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KimmHersh wrote:Can anyone recommend a good rocks and minerals kit for kids to practice with? Wards Science has the official Science Olympiad one, but the samples sound small (5/8")?? I also found one from AMEP?

Thanks!

A friend of mine bought the kit off the website which you refer to and the specimens were decently sized (depending upon their rarity) some were golf ball sized and others were mostly about half that. But because of how specialized the list is there really arent many options for kits that satisfy the list in one go. I personally went out and bought the ones my personal collection lacked (which was by no means cheap) in order to have a specimen for each mineral/rock listed. So for price and convenience the Wards kit is really the best option that I have come across. The one downside is that once you have worked with them for a while you build up a bias to a specific look for each mineral, so even now I will go to my local museum, stores and online to look at different specimens.

Hopefully this helps!

Kyanite wrote:

KimmHersh wrote:Can anyone recommend a good rocks and minerals kit for kids to practice with? Wards Science has the official Science Olympiad one, but the samples sound small (5/8")?? I also found one from AMEP?

Thanks!

A friend of mine bought the kit off the website which you refer to and the specimens were decently sized (depending upon their rarity) some were golf ball sized and others were mostly about half that. But because of how specialized the list is there really arent many options for kits that satisfy the list in one go. I personally went out and bought the ones my personal collection lacked (which was by no means cheap) in order to have a specimen for each mineral/rock listed. So for price and convenience the Wards kit is really the best option that I have come across. The one downside is that once you have worked with them for a while you build up a bias to a specific look for each mineral, so even now I will go to my local museum, stores and online to look at different specimens.

Hopefully this helps!

If I remember correctly, there's some vendor out there (can't remember his name or anything more) that sells an SO Rocks and Minerals kit - it's very good, most of the specimens are around 1.5".

Thanks everyone! I found one at American Educational Products, however it does miss many of the less common ones. I like the idea to go out and get some different samples so the kids (or I) don't become biased towards one sample.

KimmHersh wrote:Thanks everyone! I found one at American Educational Products, however it does miss many of the less common ones. I like the idea to go out and get some different samples so the kids (or I) don't become biased towards one sample.

Glad we could help, hopefully it all works out.

How should I get started on learning to ID? Like from google images it looks like each mineral has a lot of allotropes and different appearances and stuff. Should I learn them all or just the most common?

Thanks in advance!

How exactly do you do practice tests? Because setting up stations takes too much time and where are you supposed to get all of the minerals and rocks? I am completely new to this event and I am kind of clueless. Any help is appreciated!

arv101 wrote:How exactly do you do practice tests? Because setting up stations takes too much time and where are you supposed to get all of the minerals and rocks? I am completely new to this event and I am kind of clueless. Any help is appreciated!

There is no point in taking practice tests in the first place until you know how to ID most specimens. As for the tests themselves, just pull up an electronic or paper copy with pictures or have a partner look at the answer key and make the pictures for the test (getting actual specimens takes a long time and there should be many tests out there with pictures) and either take it at you own pace or time yourself.

gryphaea1635 wrote:How should I get started on learning to ID? Like from google images it looks like each mineral has a lot of allotropes and different appearances and stuff. Should I learn them all or just the most common?

Thanks in advance!

I would start with pictures but be super careful to get the actual mineral/rock you searched for (if you search for selenite then you often get pictures of satin-spar). After that, assuming your team/team members/coaches don't have their own specimens, then I would suggest a local natural history museum or lapidary society.

Are the images on quizlet reliable or should I get a premium account and upload my own images

arv101 wrote:Are the images on quizlet reliable or should I get a premium account and upload my own images

If I were you, I would make my own notecards (I think you mean you want to practice IDing). I don't think quizlet is super reliable (user-made) and I think you can make your own set of notecards (and upload images) with a normal free account.

arv101 wrote:Are the images on quizlet reliable or should I get a premium account and upload my own images

One thing I liked to do when I was first learning the material was to create PowerPoint slides with the pictures, and then type the correct answer in the notes. I would switch with a partner (so I don't already know the answers) and attempt to ID everything, then go back and look at the right answers.