-desert areas, and scrublands.

Surprisingly, these little lizards do well in these harsh conditions! Most notably, they can store large amounts of fat in their tails. This allows them to go without food or water for days or even weeks if necessary. If they encounter a predator, they can also drop their tails in order to escape. They can even eat their shed skin for a quick boost of nutrients!

Overall, a wild leopard gecko's habitat is sandy, rocky, and dry with small amounts of plant cover. Vegetation is quite sparse in these desert-like regions. The small grassy areas, rocks, and dense bushes provide just enough shelter for them to hide from predators.

Because their habitat is so hot and arid, leopard geckos prefer to be crepuscular. This means they are mostly active at night and early in the morning when temperatures are milder. They often bask on rocky outcrops when they need to thermoregulate, since the large, flat rocks retain heat for hours after the sun sets. These rocky, sandy regions also provide great areas for the geckos to burrow in for safety (and provide lots of insects and invertebrates for them to eat!).

For decades, biologists believed wild leopard geckos were strictly solitary in nature. However, more recent research suggests that some individuals actually live within small groups or loosely structured colonies.

What is a Captive Leopard Gecko's Habitat Like?

Captive leopard geckos must be kept in secure enclosures with solid, flat substrates to minimize the risk of impaction.
©Madison Stuczynski/Shutterstock.com

When it comes to keeping leopard geckos in captivity, the most important thing is replicating their natural habitat as closely as possible (within reason). Fortunately, these hardy little geckos fare quite well in captivity! They are very forgiving to common beginner reptile owner mistakes and have curious yet docile temperaments.

A captive leopard gecko must live in a secure enclosure, preferably 20 to 30 gallons or larger with lots of horizontal space to explore. They are mostly terrestrial and don't climb much, so vertical space isn't as important for them as it is for other arboreal gecko species.

Additionally, temperature and humidity control are very important for a captive leopard gecko habitat. Temperatures should be similar to those they would experience in the wild, and their enclosure needs a gentle temperature gradient from the hot side (their basking area) to the cooler side. Humidity must be low, just like in their native habitat, or within 30% to 40% at all times.

Finally, substrate should be solid and flat, like tile, stone, linoleum, reptile sand mats, reptile carpet, or even paper towels. This is to minimize the risk of impaction, as wild leopard geckos often succumb to this condition by eating many small, indigestible particles of sand and dirt over time. Variation in elevation and enrichment should be added to the enclosure with decorations like rocks, bridges, caves, and logs.

Interestingly, their ability to thrive in captivity is part of the reason why they were the first domesticated lizard species! Starting in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reptile breeders plucked leopard geckos from their native habitats and bred them in captivity to great and immediate success.

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Leopard Gecko Habitat: Where Do Leopard Geckos Live?

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Over the past few decades, leopard geckos have become one of the most popular pet reptiles on the planet. Nowadays, just about every pet shop seems to have baby leopard geckos of varying colors and patterns available. However, it wasn't always this way.

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In this video I just watched, they talked about the pandemic and how to stop a pandemic. What caught my attention however, was the three options the government had in order to stop it. The three options were the following : Race Through It, Delay & Vaccinate, and finally Coordinate & Crush. The reason these options caught my eye was because it almost felt like we've lived through all of them. What I mean by that is when COVID-19 happened in 2020, and government declared a pandemic, it felt like the US did trial and error for all the three options. In the beginning it felt like we were doing the first option, race through it, with how many people were dying and how many people were getting affected. Then, because of that result it then felt like we were doing the third option, Coordinate & Crush because it wasn't only the US being infected it was also the rest of the world, and it felt like they were trying to see each other's game plan. And finally we finished and have been the most successful with Delay and Vaccinate.

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Leopard geckos or "eublepharis macularius" are lizards native to the rocky dry grassland and desert regions of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. They have become common household pets by many (including me) during the last 40 years. Leopard geckos are usually in shaded areas during the day, spending their time sleeping, and are more commonly active during dawn and dusk when the temperatures are more to their liking.

Source: https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/leopard-gecko

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1) Constants can also be referred to as…?

A. Independent Variables
*B. Controlled Variables
C. Graphing
D. Consistency

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In this video, they informed the viewers about CER. CER is claim, evidence, reasoning. Together, they can all be used to help others develop a conclusion to a scientic explanation. In order to do this, you need a claim about your scientific investigation, with the evidence supporting that claim, and the reasoning supporting the evidence as to why and how they corelate or why that evidence is used for the claim you have. Claim is a statement that answers the question you have in your scientific investigation. Evidence is the scientific data and details that support your claim. Reasoning is the "how" and/or  "why" the evidence supports the claim. What I found to be super intresting is that these steps do not only have to be used in a scientific setting. You can use CER practically anywhere! You can use CER as long as you have a question and want to answer it.