Fossils B/C

[binary010101]

5G and 5H are both simple math questions. (I'm not even sure you need this, but integrated rate laws / half-life equations should make this a piece of cake)

[gneissisnice]

5G and 5H are both simple math questions. (I'm not even sure you need this, but integrated rate laws / half-life equations should make this a piece of cake)

You shouldn't even need the half-life equation, because it's asking for a complete integer. So 98% of N 14 means 2% of the parent, so 1/50. 5 half-lives is 1/32, and 6 half-lives is 1/64, so it's between 5 and 6 half-lives.

[Azukeri]

I need to do this for States, and I was just assigned it today with about a mouth before the State competition...

How the pigeon do I study for this crap?

Would you please 1) read the numerous answers to that previously posted on this thread instead of skipping to the end and posting a question that has been answered a dozen times, and 2) Not call my favorite event crap?

I agree with you. Fossils ROCK. And Bassir, you should get started.

[lllazar]

Hey guys, my regionals is in a week and i think im pretty well prepared...our regionals here in central illinois are pretty small, there are only 7 schools in div c and 3 spots for state...

I was just wondering, would a 75% be enough to get 1st? Our regionals are pretty easy, especially for an event like fossils, because not many people actually spend time studying for it...

[packer-backer91]

Hey guys, my regionals is in a week and i think im pretty well prepared...our regionals here in central illinois are pretty small, there are only 7 schools in div c and 3 spots for state...

I was just wondering, would a 75% be enough to get 1st? Our regionals are pretty easy, especially for an event like fossils, because not many people actually spend time studying for it...

The only percent that is good enough to win is 100% because the placing are dependent on two things; the difficulty of the test and the amount of preparation / knowledge of the other teams. For example if the test is difficult it could be a team with 50% that wins or likewise if easy it may be a team that gets 98% may be the winner. I guess what I'm sayings is plan for the worse and hope for the best. Plan on every team being able to beat you, so when you go into compaction so that you don’t become overconfident thus not do as well as you are capable.

[gneissisnice]

Hey guys, my regionals is in a week and i think im pretty well prepared...our regionals here in central illinois are pretty small, there are only 7 schools in div c and 3 spots for state...

I was just wondering, would a 75% be enough to get 1st? Our regionals are pretty easy, especially for an event like fossils, because not many people actually spend time studying for it...

The only percent that is good enough to win is 100% because the placing are dependent on two things; the difficulty of the test and the amount of preparation / knowledge of the other teams. For example if the test is difficult it could be a team with 50% that wins or likewise if easy it may be a team that gets 98% may be the winner. I guess what I'm sayings is plan for the worse and hope for the best. Plan on every team being able to beat you, so when you go into compaction so that you don’t become overconfident thus not do as well as you are capable.

Yeah, definitely shoot for 100%. Chances are 75% wouldn't net you first, but it might net you a medal. My coach usually writes and grades the fossils events, and he said that he's seen a team get third place with 60%. I think 2nd was 80, and 1st was like 95% (that was me and my partner).

[binary010101]

It also depends on the test.

[Deeisenberg]

Yes, it's all in the competition and the test, this is really true for all events. For instance, in 2008 at nationals in Herpetology, my partner and I got 1st in Herpetology, which was a very easy test that year. We know based on several things (notably the second place team is very sure of the number they got wrong) that we got either every question right, or missed one (probably something like a 99%+). However, at the fossils nationals test last year, to get 2nd on a very difficult test (that was also rather poorly made unfortunately, with much difficulty coming from the number of questions) and I don't think that we could've gotten much more than a 65% or so (very rough estimate).

Really if you have a very easy test with steep competition, the winning team will probably get at most 3 or 4 wrong, possibly less. If however you are taking a test written by myself, even in a competitive field the best people would likely get about a 70% max.

[gneissisnice]

Yes, it's all in the competition and the test, this is really true for all events. For instance, in 2008 at nationals in Herpetology, my partner and I got 1st in Herpetology, which was a very easy test that year. We know based on several things (notably the second place team is very sure of the number they got wrong) that we got either every question right, or missed one (probably something like a 99%+). However, at the fossils nationals test last year, to get 2nd on a very difficult test (that was also rather poorly made unfortunately, with much difficulty coming from the number of questions) and I don't think that we could've gotten much more than a 65% or so (very rough estimate).

Really if you have a very easy test with steep competition, the winning team will probably get at most 3 or 4 wrong, possibly less. If however you are taking a test written by myself, even in a competitive field the best people would likely get about a 70% max.

Yeah, I got 5th at the fossils national event last year, and I had left the first 2 stations half blank, and I know I didnt answer every question. Even some of the ones I did answer were rushed and probably wrong. So for that you don't need such a high score. But for a regional test, the scores are much more likely to be very high.

[amerikestrel]

How do you distinguish between an allosaurus and a tyrannosaurus just by looking at them?