Road Scholar B

[Lily Essence]

Overall, I thought the test was of average difficulty. The procotor was the same fellow that wrote the 2008 "How the Grinch Aced Road Scholar" and my team had recently taken that test (and failed it, but it definitely prepared us).

I only did the highway section and it was pretty straightforward. The map drawing was just like in the 2008 test, so I didn't freak out when I saw the wierd format, but I did not understand exactly what the open pit iron mine should look.

Did any team understand the two questions about the mean high and low tides? Like "What is the difference in meters of the average high and low tides around ---?" and "What is the max ---(can't remember...)" I think those were the only two we didn't get. >.<

[zyzzyva980]

Huh. We have open pit mines on the build-a-map nearly every competition: 'x` (sort of like that). That's why you bring a symbols sheet.

I'm so disappointed I'm not going to be able to do this next year; I love this event.

[Jocool]

are you gonna be ninth grade?

[zyzzyva980]

10th. Our district is/was 7-8-9

[sweetp]

i actually thought it was fair, bordering on too easy for nationals. but we have that proctor for states too so the difficulty was basically the same. Oh and Lily Essence, the answer about the tides is in the USGS symbols =)

[Lily Essence]

Huh. We have open pit mines on the build-a-map nearly every competition: 'x` (sort of like that). That's why you bring a symbols sheet.

I'm so disappointed I'm not going to be able to do this next year; I love this event.

I got the symbol, but it said that the mine would be around 2 cm in size on the map; I didn't know if I was to outline the area, or just move the contour line around it so it seemed like a flat open mine area about the size of 2 cm and then put the symbol in the middle...

i actually thought it was fair, bordering on too easy for nationals. but we have that proctor for states too so the difficulty was basically the same. Oh and Lily Essence, the answer about the tides is in the USGS symbols =)

Yes, I caught that too under BATHYMETRIC FEATURES - Area exposed at mean low tide; sounding datum line***. But how did you answer the question? The lines were inbetween 0 and almost 2 M underwater (but not exactly), so you wouldn't be able to answer just 2M, because that wouldn't be the difference. It'd have to be something like 0<x<2, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't accept that as an answer.

I don't think that I don't understand the general things like symbols on the topo symbols sheet as we did bring it in and I have studied it. I think it was just the way the questions were phrased that made me overthink or confused me as to what exactly I was to do. I'm planning on buying the 2011 test packet when it comes out, just to see what those answers really were.

[melody2k6]

Yes, I caught that too under BATHYMETRIC FEATURES - Area exposed at mean low tide; sounding datum line***. But how did you answer the question? The lines were inbetween 0 and almost 2 M underwater (but not exactly), so you wouldn't be able to answer just 2M, because that wouldn't be the difference. It'd have to be something like 0<x<2, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't accept that as an answer.

I think you should have put >0 M and <2 M. The same kind of question was on the last year's test and the answer in the test packet says something similar to that.