Preliminary: Rocks and Minerals

[tuftedtitmouse12]

dont say a word
i have trouble enough with forestry
i would rather this be sort, and trees are already giving me a pain

[gneissisnice]

just curious, why is they R and M list so short? at 93 types, it is fewer than most ID events.

Because these are by far the most common minerals (apart from diamond of course, but no one expects a real specimen for that and it's a rather important mineral). The rest are more obscure and would be more difficult to find samples for. You could possibly add a few more common minerals, like rodochrisite or zirconium (forget if that's on the list or not) or other varieties of quartz, but most other minerals are more obscure.

Besides, with biology ID events, you're dealing with living organisms and so you have a lot of similar ones, like multiple oaks or pines for Forestry or trilobites and brachiopods for Fossils, letting you get more specimens because you can easily distinguish between major groups of animals/plants, leaving most of the identification between members of the same group, while minerals don't really have striking similarities in the same group (silicates don't look appreciably different than, say, halides, they all look equally different).

[tuftedtitmouse12]

didn't Fossils have a short specimens list also?

[rfscoach]

didn't Fossils have a short specimens list also?

Yes, about 91 or so.

[tuftedtitmouse12]

oh
so maybe its just since all of these are non living, or with fossils, no longer living, so the list is shorter? since ornithology and forestry have lists over 150 specimens
ornithology had 182 while forestry has 91 or so...

[anatomy]

well i wouldn't necessarily say the list is shorter.

I think it will be the same size because of all the different type of rocks and then the minerals

[IdahoSciGuy]

So, Im playing around with the idea of practice tests for this event, but i'm finding it really hard to try to put together a test based on identification without having the actual specimen. I will say though, the list is mighty helpful

[Cheesy Pie]

I'd try getting some actual specimens of nonprecious rocks and minerals. That you can find without a huge airfare.

[anatomy]

my school is lucky, because we have like 20 sets of specimens,
hmm i wonder how my coach got those

but you don't necessarily need actual specimens, the audubon field guides has some GREAT pictues

[tuftedtitmouse12]

hurr
for great pics, i would use NWF...if they have a R&M book....