Fossils B/C

[isotelus]

Hey! I'm a freshman doing Science Olympiad for the first time, does anybody have any advice for me? Right now I'm focusing on Fossils, but I'm in 4 different events. Is Wikipedia a good source for Fossils? I know the quality can vary, and not to trust it completely, but is it mostly right?

Wikipedia should be good enough (especially since many test writers use wikipedia for questions). If you wanted to, you could cross check temporal ranges just to make sure that they were correct.

Thanks! I've noticed a couple of the fossils have no to very little information, so I'll definitely need to do some more research. Right now I've got a 95 page document (maybe 35 of them have pictures, though, so I'll need to work on that) mostly taken from Wiki.

Yeah, especially for many of the invertebrates, there's little to no information. You could try to check out a field guide (audobon/smithsonian) as they might have some more information that could be in tests.

[jkotl0327]

What are the best comprehensive resources (paid or free, textbook or online) that help you learn about the subject? Also, are there any guides on how to properly create a binder?
Thank you.

Honestly, I've just been using Wikipedia and digging up anything I can find online. The Audubon field guide is also very nice. For binders, it's nice to make fact sheets for every specimen. You can find some examples of info you need on the scioly wiki.

Do you also think ordering the fossil kit is necessary? If not, is there an appropriate substitute for actually studying the fossils hands-on?

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

What are the best comprehensive resources (paid or free, textbook or online) that help you learn about the subject? Also, are there any guides on how to properly create a binder?
Thank you.

Honestly, I've just been using Wikipedia and digging up anything I can find online. The Audubon field guide is also very nice. For binders, it's nice to make fact sheets for every specimen. You can find some examples of info you need on the scioly wiki.

Do you also think ordering the fossil kit is necessary? If not, is there an appropriate substitute for actually studying the fossils hands-on?

I don't really think it's necessary, although it might be helpful. I think you could go into the event just looking at pictures and still score decently.

[navasarala]

I am new to Science Olympiad, and I'm not sure how to prepare for fossils. I don't know much about fossils, and there is a lot of stuff to study. I'm not just worried about putting together the taxa for the fossils, i'm worried I won't understand the other things on the list, like absolute dating or stuff like that. As of now I'm just putting information on Google Docs, but I don't think that's the best way to study. Is there any other way?

[MadCow2357]

I am new to Science Olympiad, and I'm not sure how to prepare for fossils. I don't know much about fossils, and there is a lot of stuff to study. I'm not just worried about putting together the taxa for the fossils, i'm worried I won't understand the other things on the list, like absolute dating or stuff like that. As of now I'm just putting information on Google Docs, but I don't think that's the best way to study. Is there any other way?

I'm new to fossils myself, but I'm relatively sure a ton has been mentioned on this forum already. Take some time to read through stuff! It'll pay off.

[RockRoll92]

I am new to Science Olympiad, and I'm not sure how to prepare for fossils. I don't know much about fossils, and there is a lot of stuff to study. I'm not just worried about putting together the taxa for the fossils, i'm worried I won't understand the other things on the list, like absolute dating or stuff like that. As of now I'm just putting information on Google Docs, but I don't think that's the best way to study. Is there any other way?

Well, I would suggest first creating your binder. That way you could use the information you have complied in it to study in other ways. You can definitely make information sheets on each taxa in google drive, which you can then study from in different ways, such as flashcards or a power point presentation for example. Making the binder is a great study experience as well because you have to copy down the information from wherever you find it!

[isotelus]

I am new to Science Olympiad, and I'm not sure how to prepare for fossils. I don't know much about fossils, and there is a lot of stuff to study. I'm not just worried about putting together the taxa for the fossils, i'm worried I won't understand the other things on the list, like absolute dating or stuff like that. As of now I'm just putting information on Google Docs, but I don't think that's the best way to study. Is there any other way?

Don't worry, many people know almost nothing about their events when they first start, and end up being very knowledgeable by the end of the season. Continue to work and study hard, and the event will come to you, just like any other. Honestly, putting info together isn't really hard but is time consuming. Just continue to work on it and make sure you're getting the info you need.

If you're worried that you won't understand things, then study them, and if you still don't understand them, feel free to ask on here. For fossils, in my opinion, concepts aren't too hard to understand but there is a lot of intuitive memorization for ID and very commonly tested information.
For your question about absolute dating, here's some information:
Relative dating is great when you don't need the exact time something was around, so you can just compare rock layers using principles like superposition and whatnot. Absolute dating, though, comes into play when you need very precise times of the rocky body/organism/or anything you could come across. Basically, for the purposes of fossils, you need to know about radiometric dating. I guess a really weird test could ask about dendrochronology, but I've never seen that. Radiometric dating utilizes half-lives to find the exact age. It's not too hard to understand, though.

Putting your binder notes on google docs is fine imo. Just make sure to print before competitions, etc., and make sure to be organized. Also it's often a good idea to tab important areas of the binder and/or at least try to memorize where everything is. Fully utilize the 3-inch rule for the binder.

To study, you and your partner maybe, or maybe your friends if your partner isn't available, can search up organisms you've learned for you to practice ID, and/or of course you can take tests. You could also make quizlets to test information, or something along those lines.

Just study, practice what you've studied, and review, and you'll become much better at the event in no time.

[jennarholt]

Hey! New to fossils here. What do the bolded specimens on the official fossil list mean? Not the Phylums, but say "Genus Eldredgeops". I'm a bit confused as to if this is the right place to ask, but I think it is.

Also, I'm a bit confused on how to read the list. Are the non-numbered classifications still important? Or are they just for sorting.

Thank you! Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just want to figure this out.

[hippo9]

Hey! New to fossils here. What do the bolded specimens on the official fossil list mean? Not the Phylums, but say "Genus Eldredgeops". I'm a bit confused as to if this is the right place to ask, but I think it is.

Also, I'm a bit confused on how to read the list. Are the non-numbered classifications still important? Or are they just for sorting.

Thank you! Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just want to figure this out.

To the first part of your question I'm pretty sure bolded items are ones changed from the 2016 list. As for the second question I would still have info on those classifications just in case, I just don't think you would have to identify a specimen of those groups that isn't off of the numbered classifications. Hope that makes sense.

[UTF-8 U+6211 U+662F]

Hey! New to fossils here. What do the bolded specimens on the official fossil list mean? Not the Phylums, but say "Genus Eldredgeops". I'm a bit confused as to if this is the right place to ask, but I think it is.

Also, I'm a bit confused on how to read the list. Are the non-numbered classifications still important? Or are they just for sorting.

Thank you! Sorry if this sounds stupid, I just want to figure this out.

To the first part of your question I'm pretty sure bolded items are ones changed from the 2016 list. As for the second question I would still have info on those classifications just in case, I just don't think you would have to identify a specimen of those groups that isn't off of the numbered classifications. Hope that makes sense.

Just to add on to this, you could easily be asked to, e.g. determine which specimens are brachiopods and which are bivalves.