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Having a field guide is great, but having a binder is slightly better, since binders are more flexible.

jenniferkay wrote:hey, i know you all said that field guides were pointless and a waste of space, but which field guides do you guys use/take with you? thanks!

I use Audubon. It's a good guide but to be honest, it's not ideal for fossils since it doesn't include everything you would want. I just use it as a back-up that occasionally has something really useful.

E Edgar wrote:

jenniferkay wrote:hey, i know you all said that field guides were pointless and a waste of space, but which field guides do you guys use/take with you? thanks!

I use Audubon. It's a good guide but to be honest, it's not ideal for fossils since it doesn't include everything you would want. I just use it as a back-up that occasionally has something really useful.

i use audubon too. its okay, but not all the info is there as e edgar said. ive been trying to get my hands on the smithsonian...hows that one?

soobsession wrote:

E Edgar wrote:

jenniferkay wrote:hey, i know you all said that field guides were pointless and a waste of space, but which field guides do you guys use/take with you? thanks!

I use Audubon. It's a good guide but to be honest, it's not ideal for fossils since it doesn't include everything you would want. I just use it as a back-up that occasionally has something really useful.

i use audubon too. its okay, but not all the info is there as e edgar said. ive been trying to get my hands on the smithsonian...hows that one?

Garbage. Okay it's not terrible, but it has a lot left out (smithsonian). If it actually has the fossil in the book, it's very readable and has good info. Take a look if you get a chance but I wouldn't consider buying it.

jazzy009 wrote:I've been using the smithsonian and the golden guide (pocket). Neither are really great, though...I wouldn't recommend them.

I use the Audobon one. it has lots of helpfull info and a (mostly) complete picture guide.

Okay, here is a summary of what you should bring to competition. This will be subdivided into different groups based on how much time you intend to put into the event.

Small Commitment (Maybe an hour or less a week of legitimate studying)
Use a field guide. If you want to make a small binder in which you have some basic information that is not in the book. This would include information on time periods (just a simple chart), modes of fossilization, and perhaps something on dating. Use labels on your book so that you can quickly get anywhere you want to. Practice getting to places in the book quickly. Don't bother making binder pages for taxon, if you aren't spending more time than this on the event, you won't be able to put in enough information to be of any real use. Use the Audobon.

Medium Commitment (A 1-2 a week, not every day, looking to place in at least your region (or state) assuming that your region or state is not exceptionally competitive.)
Make the binder your primary instrument. Tab up your audobon. Put about a half hour or so into a page for each taxon. Put basic information not covered in the audobon into your binder. Put in some stuff from wikipedia for quick reference such as state fossils and the like. Use your field guide, but it will probably be a minor instrument for you.

High to Exceptional Commitment (At least 3-4 hours a week on this event, not including time on other events. You want to win your state (or come very close in a very competitive state) and possibly place at nationals)
Make a binder with a page for every taxon. Put all the information you can find into every page. With the exception of a few quick pages, each page may take you up to an hour or more. Include information on general taxon as well such as brachiopods and trilobites. For those include labeled anatomical diagrams. Have general info and quick reference sheets. Use sheet protectors to prevent the ripping of pages. You can have your audobon, but you probably will seldom use it.

NOTE 1: For higher levels of commitment, there are more things that I left out. When you get to those points, you should know what you need better than I or anyone else does.

NOTE 2: I separated the recommendations in order of commitment because you can't expect everyone to really want to go all out. People have other things to do, and all that. I am just trying to be realistic.

i'm definitely spending a lot of time on this event. this'll be my primary event.
for each page i'm thinking about putting a picture or diagram, how it moved, how it ate/got it's energy, and the time period.
what other things should be put in there?

jenniferkay wrote:i'm definitely spending a lot of time on this event. this'll be my primary event.
for each page i'm thinking about putting a picture or diagram, how it moved, how it ate/got it's energy, and the time period.
what other things should be put in there?

That's basically what I put, though I added general habitat (e.g. shallow marine, deep marine, forest, etc) and distribution (e.g. North America, Europe, worldwide, etc).
I also added some interesting facts that didnt fit into any categories, like where its name came from and what it means, and any other distinguishing features.

gneissisnice wrote:

jenniferkay wrote:i'm definitely spending a lot of time on this event. this'll be my primary event.
for each page i'm thinking about putting a picture or diagram, how it moved, how it ate/got it's energy, and the time period.
what other things should be put in there?

That's basically what I put, though I added general habitat (e.g. shallow marine, deep marine, forest, etc) and distribution (e.g. North America, Europe, worldwide, etc).
I also added some interesting facts that didnt fit into any categories, like where its name came from and what it means, and any other distinguishing features.

Yes, I left out a lot, as I said I did in the note.
If you really want to do very well you'll need (among other things)
etymology
motion
diet
habitat
distribution
fossil range
behavior
ecology
functional morphology (what stuff does)
history
anatomy
composition
taxonomy
evolutionary biology
pop culture
index fossil
misc...
and any other information you can find that seems like it even might rarely be asked with the consideration that if you have too much information and it isn't well organized enough, it will become a hindrance.

Deeisenberg wrote:

gneissisnice wrote:

jenniferkay wrote:i'm definitely spending a lot of time on this event. this'll be my primary event.
for each page i'm thinking about putting a picture or diagram, how it moved, how it ate/got it's energy, and the time period.
what other things should be put in there?

That's basically what I put, though I added general habitat (e.g. shallow marine, deep marine, forest, etc) and distribution (e.g. North America, Europe, worldwide, etc).
I also added some interesting facts that didnt fit into any categories, like where its name came from and what it means, and any other distinguishing features.

Yes, I left out a lot, as I said I did in the note.
If you really want to do very well you'll need (among other things)
etymology
motion
diet
habitat
distribution
fossil range
behavior
ecology
functional morphology (what stuff does)
history
anatomy
composition
taxonomy
evolutionary biology
pop culture
index fossil
misc...
and any other information you can find that seems like it even might rarely be asked with the consideration that if you have too much information and it isn't well organized enough, it will become a hindrance.

Yeah, that's a good break down of it. Most of those I stick under misc., because some of those dont apply to a lot of fossils (for example, some fossils have no information on history, etymology, pop culture, etc), and some of the other ones I either tie into other categories or I just dont put it down, because I know it.