Rocks & Minerals B/C

[bernard]

[flyingrocks]

Do most teams and tournaments use real samples to study and compete or do you use photos? My school doesn't really have any samples so we are trying to figure out if we need to get some.

[BennyTheJett]

Do most teams and tournaments use real samples to study and compete or do you use photos? My school doesn't really have any samples so we are trying to figure out if we need to get some.

Apologies for not responding to this faster. When I competed, my high school had a kit for me to learn what the properties of the minerals were. I think this helped me get a lot better with ID that I would've been otherwise. That said, I know teams that didn't have physical samples and also did well, so it's not necessarily creating a massive advantage.

Most of the tournaments I did when it was in person had physical samples, and any in person event I'd write would have physical samples (because image ID for minerals can be very random). That said, there's a lot of online tournaments this year that do not have much for choice, and thus will use images.

[cryo]

I don't think my school has physical samples, but I have my own kit and it's just nice to have. It's obviously not necessary, but it's interesting to get a feel for each mineral and see everything firsthand, especially with properties like texture that you just can't get through images. I don't have much experience with scioly specifically, but it might be worth getting a kit with physical samples because there's so much more you can see and test with your own samples. (I also just don't really like photo ID - it's a lot more fun to play around with actual rocks/minerals instead of squinting at your screen to figure out what something is.)

[BennyTheJett]

I'm writing a test for this season, and was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the rules? Personally, it seems like the rules make the event entirely identification based, which is rather annoying. I wish they'd test more geological skills because that's more applicable in the "real world".

[cryo]

I'm also not really happy to see that, but I guess it is intended to be an ID event? There's definitely some room for applications to geology, as the sample questions show, but those are basically just making you identify the samples then use what you know about them. It looks like there's not a lot of room for skill/understanding-based questions because all the content seems more about memorization and knowledge instead of applying that knowledge. I'd love tests based more on those geological skills so I'm hoping some test writers manage to include that.

[Unome]

basically just making you identify the samples then use what you know about them

This framework can be applied to prepare for many more events than just those that are commonly listed as ID events. That said, I don't think I'd call the rules particularly more ID-based than in the past, or compared to Fossils. Certainly the Bio ID rotation is much more ID-oriented.

[DragonTownEpic]

I guess we'll just have to mine-roll with it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[uhc2900]

Hello, in the event rules, what does Scioly imply when saying "Relationship between textures and enviornment of formation"? Could you please provide an example?

Thanks

[BennyTheJett]

Hello, in the event rules, what does Scioly imply when saying "Relationship between textures and enviornment of formation"? Could you please provide an example?

Thanks

Intrusive igneous rocks having a coarse texture, obsidian having a glassy texture.