foxinni wrote: ↑March 12th, 2023, 11:22 am
Yep, I think that's one of those time old things- no one ever feels how old they are lol.
While I don't personally do Forestry, my teammates who did it this year were kinda lost- they took tons of notes, only to go to the competition and find everyone had "sibley guide to trees" during the test, and so then they ended up getting last place (a 0 on the test) !!! it was really sad, especially since they put a lot of time into studying
So out of curiosity, do you have any tips for succeeding in Forestry?
Also the whole shenanigan with WIDI sounds really unfortunate :/ Getting low points in an event that you practiced for, solely because of the wonky formatting, is just >:(
But hey, at least now for next time, you know how to handle it online?? :")
Great way to think about WIDI!
As for Forestry, we weren't using the Sibley guide to trees. We used Audubon, which ended up working really well! I would say that the main part of it is identification. Make sure you have a field guide, though! (Same thing for Rocks and Minerals, which will be Fossils next year.)
So if you don't know the trees well, you're prone to failing miserably on the tests because all of the questions are based off of what kind of tree it is.
For example, here's how a cluster might work (Taken from MIT Invitational):
1: Identify specimens with their common and scientific name. (No need to memorize both, just memorize what name is easier for you and you can convert using the index of the field guide.)
2: Name two human health issues that this tree is known to be a remedy for. (I like to use Wikipedia for notes, so this should be found in the Wikipedia page if that knowledge is present.)
3: What did early myths suggest the branches of specimen A could do? (This could be in the In Popular Culture section, or for this case, in "Folk Medicine." Like I said, Wikipedia works for me, but make sure you get answers from every category.)
4: What is the range of months in which the flowers are in bloom? (Can usually be found in "Cultivation.")
You get the idea: they also ask about ecology and ecological succession, along with these typical plant behaviors and uses.
Also, around 30% of the test is general parts of a tree such as types of leaves, tree structure, photosynthesis, etc. So feel prepared for that (the scioly wiki can help.)
Here are some links:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... rHrfY5xPfr (Practice Test)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hazel (Example of a Wikipedia tree page, but feel free to use any resource!)
https://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Forestry (General tree info)
Of course, you're in California, so competition might be harder! But good luck! Also message me if you have any other questions.
(Sorry for the long response. I got carried away and Forestry is the one event I can talk forever on.)
"I know two kinds of audiences only - one coughing, and one not coughing." -Artur Schnabel
"A lot of people have quotes in their signature. Maybe I should have a quote in my signature." -Froggie
a lot of beethoven's early works are underrated. listen to his op 2 no 2 sonata