Preliminary: Rocks and Minerals

[anatomy]

Oh sorry, I was confused. Making the key outside the competition is a great way to study, I just work well the other way. Don't get me wrong, the key is a great way to study, outside the competition.

For this event, should i also focus on certain groups of rock forming minerals, like amphiboles?

[gneissisnice]

Oh sorry, I was confused. Making the key outside the competition is a great way to study, I just work well the other way. Don't get me wrong, the key is a great way to study, outside the competition.

For this event, should i also focus on certain groups of rock forming minerals, like amphiboles?

Eh, the mineral groups aren't that important, they're separated by structure and mineral structure is outside the scope of the event. Know what group each mineral belongs to (silicates, neosilicates, pyroxenes, etc.) but I shouldn't think that you need to know specifics like the tertiary diagrams or solid solution series, that's all college level stuff. And you only need to focus on minerals on the list, I wouldn't go learning every mineral in existence (if you want to do that for fun, go ahead, but it's unnecessary for the event).

[IdahoSciGuy]

I wouldn't go learning every mineral in existence.

I may or may not be guilty of losing control and trying this at some point. XD

I would also assume you should know a decent amount on the Bowen Reaction Series as well, but as to how much, i'm not sure. I'm going to go hunt down my rules sheets again.....

[rfscoach]

I wouldn't go learning every mineral in existence.

I may or may not be guilty of losing control and trying this at some point. XD

I would also assume you should know a decent amount on the Bowen Reaction Series as well, but as to how much, i'm not sure. I'm going to go hunt down my rules sheets again.....

In the past Bowen was required for Div C but not for Div B.

[Paradox21]

I made a dichotomous key for Ornithology a couple years ago. It took a lot of time to make, but was highly effective. I could usually find the bird I was looking for in 20-30 seconds using the key. However, I found that by simply making the key I learned 95% of the ID by sight anyway. I only ever had to use it a handful of times in competition, and a couple of those times it was just for fun because we had a lot of extra time. I think a dichotomous key is useful as a way to learn identification, rather than actually using it as a tool to ID things. It forces you to group similar things together, then find the small differences between them.

[Cheesy Pie]

I still think a good method is a previous test. It gives an idea of what the test is like even before you get the rules. And after.

[anatomy]

Yes, I agree, tests are really helpful.

Would the audubon field guide be a good a resource for this event?

I looked at it and it didn't have all the required info. so I don't know if it is actually that good.

[Cheesy Pie]

Do you know of a field guide with more info?

[IdahoSciGuy]

The Guides I use:

Simon and Schuster's Guide to Rocks and Minerals
Peterson's Field Guide, Rocks and Minerals
National Audubon Society Guide to North American Rocks and Minerals.

The audubon guide is my favorite of the three, it has an appropriate selection from the official list, Has excellent photos, and is well organized. Simon and schusters is a close second for me. It has an incredible range of diversity of minerals, however much of it is unnecessary. Also, the minerals are sporadically located, making it hard to organize. The Plus side is the pictures are incredibly detailed, more so than the audubon society. Last on my list is the Peterson guide. It has a wealth of written information in it, though there are very few pictures located in the center of the book, and it is very textual. If you learn by reading, this would be a good one for you.

When making tests, I use all three, because some of the information(like crystalline structure, and chemical composition) comes from one guide, while another may have common usage information, and still another may provide basic hardness and cleavage information, for example. If you had to pick a guide to bring to the comp, I would definitely choose the audubon society, in my opinion.

[mingtian]

Do you know of a field guide with more info?

I would recommend the Audobon. It's my personal favorite in all subject areas. They do a thorough job.