Astronomy C

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Gillen
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by Gillen »

I think the hardest part is the vast amount of information required. The topic is so broad and encompasses so many things that it is hard to know enough.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by Luo »

Infinity Flat wrote:To add on to that, there's usually there's a Chandra Observatory article on each of the Deep Space Objects you have to identify. You can get great information and pictures out of those.
I agree that Chandra pictures are the most useful during the exams.
Gillen wrote:I think the hardest part is the vast amount of information required. The topic is so broad and encompasses so many things that it is hard to know enough.
Luckily, that's why you get to use a laptop! It's not as necessary to "know" all the information as it is to organize it on your computer well and be able to reference it quickly during the exam. Of course, it's much more time-efficient if you actually know all the stuff of the top of your head, but with the sheer breadth of knowledge required, it's impractical.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by FullMetalMaple »

Infinity Flat wrote:To add on to that, there's usually there's a Chandra Observatory article on each of the Deep Space Objects you have to identify. You can get great information and pictures out of those.
In fact, all the pictures and information on my regional test were from there.
luo wrote:Luckily, that's why you get to use a laptop!
And don't forget it's actually one per team member, not per team. It can help to split things between you and your partner and have different things on different computers. My partner had all the physics equations, while I had all the identifications and other information. Our state proctor thought it was funny, but hey, use the rules to your advantage.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by Gillen »

Having two computers can be helpful if you need to split the test up, like I had to at state. There were 100 questions, so me and my partner split it up and ended up getting first.
Last edited by Gillen on April 17th, 2011, 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by Luo »

FullMetalMaple wrote:And don't forget it's actually one per team member, not per team. It can help to split things between you and your partner and have different things on different computers. My partner had all the physics equations, while I had all the identifications and other information. Our state proctor thought it was funny, but hey, use the rules to your advantage.
Gillen wrote:Having computers can be helpful if you need to split the test up, like I had to at state. There were 100 questions, so me and my partner split it up and ended up getting first.
Yes, it's best to have two computers so that you can split the test up with your partner. And save every single webpage you find! I don't think it ever puts you at a disadvantage in Astronomy to have too much information saved.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by QuantumLeaper »

Wow, thank you all so much for the tips and information! Astronomy is at the top of my event wish list for next year, so it's really useful to have the input of people who have done this event. I can't wait till SO 2011-2012. :D
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by AlphaTauri »

luo wrote:Yes, it's best to have two computers so that you can split the test up with your partner. And save every single webpage you find! I don't think it ever puts you at a disadvantage in Astronomy to have too much information saved.
My partner and I used my laptop (which had about half of Wikipedia/NASA/Chandra saved on it) at Regionals, along with a binder for quick reference. We did the whole split-screen thing, with me bringing up the info I needed on half the screen and him using the other half of the screen.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by FullMetalMaple »

QuantumLeaper wrote:Wow, thank you all so much for the tips and information! Astronomy is at the top of my event wish list for next year, so it's really useful to have the input of people who have done this event. I can't wait till SO 2011-2012. :D
You're welcome, and if you have any more questions, I'm quite willing to help. Astronomy is a great (though difficult) event; I'm glad to see interest in it.
Gillen wrote:Having two computers can be helpful if you need to split the test up, like I had to at state. There were 100 questions, so me and my partner split it up and ended up getting first.
100 questions? Ouch, we didn't get that many even at state. The very first time I ever did Astronomy, though, there were at least 117.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by Gillen »

FullMetalMaple wrote:100 questions? Ouch, we didn't get that many even at state. The very first time I ever did Astronomy, though, there were at least 117.
It wasn't quite as bad as it sounds, they were all multiple choice. It answered itself a lot, too, since there were groups of questions about the same topic. That has been by far the most questions I have ever seen on an astronomy test, though.
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Re: Astronomy C

Post by FullMetalMaple »

Haha. Our state test was ridiculously difficult. There were a lot of really complicated physics problems with the Doppler effect, and we only got two minutes per question (until we got to the speed round, where it was 30 seconds).
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