Road Scholar B

[freakofnature17]

how do you calculate lat/long. on a state map?
(it was on a test that i took once at competition)

How do I find the Latitude and longitude of somthing if the map dosn't say the exact cordinates?

I'm not exactly sure I completely understand your question but I think I may.
The Road Scholar Coaches Manual has a section in which it tells you how to find lat and long
Determining Latitude Within Sectors
Distance from lower sector boundary to object (in mm) / N-S distance across sector (in mm) ) x150"=distance to object/in seconds (")

Determing Longitude Within Sectors
(DIstance from Easterly sector boundary to object (in mm)/ E-W Distance across sector (in mm) ) x150"-distance to object /in seconds (")

After you find the distance to the object in seconds, you add that number to the nearest sector boundary coordinates you used. That'll give you the lat and long of something.
I'm not sure if I answered your question correctly. If not, I'm terribly sorry.

For those of you to whom the above process made no sense whatsoever, don't freak out. I'll try my best to explain it but I am not guaranteeing that my explanation will make sense. If it doesn't then I'm sorry for confusing you.


Explanation....

1) Measure the distance in mm from one sector boundary found on the neat line, one with the coordinates given, to the object which is the vertical distance.
2) Then find the distance again in mm (everything measured will always be in mm so I'm going to stop typing that over and over) from the sector boundary you used in 1) to the vertically closest sector boundary on the neat line that is found on the neat line perpendicular to the neat line on which you found the sector boundary you found in 1) ----let me phrase that another way
take the sector boundary you used in 1). Then look at the neat line that is perpendicular to the neat line used in 1) ( basically there are 4 neat lines, 2 running horizontally and 2 running vertically so you should have been on one of the horizontal ones if you want the vertical distance so now find the closest sector boundary on one of the vertical neat lines-----
and divide and x150” (because the distance from 1 neat line to the closest sector boundary is said to be 2.5° of arc distance and 2.5°=150”)
3) Add the result of 2) to the closest sector boundary coordinates you used. That gives you the lat.
4) Do the same thing again but, this time find the horizontal distance from the sector boundary on the horizontal neat line to the object. Then find the distance from the sector boundary you just used to the closest sector boundary that is still on the same horizontal line and divide those and x150” and then add that result to the closest sector boundary coordinates you used. This gives you the longitude.

If I was wrong somewhere in the above directions, which I probably was, then someone please correct me. Hope that helped some poor, helpless soul out there….

If this makes no sense then please ask questions and maybe I or someone else can answer them.

[genemagyk]

Does anyone out there understand profiling? I reaallly don't get it. I have the manual thing that teaches all that you need to know ,except, it doesn't rally help me. Last year, I did Road Scholar also. I did not do very well on drawing the map thing. Please help

[binary010101]

Profiling is basically taking the cross section of a contour map from point A to point B. You're graphing height vs distance along that line.

[EastStroudsburg13]

This is a pretty good explanation I found on the archived threads. It may seem lengthy and difficult here, but once you understand it it's really pretty simple.

Here's how we used to do it:

Take a piece of printer paper, and line up the 2 points, placing big marks at each end point. Now, going along between the endpoints, at every contour line you see, place a little dash on the edge of the paper at the spot. So by the end you'll have a sheet of paper with a bunch of little dashes running along the edge of the sheet. It is also helpful to record the elevation of maybe every third or fourth mark so you don't lose your spot.

Now, figure out your min and max elevation between the two points by looking at the map. Set up an appropriate scale on your chart, with elevation going up the Y axis and just location along the X axis.

Take your piece of paper, and line up the left end point with the x=0 spot on your chart. Make a little dot on the appropriate line of elevation. Now, keeping the left end point on the x=0 spot, go through and place a little dot at every elevation dash you made on that sheet of paper. It can be difficult to keep track of what exact elevation each dash is for, so be careful. Once you're done, you will have a series of dots mapping out a nice curve, perfectly scaled to match the topo map. All that's left is to connect the points as smoothly as realistically as possible and you'll have a perfect profile.

[cooltiger]

I just took this test:
http://newyorkscioly.org/SOPages/Events/Road.html
I can't find the answer key, dose anyone have it. Also, expect a lot of questions about stuff I didn't understand from that test later.

[freakofnature17]

Does anyone out there understand profiling? I reaallly don't get it. I have the manual thing that teaches all that you need to know ,except, it doesn't rally help me. Last year, I did Road Scholar also. I did not do very well on drawing the map thing. Please help

Here's a link that goes over profiling but if you've already read a manual on it, then it probably won't help that much but still...
http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Ex ... ofiles.htm

I think the only way to do well on profiling is to 1. understand the process and 2. just practice over and over until you can do it pretty well in a short amount of time. Also, if you're having trouble with the map drawing section, I suggest you practice, practice, and practice. What I would do is to get with your partner, and maybe you can each come up with a map drawing section on your own and then you can do each others' tests- that is if you can't find any test online which you should be able to do. Basically, if you want to do well in this event, I suggest the only way is to practice all the skills you could possibly be tested on. In my opinion, Road Scholar is nothing but understanding the topics and practicing them endlessly.

[Friedoyster3]

dose anyone have any actually hard tests?

[zyzzyva980]

Well, I know of one that has all the wrong answers in the answer key. Would that count as hard?

[AlphaTauri]

Oh yeah, we had one that asked for, I think, the population of a town and the answer key said something like 37.83 degrees.

But there are some old tests here, though the format may be different from current tests. (And you'll have to get the maps yourself.)

[eyeball138]

Format is not the issue. Some event supervisors will choose to make their tests a long story, some will choose a short story, and some will just have questions.

I also don't really understand "hard" tests. Especially in Road Scholar, if you know the material, the tests should be easy. If you think that every test you take is easy, you're probably in decent shape.