Rocks & Minerals

Mr. Clinton is actually GOD TIER and he's really helpful about the rock ids (not as much minerals, but he's still pretty helpful with that regardless). He has a lot of samples to look at and a lot of helpful papers to give out! (I hope you didn't lose the binder)

The earth science teachers in general are really helpful in terms of giving you handouts and id charts to look at. use OP diana miao binder. GG. ...and somehow get 10th at states and 50 something at nationals?

Know your samples. Don't forget to bring a field guide.

Reorganize this "OP" binder into something that isn't a mass of text. There's really no time to flip through it.

About the Event
Essentially, you and a partner are answering questions about rocks and minerals. There is a massive potpourri of questions asked on every test, and in general, the tests focus on you being able to ID samples and answer many questions quickly. While it's helpful to have some H Earth Science background, it's not necessary to do well! All you really need is some decent memorisation skills/identifying skills (for IDing samples) or a good ability to digest/comprehend information (for the minerals/rock theory). It's a good event for people without physics/chem/AP bio knowledge! (I'm looking at you, freshmen.)

This is usually a station event (spend 2-5 minutes at a station to answer questions and then switch). States and Nationals tests are usually quite similar, just with different questions. Setup is the same and the focus of the questions depends on the test writer. No going back to stations! If you run out of a time for a station, try to remember the questions to finish at another station if you finish that station early. Questions are about identifying samples and rock/mineral theory.

You bring to the event a binder and and a rock identification guide (from Dempsey, ask for it). You should rely on yourself, the binder, and the guide, in that order. Because the event is station based, time is of the essence!! You want to be as familiar with the information as possible, or else have it nicely tabbed in your binder. The guide takes too much time to flip and skim through, so that's really a last resort.

Making the binder yourself (from scratch!) is very helpful, since it allows you to get familiar with all the information. If you're pressed for time and ripping from wikipedia or someone else's binder, that's fine, but make sure you know the information you're mindlessly sticking into your binder.

tldr; station based. time is money. the binder is god. screw the guide cuz no one got time for dat. FRESHMEN FRIENDLY EVENT!!!

Binder Making Tips

 * Colored tabs are your best friend!! Applies to the guide somewhat, because tabbing the rock guide isn't really helpful unless you tab every individual rock and mineral.
 * Bigger is not necessarily better. Consider flipping through a 2 inch binder versus a 6 inch one (these exist... I saw these at 2014 Nationals and they look like a pain to carry).
 * Consider double siding vs single siding your sheets.
 * One way to type up all your info is to give each sample a half sheet of paper? (Including the pictures!) ABRHS hasn't tried this to my knowledge but according to a student from another HS it's easy to reach and really condenses everything.
 * Not a binder making tip but tip in general: since it's a two-person event, you can divide and conquer. Some do IDs/theory, some do minerals/rocks... really depends on the teamwork and who's the better memoriser. (also who works on the binder cough cough)

Sample Binder Structure/Recommended Binder Sections
For 2014 Nationals binder, structure was like this...

colorful rocks quick id pages  > general id table > specific id charts > theory > etc pages And here are some recommended binder sections (or things to have):
 * Colorful rocks quick id pages: an idea borrowed from the 2013 nationals binder. Basically had pictures of all the rocks and minerals from the official list slapped together on a table ordered by color. Multiple pictures for each rock was used, and the colors (in rainbow order!!) were further divided in mineral, igneous rock, etc.... Actually kinda helpful for quickly figuring out a sample's name and going to the general id table for more!
 * General ID table: One Massive Table that was divided into minerals/igneous rocks/sedimentary rocks/metamorphic rocks. Had all of the information on the samples that we used to answer the questions.
 * Specific ID charts: specific flowcharts/tables that helped to ID samples. Most of these were printed off wiki/the internet, some were given by teachers at school.
 * Theory: divided into minerals/rock theory. Basically had the sections we didn't want to memorise/quick reference sheets for things (Mohs scale, crystal symmetries, etc)
 * Etc pages: the tests at states and nationals really love asking random trivia questions, usually as tiebreakers. Our etc pages included random birthyears of some famous geologists, lists of birthstones, lists of state rocks, list of rock nicknames (v important!! they love asking this), lists of the minerals in the Earth's mantle... a lot of lists, as you can see.
 * Must-have pages would be a very detailed Bowen's Reactions Series, Mohs scale, the rock cycle, the official sample list, and details on the crystal systems.
 * Suggested "etc" pages include the ones mentioned above. Keep lists of rock related things, lists of years, just any random trivia... but don't focus on this section of the binder in particular, since it's not as important compared to the other sections.
 * Have multiple pictures of each sample or else you will die.
 * Details to have on your samples (as gleaned from an old Mounds View HS student, thank you and all praise Connor Duffy)
 * igneous: type, texture, color index, structure, composition, mineralogy, formation, other
 * sedimentary: texture, structure, composition formation, type, hardness, color…
 * metamorphic: type, temperature of formation (temperature), pressure, luster, texture, foliation, structure, protolith, mineralogy, metamorphism, grain
 * mineral: color, lustre, system, habit, group, tenacity, diaphaneity, refractive index, specific gravity, fracture, environment, economic use, otherFi2lJuv.png
 * I organised and grouped these under 3 general sections: environment/formation, key features/properties, economic uses/importance/etc.

And remember! The binder is always changing. Like a rock. Keep updating it and love your binder ♥
 * Some theory. I didn't bother memorising all the different crystal systems and their properties or even the names of the different textures of metamorphic rock, so I threw them in the binder for easy reference.

Maybe a Quick Glance of all the Content You Need to be Familiar With Here
dunno if ill write this yet i just wanted to force the content box to show up

Useful Links/Resources
Sites Etc
 * hyperphysics (click on the bubbles! good general info and the main site can be helpful for other events)
 * mindat (it has Everything. pictures to properties to uses... eeeeverything)
 * h earth physics site (has a lot of good info for other earth sci events too, like dynamic planet)
 * scioly official / wiki (wiki is actually very helpful for an initial overview of all the info you need)
 * wikipedia (sometimes the info here isn't very correct, but helpful for econ uses/trivia/lists)
 * geoman (lots of helpful id charts)
 * jmu teacher site (id flowcharts... theory.. eVErythING)
 * rockhounds (ctrl+f "rock identification key"... around those parts. has id tables and theory!)
 * crystal symmetry @ umass (what it says on the tin)
 * basically be specific about what you google and you can get very nice results
 * DaLang Prediksi (Have multiple pictures of each sample or else you will die.)
 * MR CLINTON IS GOD TIER he knows everything, basically. Really helpful with IDs and has a couple of neat handouts.
 * The earth science teachers in general are really quite helpful.
 * Stare at the pictures on mindat all day that's it you're done