Reptile

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/reptile

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Reptilia
2. What is the habitat?Worldwide distribution across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments, excluding polar regions
3. What makes reptiles special compared to other animals?Reptiles have scaly skin, lay amniotic eggs that can hatch outside water, and use lungs to breathe, which lets them live on land and in many different places.
4. How do reptiles keep warm or cool in hot deserts?Many desert reptiles are active at dawn or dusk and sometimes sleep underground to avoid the hottest part of the day, while tropical reptiles like to stay in shade or near water.

Amniotic Egg: An egg characterized by a protective shell and internal membranes, facilitating terrestrial reproduction.
Ectothermy: The physiological state of being cold-blooded, relying on external environmental heat sources for thermoregulation.
Keratinous Scales: Protective epidermal structures composed of keratin, providing a barrier against desiccation and physical damage.
Trophic Level: The position an organism occupies in a food chain, indicating its feeding relationships within an ecosystem.