Dynamic Planet B/C

[personasaurus rex]

I graded the Dynamic Planet div. C regionals in Eastern Long Island, and only one team out of the 50ish that took it understood stream orders (they were the winning team), so that's something people should know.

Since wikipedia can explain it much better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_order

edit: oops wrong thread haha

[Flavorflav]

I graded the Dynamic Planet div. C regionals in Eastern Long Island, and only one team out of the 50ish that took it understood stream orders (they were the winning team), so that's something people should know.

Since wikipedia can explain it much better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_order

What did you think of the test? I heard some complaints.

[personasaurus rex]

I graded the Dynamic Planet div. C regionals in Eastern Long Island, and only one team out of the 50ish that took it understood stream orders (they were the winning team), so that's something people should know.

Since wikipedia can explain it much better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_order

what were some major topics that were on the test?

[gyourkoshaven]

Well the answer to "which of the following types of lake is volcanic in origin" was coulee lake

took that same test haha

then perhaps you can help me with some other questions I had.

#45 orthograde oxygen profiles (???)
#48 mesothermal temperature curves. I know the answer was none of the above, but what exactly would a mesothermal temperature curve look like then?
#49i'm not sure what the (wrong) answer choices C and D (crenogenic and thereimictic) are
#53 my answer key says b but shouldn't it be a? if something is pervious shouldn't it have a higher hydraulic conductivity than something that is impervious?
#59 what measurements of phosphorus and chlorophyll approximately would make a lake oligotrophic, mesotrophic, or eutrophic?
#81 is a tarn the same as a "cirque lake"
and for 95 on do you know of any good sources on dams to learn about that stuff?

I know it's a lot but any help at all is greatly appreciated!

What test is this/is it online?

[Cpeterson]

How many "trivia" type questions have you guys run into? My last test was written by a crazy coach, so I had to know things like the formation of Lake Baikal, Lake Pepin, Lake Victoria, Lake Vostok and others, as well as what they all are famous for. Possibly the strangest question asked "in which Little House on the Prairie book did Laura Ingalls Wilder visit Lake Pepin?" Now, this was a Minnesota test, so it was slightly less crazy than it seems, but still fairly out there. Is this normal and worth studing, or should I not bother?

[gneissisnice]

I graded the Dynamic Planet div. C regionals in Eastern Long Island, and only one team out of the 50ish that took it understood stream orders (they were the winning team), so that's something people should know.

Since wikipedia can explain it much better than I can:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_order

What did you think of the test? I heard some complaints.

Well, I was glad that it was actually fairly difficult rather than basically being an Earth Science regents (like Earthquakes and Volcanoes typically was). There were some poorly written questions though. I didn't see the entire test because I graded stations 2 and 7 (it was one test, but it was broken into sections). I did look at the other stations, but I don't remember what they asked too much.

Drainage patterns were fair, except the answer key didn't list all possible synonyms; it only listed "convoluted" instead of "deranged" and "angular" instead of "radial" (which is technically different, but impossible to tell apart from the diagram). I only realized that when I noticed that a lot of people were putting "deranged", so we looked it up, and I had to go back and correct my grading. Like I said before, literally only 1 team understood stream order, but I think that's fair for the test as well.

I really didn't like station 2. They had to list 1 characteristic and 2 land forms associated with young, medium, and old rivers. The answer key wasn't so great; it considered "meandering" to be a land form instead of a characteristic and "straight" to not be on there at all. I didn't want to start interpreting answers so I followed the answer key, but it was really not so good.

There were also short answer questions that stumped a lot of people. Few teams got the full 2 points on the questions. There was one about artesian wells, one about how a wind gap forms from a water gap, and one about why sediments get deposited from running water (there was another one, but I forgot it, that wasn't my station).

Looking over the test, it was probably a little tough for regionals, and some questions were just poorly written (like all of station 2). There were also 0 questions on lakes; the event was almost entirely rivers and streams, which a question or two on groundwater.

[personasaurus rex]

One question that was on my regionals test was
"Explain why water from artesian wells is not considered local water."
I had noooo clue and guessed, saying because artesian aquifers range a large distance haha. Any explanations?
Oh and gneissisnice, that test sounds wayyy too scarily similar to my regional's test haha. I'm starting to think they could be the same one?

[crazy77]

One question that was on my regionals test was
"Explain why water from artesian wells is not considered local water."
I had noooo clue and guessed, saying because artesian aquifers range a large distance haha. Any explanations?
Oh and gneissisnice, that test sounds wayyy too scarily similar to my regional's test haha. I'm starting to think they could be the same one?

I had my regionals yesterday and I KNOW that I had that same test. I didn't know they were allowed to do that :/

Anyway, I really didn't like station 2. What characteristics/landforms were they looking for?
I also didn't know the answer to the artesian wells short answer question.
Also was a possible answer to the water gap becoming a wind gap question that headward erosion and stream piracy could divert the stream and basically make it so that downstream the channel doesn't have water flowing through it anymore?
And what was the word they were looking for at station 1 (I believe) for sediments bumping into each other (the second fill in the blank)
And for the force/pressure of water in a channel? hydraulic action?
And there was this one mc question later on that showed two different containers filled with different sized sediments. Which one (the smaller ones or the larger ones) would take longer to drain?

I'm just so shocked that other regions had the same test....Though I suppose it is a good opportunity to learn where you might have gone wrong!

[quadratic]

were can i get some relevent practice tests all of them are volcano and earthquake ones

[personasaurus rex]

One question that was on my regionals test was
"Explain why water from artesian wells is not considered local water."
I had noooo clue and guessed, saying because artesian aquifers range a large distance haha. Any explanations?
Oh and gneissisnice, that test sounds wayyy too scarily similar to my regional's test haha. I'm starting to think they could be the same one?

I had my regionals yesterday and I KNOW that I had that same test. I didn't know they were allowed to do that :/

Anyway, I really didn't like station 2. What characteristics/landforms were they looking for?
I also didn't know the answer to the artesian wells short answer question.
Also was a possible answer to the water gap becoming a wind gap question that headward erosion and stream piracy could divert the stream and basically make it so that downstream the channel doesn't have water flowing through it anymore?
And what was the word they were looking for at station 1 (I believe) for sediments bumping into each other (the second fill in the blank)
And for the force/pressure of water in a channel? hydraulic action?
And there was this one mc question later on that showed two different containers filled with different sized sediments. Which one (the smaller ones or the larger ones) would take longer to drain?

I'm just so shocked that other regions had the same test....Though I suppose it is a good opportunity to learn where you might have gone wrong!

whoa this is interesting... what region are you from? I'm Mid Hudson and I'm pretty positive that the tests were the same now...