Save the grays monitor lizard

https://jpartsch0506.wixsite.com/grays-monitor-lizard

The gray's monitor lizard is less known in the world. It is even less known when you look at the list of endangered animals. Many people know of elephants, narwhals and tigers, but did you know of the gray's monitor lizard? The gray's monitor lizard is listed as threatened on the list of endangered animals. The Gray's Monitor Lizard is also known as the Varanus Olivaceus. The Gray's monitor lizard is an olive green color with gold and black spots which helps them survive in there ecosystem. Not to far in size to it's relative the Komodo Dragon, the gray's monitor can grow up to six feet long from the tip of its tail to the end of its nose. Though it can be huge it usually maxes out at 20 pounds. They usually live for 15 to 15 years.

Backward-Looking 

I actually knew somewhat a lot about the subject when coming into this project. This is because when I grow up I want to be a zoologist. When I found out that I was able to do that particular role in my project, I was really excited. Though I did not know a thing, not even the name really, of the animal that we choose to do. This means that I knew nothing about that particular thing. 

Inwards-looking

I think what is most pleasing about my project is that it is very creative. It is a good piece of work that I am happy with and that I like. I think what I like the most is the wix site that I created to manage our project and the data that we collected. I think that it looks nice and is very organized and well done.

Outwards-looking

I think that we did do our work differently them other groups. I think that what we included was probably the same. This is because we all included an infographic, food chain, timeline and research. But the way in which we organized it, through a wix site, was different from others.

Forwards-looking

If I could change one thing about this project it would be to take less time on research and more time on the product itself. I think this because the product making takes longer than research should. I do not think that we spent to much time on research, but it was probably more time than we should have.

the Gray's Monitor lizard

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monitor_Lizard_in_Thailand.JPG

I am sure that you know many endangered species, the elephant, narwhal and more. But do you know of the gray's monitor lizard. The gray's monitor lizard was believed to be extinct up until recently. It was rediscovered on a small island in the Philippines. Being part of the Varanus family, it is a relative to the huge Komodo Dragon. It is known to grow up to six feet from tail to nose, but only weighs up to 20 lbs. Its babies, after around 11 eggs, first laid in July through October, have a 300 day incubation time, are usually 8 inches and weigh 25 grams. Less than a tenth of a pound. They tend to be a Olive green-ish color with gold and black spots. As most of the members of the genus Varanus are, the gray's monitor lizard is an omnivore, though more than half of its diet is constructed of meat. It is a very shy animal and rarely has anything to do with humans. It simply lives in a tree, eats food, has babies and then eventually it dies. The problem is that for over 50 years we have been destroying their habitat. Not only that but it is rare that they are in zoos because it is so hard to have them reproduce in captivity, it has only been done about a dozen times in the western hemisphere. But they are also hard to raise. They have a strange diet and a strange way of eating their food.

S&EP
SP3: Planning and carrying out investigations

I planned and carried out investigations on the gray's monitor lizard. I did this by looking up facts about their lives and what they do. I have also investigated why they are going extinct. Even though that was not what I had to do, it was weird to me that they are going extinct when they have no interaction with humans because they are so shy.

XCC
XCC: Cause an effect

We humans are causing the gray's monitor lizard to go extinct. This is because over 50 years we have been destroying their natural habitat. There is also no way to have them thrive in captivity so that just makes matters worse. The fact that the are so hard to keep and have reproduce in captivity is part of the reason why. Over all we need to stop hurting the gray's monitor lizard's habitat because they have nowhere else to go except extinction. 

Interactions between organisms.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Smiling_Dog_Face.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Flickr_-_Rainbirder_-_Egyptian_Plover_(Pluvianus_aegyptius).jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/9/98/Alligator.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/

commons/1/1c/Chilean_Mockingbird.jpg

There are many way in which animals within an ecosystem interact with each other. They have different relationships like predator prey relationships, competitor relationships and symbiosis relationships. The symbiosis relationship is made of three different relationships. The Parasitism relationship, Mutualism relationship and the commensalism relationship. A parasitism relationship is a win lose situation. Like the tick and the dog. The tick likes the dog because it gets blood but the dog loses blood and does not like it. A Mutualism relationship is a win win situation. Like the Egyptian Plover and the Alligator. The Egyptian Plover eats food and thing out of the alligator's mouth therefore getting food, and the alligator gets clean teeth. A commensalism relationship is a win-meh situation. Like the orchid and the tree. The orchid get light to grow and the tree could care less. A predator prey relationship is one between predator and prey, a win-lose situation. Like a shark and a fish the shark gets food and the fish gets eaten. A competitor relationship is one where two things are competing for something. This is also a win lose situation. Like the tree and the vine. The vine wraps around the tree to compete for sunlight the tree then doesn't get enough sunlight and dies. 



S&EP
SP2: Using Models.

I used models to show the different interactions between animals in an ecosystem. I did this by organising each different interactions. I then gave each box a tittle and a description on what it was about. This then turned into a diagram that I used to help me learn about the different interactions in an ecosystem.

XCC
XCC: Systems and System models

An ecosystem is a giant system found in different environments. There are changes and parts that all determine what happens in the ecosystem. All of the animal interactions are part of an ecosystem and are why they can work. Without animal interactions, there would be no such thing as an ecosystem because there would be no change and nothing would work together meaning it would no longer be a system.