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How would you recommend splitting the nationals test up? Should one person do testing on powders, polymers, fibers, etc and the other does the written portion? Should we do the analysis throughout the 50 minutes or complete it at the end?

fastllama wrote:How would you recommend splitting the nationals test up? Should one person do testing on powders, polymers, fibers, etc and the other does the written portion? Should we do the analysis throughout the 50 minutes or complete it at the end?

I wouldn't split it into identification and writing because the identification is a very large portion of it so both partners should work on identifying different things (e.g. one partner takes powders, chromatography, and mass spec while the other takes fibers, hairs, polymers, and fingerprints or something like that). As for whether you should do analysis throughout or at the end, I think that's more up to debate (I'm not sure whether one way is slower and/or more effective). In general though, just be mindful of time since there are going to be more samples than you're probably used to from regionals or states.

wec01 wrote:

fastllama wrote:How would you recommend splitting the nationals test up? Should one person do testing on powders, polymers, fibers, etc and the other does the written portion? Should we do the analysis throughout the 50 minutes or complete it at the end?

I wouldn't split it into identification and writing because the identification is a very large portion of it so both partners should work on identifying different things (e.g. one partner takes powders, chromatography, and mass spec while the other takes fibers, hairs, polymers, and fingerprints or something like that). As for whether you should do analysis throughout or at the end, I think that's more up to debate (I'm not sure whether one way is slower and/or more effective). In general though, just be mindful of time since there are going to be more samples than you're probably used to from regionals or states.

If you want to get everything done, you need to split the ID's amongst the two of you - how you choose to do it is up to you since you both need to discuss what you're most comfortable with and go from there, and that's something I can't really comment on. If you practice enough for first accuracy and then speed, it is definitely feasible to finish the ID portion (whether you'll get them correct depends on how Woz's mother is doing that day, but that's another issue in which I'll keep my opinions on it to myself). Regardless tho, try to set aside a good chunk of time to do the crime analysis and/or fill in easy trivia. Although they may not be worth as many points as ID's or getting the right suspect, they may make up for points you may miss in those sections anyways.

Hi on the topic of nationals, does anyone know how the national supervisors want us to identify soil they physically give us. Last year they gave me actual soil and I didn't even touch it because I had no idea of the difference between silty and sandy loam just by touching it lol. If anyone knows how she wants us to do it it would be much appreciated.

fairfaxfan123 wrote:Hi on the topic of nationals, does anyone know how the national supervisors want us to identify soil they physically give us. Last year they gave me actual soil and I didn't even touch it because I had no idea of the difference between silty and sandy loam just by touching it lol. If anyone knows how she wants us to do it it would be much appreciated.

Not sure, but I think the main things you can do are just to try to feel how grainy or fine it is, look at color, and maybe the microscope and/or magnifying glass would help too. Honestly though, I have no idea, I haven't really tried these things.

How do we distinguish polyester from nylon through the burn test? The only main difference I've noted from online sources is that nylon is supposed to smell like "celery", whatever that means? And polyester is supposed to smell more chemically sweet, but we still mix those two up during our practices. The one way I try to tell nylon and polyester apart is by the strength of their smell, which often times doesn't even work. And at nationals we only get a single fiber, meaning the smell will be even harder to differentiate. . .

fastllama wrote:How do we distinguish polyester from nylon through the burn test? The only main difference I've noted from online sources is that nylon is supposed to smell like "celery", whatever that means? And polyester is supposed to smell more chemically sweet, but we still mix those two up during our practices. The one way I try to tell nylon and polyester apart is by the strength of their smell, which often times doesn't even work. And at nationals we only get a single fiber, meaning the smell will be even harder to differentiate. . .

Yeah, those two are not easy to distinguish and the burn test seems to be the only way. I would say try to practice as much as you can, but it's still pretty hit-or-miss.

Quick question: Who is The Woz? I've seen so much about them on Forensics related forums, but other than that they have very strict lab safety rules, I can't find out anything.

emjrennich wrote:Quick question: Who is The Woz? I've seen so much about them on Forensics related forums, but other than that they have very strict lab safety rules, I can't find out anything.

She's also the national (and I believe Indiana) event supervisor for Forensics

wec01 wrote:

emjrennich wrote:Quick question: Who is The Woz? I've seen so much about them on Forensics related forums, but other than that they have very strict lab safety rules, I can't find out anything.

She's also the national (and I believe Indiana) event supervisor for Forensics

This is correct.
*flashbacks to terror in competitor days*