Amphibians and Reptiles

[Deeisenberg]

Yeah, that happened to me last year at invites. I was really annoyed at this event supervisor. At the end I talked to him about it for a few seconds (very politely), and he basically asserted that the rules stated that you could test on any taxa under those on the list. I mean from there I just had to accept it, and I did wind up getting 2nd at that competition, but I was still kind of poed. If that kind of thing is a real problem in your state, then you should probably try to ask for more clarifications on the state and national website, and bring the answers with you. This can make it easier to deal with an event supervisor who is totally incompetent. However if you are having problems with him personally over the matter, then politely end the conversation asserting that you disagree, and if you feel that it is needed, ask your coach to file for an appeal. Just remember before doing so that you really shouldn't do so unless the changes made the event genuinely unfair as this process is a pain, and they will probably reject your appeal unless you can demonstrate the event was in some way "unfair".

[dickyjones]

Just get used to preparing for bad tests. Many event supervisors likely read the rules once or twice and then write a test on the topic in general without following the rules word for word. College professors that write tests are probably going to focus on what they know the most about or do research on more than anything else, even if that area isn't focused on in an event's rules. And you're going to find you'll have very little luck trying to get an appeal for a written test. Chances are when you're screwed with a badly written test, everyone else will do just as badly; and if you've prepared, you should still do well. This isn't always the case, but most of the time on difficult tests that don't follow the rules, the most prepared team will still likely win.

Last year, at regionals, we were to ID every single specimen to species, but we still got 2nd since every other team was as clueless as we. And the girl who beat me was absolutely insane at ID events and completely deserved that first (luckily she graduated last year ).

[Deeisenberg]

I am only saying to appeal in exteme circumstances which would be easily construed as just plain unfair. I do agree with you though, you have to prepare for things that would likely be on a bad test, however for that you can only do so much. You should still concentrate your studying on what is in the rules, and supplement it with that which is not, otherwise you will lose at a well made test because you don't know the assigned and much more important subject matter well enough.

[Pleiades]

I think the same thing that dickyjones said happened to me. I got 2nd place and my binder had every single species [luckily] but there were still a few that i was a little unsure about. The top teams at my state all made their own binders so i bet they only put in up to genus and then therefore didnt do that well on the test. The team that got first place brought in two published field guides [isnt that illegal?] and those guides had every species in them.

[Deeisenberg]

I know that stuff happens, it happened to me at invites. I had a very good hand made binder, but I was lucky enough that even without the species information, we were still able to get 2nd against teams like Fayetteville, and Spakenkyll

[Flavorflav]

The problem is that event writing is a wholly volunteer activity. It takes about 20 hours to produce a really good event, which most volunteers don't want to spend, and there isn't much tournament organizers can do about it. The most they can do is fire the volunteer, which would mean they have to find a new one. As a result, incompetent event writers often end up writing bad events year after year. The only solutions I can think of would be to pay them, which of course there is no money for, or to consolidate dates of regional and state competitions so that events could be shared between regions, thus reducing the number of event writers required. I don't see either happening soon.

[Deeisenberg]

I can write a decent test in like 2-3 hrs...

[noob]

hey peeps wut r some of the questions? because i am the NOOB!

[crabnebula143]

noob-

invites are a GREAT way to find examples of the questions

if you don't go to invites, you team coaches might have some old tests.

Last year, the event was either be a power point or station.

Usually, the event supervisor will give you a picture, ask you to identify it, and ask you questions on the family/genus.

[Pleiades]

noob - Try this!

crabnebula - EXCELLENT choice of events! I did all 4 of those last year and i'm doing all 4 of those again!