Project Wonder Gardens                          

Imagine this: You enter Wonder Gardens and look around. “This better be worth the money,” you think as you walk in the building. You see an amazing cage with a sign and some details about the animal. You read it and think “Wow, I never knew that the most dangerous spider on earth is called the Sydney Funnel Web. And I didn’t even know that it existed!” As you walk by the exhibits, you see animals you’ve never seen before and you learn mind blowing facts. You feel like you have been teleported to your dreamland except that it is a thousand times better.

    Welcome to Wonder Gardens, my animal exhibit museum, whose main purpose is to show different animals that most people don’t know about and create interest towards animals. Wonder Gardens is not only for the safety of humans, but also for the safety of animals. 

Wonder Gardens is special because it will show animals and tell facts about them that people don’t know. For example, most people have no idea that the most venomous snake in the world is the Inland Taipan or the most venomous spider is the Sydney Funnel Web. I also want to show that just because some animals are venomous doesn’t mean that they deserve to be killed. I know safety is important but awareness and knowledge about them will keep both the people and the animals safe. A lot of people accidentally get very close to a snake or venomous spider and don’t know what type it is until it’s too late.

“I wish the world was twice as big – and half of it was still unexplored.” – Sir David Attenborough

            Sir David Attenborough was a huge inspiration for this project. I have always liked his documentaries since I was a little kid. Just like him I would like to help the planet, by creating a Wonder Gardens center for people to see animals in their natural habitat and learn about them. I believe that people and animals can coexist. If something happens to earth, there is no planet B. Unfortunately, we cannot teach animals about humans. So, I will take the easier way and teach people about animals. The planet is going through climate change, pollution, hunting and many other things, so the least we can do to help the environment is to educate people. I love this project because I have always liked animals and nature. I am happiest when I am outside exploring nature. 

How is Wonder Gardens Organized?

    Wonder Gardens has the following exhibits:

• Fangs
• Aquariums
• Amphibians
• Insects
• Reptiles
• Members

Each exhibit has multiple enclosures. An enclosure is a closed space where the animals live. Each enclosure has one or more habitats. A habitat is a natural environment for animals, plants and other organisms such as fungi. 

For every type of animal, we have different enclosures for them based on their type. One example is a bark scorpion. It has a dark energy light so people can see it in its den. For reptiles we have different enclosures ranging from the spiny devil (lizard) in a desert enclosure to black caimans in rivers and waterfalls. The fishes have aquariums as enclosures. Aquariums have fishes as small as shiners and archerfish to fishes as big as arapaima and sturgeons.

There are multiple habitats. The amphibians have moist habitats. The salamanders and toads have wet marshy and damp habitats on land while newts and frogs have streams and waterfalls. The amphibians can also live with fish because of biodiversity. There is also a habitat with a mangrove forest. It has fish, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.

Here is my Wonder Gardens that I created using Legos. I used my imagination when I created the Lego version using pieces from other Lego sets. 

Wonder Gardens

Wonder Gardens Exhibits

Fangs                                                                                                                               

Venomous scorpion

Goliath bird eater tarantula

The Fangs exhibit is a huge room with different enclosures in the exhibit. Inside we have different types of animals. A few of these animals are Black Forest scorpions, Bark scorpions, Inland Taipans (the most venomous snake on earth), and Brazilian wandering spiders. This exhibit has lots of venomous creatures. 

Animals are in their enclosures and there is a place next to the enclosures which has a digital tablet that shows the animals’ food, habitat, country, and their sizes. 

Another famous venomous animal in this exhibit is the black widow. It is one of the most feared spiders in the world. I went above and beyond to get this black widow video. I found it in an irrigation box in my school.

Here is my sketch of a king cobra, which is in the Fangs exhibit. 

We teach people about venom and poison for their safety. Venom comes from bites and stings; it’s usually injected into you. For example, a western diamondback rattlesnake needs to bite you to get its venom inside you. Poison comes from you licking and/or eating it. For example, cane toads that are invasive in Florida will put your pets in danger. If a dog or cat attacks the toad then it will shoot venom from its glands into the dog’s or cat’s eye. 

Aquariums

Tide pool creatures

Alligator tank control center

Open ocean enclosure

Alligator tank

We have saltwater and freshwater habitats in the aquariums. 

Another water type is brackish water. Brackish water is a mix of both salt and freshwater. Brackish water will be hard to filter. Most of the animals in it die of stress easily, the filters are hard to keep, and the animals are hard to maintain together. So, we don’t have brackish water.

Tide pools, mangrove forests and Kelp forests are part of the salt water habitat. 

One enclosure is tide pooling. It is a walkthrough place where you can view and touch many sea animals like the bat star. Here is a video of me touching a bat star. Fun fact: there are more types of animals in the tide pools than the open ocean. The blob sculpin, pacific octopus, leather star, and purple sea urchin all live in the tide pool enclosure. 

Some river trout, arapaima, pacu, red bellied piranhas, red tail catfish, and my favorite, the grass carp live in the mangrove forest enclosure. The mangrove forest is a perfect habitat for many creatures like these animals. 

We have caimans, alligators, and crocodiles in the Kelp forest. The saltwater crocodile has a feeding show where we feed the crocodiles food and they catch it. The Kelp forest, with freezing cold water, has a sea bass, a sheepshead rasp, leopard shark, decorator crab, and others. I love sea animals. 

Rivers, lakes, and ponds are freshwater habitats. We have common snapping turtles, Florida snapping turtles, and my personal favorite, the alligator snapping turtle in the freshwater habitats. 

These are a few types of freshwater fishes that I drew for the Wonder Gardens.

There are many ecosystems in both freshwater and saltwater habitats. There is a coral reef enclosure with wobbegongs, shiner perch, and black tip reef sharks. The filters are trash cans connected to pipes with rocks to keep the water clean. A filter is a contraption that people use to suck dirt and junk out of the aquarium’s water. This is an ecosystem as the fish and sea creatures help each other. For example, the cleaner rasp cleans algae of black tip reef sharks and in return sharks provide protection to the rasp. This clean ecosystem shows people how these animals act in the wild (one of the reasons why Wonder Gardens is special). Fun fact: we know more about space than the ocean.

This enclosure also shows how this habitat is different from others and how it’s important to protect it from pollution and global warming. The icebergs are melting into the ocean and the water level is rising. The coral reefs (especially in tropical areas like the Great Barrier Reef) are in danger because of the El Nino effect. The El Nino effect is taking oxygen out of the water and is killing creatures. By educating people, I want to help our planet.

Amphibians

Toad exhibit

The amphibian exhibit has different enclosures even though they all need moist habitats. The newts and frogs have rivers and streams because they stay in the water most of the time. My drawing below shows the amphibians that are in that exhibit.

The salamanders and toads will be on land. Although three toed Amphiumas salamanders are in both. They have enclosures with lights that make them look brighter in a lush jungle habitat. The habitat is filled with moss, mini waterfall, plants and vegetation. Some animals, like toads, are in different enclosures because they are cannibals. A common species of salamander in Northern California is arboreal salamander. I collected six of them while exploring Sharon Park in Menlo Park.

There are also newts in the enclosure. 

Live demos are provided to the visitors of Wonder Gardens. Here is an example of my demo of California newts and rough scaled newts and an example of my demo about the arboreal salamander.

Insects

Arizona bark scorpion

The insects have a lot of different habitats. The Jerusalem crickets are insects that are food for animals. The darkling and tiger beetles have different terrariums. The brown recluse has an urban habitat since they live near humans. 

Some habitats are wild. For example, the Hercules beetle has a desert habitat and the yellow crazy ant has a garden like human habitat. Most insects have a way of camouflaging, so I have tried my best to replicate that. My drawing below shows the different types of insects that are in the Wonder Gardens.

Below are my drawings of a western yellow jacket and a black widow.

Millipedes are insects that have lots of legs and a round body. Unlike their closely related cousin the centipede, they are not venomous. Here is my video with a millipede.

Reptiles

Mangrove snake

Grand Cayman iguana

The reptiles have huge enclosures. Some reptiles are dangerous. So, I have reinforced glass. The copperhead snakes are venomous but the venom is not strong enough to kill you. The reticulated python is actually longer than the green anaconda so it has a bigger enclosure. The pit vipers have desert and jungle habitats. Most constrictors like wet habitats and rivers. Most snakes are solitary but some snakes like black mambas and eastern garter snakes live together for protection. I give them live food so people can see their instincts in the wild. For example, when a venomous snake is about to bite it is in a striking position and looks like it’s in a S shape. The western and eastern diamondback rattlesnake eat live roof and kangaroo rats. 

The way to identify if snakes are venomous is to check if they have a triangular shaped head and a line for its eyes. Some snakes like the gopher snake pretend to be venomous. The venomous snakes form a neurotoxin when they are juveniles. One thing I teach in Wonder Gardens is that rattlesnakes use air to bang their segments together which makes the famous rattling sound.

I share the following tips with the visitors about venomous snakes:

• Cottonmouths (venomous) are usually mistaken for water snakes (non-venomous)
• To identify a venomous snake,
  • The first step is to look at its head. If its an oval then its non-venomous but if its a triangle then its venomous. 
  • The second step is to look at its eyes. If its a circle then its non-venomous and if its a diamond/oval its venomous.
• If you’re hiking then hike with at least two or more people. If you get bitten your friends will call the ambulance.
• Watch where you are stepping.
• If you encounter any snake, the best thing to do is to back away slowly.
• If you are figuring out which snake it is, make sure the website is a trusted source so you don’t get too close to the wrong snake.

Here is my drawing of an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.                                               

Animals are only trying to protect themselves and not intentionally trying to hurt people. Snakes and spiders are getting their venom milked by professionals so they can create an anti-venom medicine. 

Another reptile called the Jamaican iguanas are critically endangered. By having them in the Wonder Gardens, I am helping the iguanas survive extinction by educating people.  

Bearded dragons are very tame as pets but in the wild they can get aggressive. In Wonder Gardens, I raise them like in the wild with live prey so people can see them with their natural instincts (while the bearded dragon is still in its enclosure). Here is my drawing of a bearded dragon.                                                                                                                                                                                         

Lizards and other reptiles are good hunters. When someone says “lizards” you probably think of an iguana, or komodo dragon. Chances are that you don’t think of a legless lizard. Many lizards have legs but did you know that some lizards don’t? There are lots of strange facts about lizards. One of the rare lizards is an alligator lizard. Here is a photo of a juvenile southern alligator lizard that I found in Sharon Park. 

These lizards can be extremely entertaining to watch which is why I have them in Wonder Gardens. Here is a picture that I took of the alligator lizard. 

Members Exhibit

One of the exhibits is for members only. It is for people who paid money for the membership. They can come in any time during the year as they have membership. They get access to exclusive things such as different morphs, feeding shows and rare creatures. Here is an example of a feeding show that I drew.

Rare creatures like the alligator snapping turtle are an important part of the Members exhibit.

This is the members’ room made by Legos. You can see an alligator in its enclosure from the top view but if you’re a member you can walk down the stairs into the room and see the underwater alligator room. 

The Members’ exhibit has an enclosure for different morphs:

• One morph is albino. It has red eyes with a white body. 
• Another morph is melanistic. This happens because there is too much of the chemical melanism in the body when it’s in the embryo. Hence, it appears in a cool jet black color. The reason this is in the members area is that this morph is very rare and it is extremely expensive.

Members exhibit

Members exhibit

Alligator enclosure

Rainforest Habitat

We have different habitats such as the rainforest. 

The rainforest habitat is a lush environment with lots of water and grassy terrain. It has a river flowing through it and trees everywhere. In the river it has a mangrove forest for fish and aquatic species. This is based off of a rainforest (specifically the Amazon rainforest) in South America.

Most of the animals there are very fragile so we have different areas. This is a moist and tropical habitat, so the animals feel comfortable. Here is a 3D model built by Legos to show how it looks inside.

Rainforest

We also have field trips for children so they can come here and learn about these animals. They go on scavenger hunts, looking for animals in the building and get badges for it. The children also do research on the animals and make graphs like this.

Finally, here is a top view of my whole Wonder Gardens.

Wonder Gardens

Come visit Wonder Gardens any time and see your favorite animals!

Acknowledgments

I am so thankful to everyone on this list:

1. Sir David Attenborough and his documentaries. 
2. National Geographic magazines.
3. California Academy of Sciences and the volunteers who answered all my questions every time I visited this special place.
4. Monterey Bay Aquarium and the volunteers who patiently answered my questions and let me touch some of the animals.
5. Marine Science Institute and the amazing people who work there.
6. Brave Wilderness by Coyote Peterson.
7. My best friend Nathan and his dad Mr. Williams.  
8. My parents, who showed me how to insert pictures, drawings and videos in this document. They also helped in adding borders to my drawing, labels in Lego pictures and aligning the text in this document.