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Re: South California
Posted: April 11th, 2011, 4:54 pm
by prelude to death
Ummm... I didn't do Road Scholar, but I heard the people on my team complaining because the test was in timed stations. Mostly though, I think they thought the test was cool (like.... challenging, but not WAY too challenging).
Re: South California
Posted: April 11th, 2011, 6:56 pm
by Red_Mochi
Just wanted to give a shoutout to all the Caltech people here. I was really impressed by how the events were run and how the tests were written. In the past, the test writers had a tendency to include higher level math/calculus in the events involving calculations (Astronomy, Physics Lab, etc.) But the tests that I took this year (Astronomy and Wind Power) were very reasonable and followed the rules pretty well. Even the more difficult problems weren't clearly above the heads of highschoolers. I remember having to fudge some calculations and a proof on last year's Astronomy test but this year's test was on topic and still challenging.
Re: South California
Posted: April 11th, 2011, 8:35 pm
by obstinator
red mochi, or anyone that did astronomy for that matter...
do you know what they wanted for the question that asked how far back in redshift for 5 percent error...500km/s and Hubbles constant is 72?
thanks
Re: South California
Posted: April 11th, 2011, 10:11 pm
by PacificGoldenPlover
walkerofplanes wrote:State has always been close, but that's what's fun. Back when El Rancho was dominating, it was a thrill when Muscatel and Black Mountain did their best to usurp them. And now, everybody is trying to usurp Muscatel and Carmel Valley. It's a great time for Science Olympiad.
However, I can't wait for someone to get close to Troy. I would like Division C to be a nail biter, just like Division B.
Actually, last year, Troy only beat North Hollywood by 10 or so points (110-120 or something like that.) By comparison, Muscatel won by a comortable fifteen-twenty I believe.
Re: South California
Posted: April 12th, 2011, 12:58 am
by marty3
Let me know your thoughts on Mission Possible. I hope the feedback before the competition was useful. The devices were really awesome, so good job everyone!
Re: South California
Posted: April 12th, 2011, 9:13 pm
by bwy
marty3 wrote:Let me know your thoughts on Mission Possible. I hope the feedback before the competition was useful. The devices were really awesome, so good job everyone!
I thought it was pretty well-run.
I just wish you had sent out more "common misconceptions," and earlier too. Those really help a lot, and I think that goes for every building event, not just mission possible.
Re: South California
Posted: April 13th, 2011, 12:41 pm
by penclspinner
Wish I was at the awards ceremony, I could have made some bad science jokes...
Re: South California
Posted: April 23rd, 2011, 9:29 am
by yogoperson
prelude to death wrote:No, it's okay.... Insert Name Here and I still have one more year to go until breaking away from middle school (although we could always come back as 9th graders.....
) Well, El Rancho didn't go to State this year, and they're in our (Insert Name Here + me) school district, so we were just sort of glad that we beat them. Next year, I'll study even harder and try not to procrastinate too much.... The same thing happened at Regionals with us too. I think we missed the 4th place trophy by, like 4 points or something close to that. The numbers for State are really close this year though, aren't they? (Or is it just me?) I mean, in Div. B, 3 points separated 1st and 2nd place (poor Carmel Valley), 1 point separated 2nd and 3rd place, like... 20 points separated 3rd and 4th, over 50 points separated 4th and 5th, around 15 points separated 5th and 6th, and 1 point separated 6th and 7th. I think, isn't this year a really close run for Muscatel? But Div. C was pretty clear-cut. I mean, Troy escaped with medals in almost every event except for one or two and made a huge difference (almost as big as Muscatel at LA Regionals). They finished with around a mere 60 points, while NoHo (North Hollywood) was well in the mid-100s.
The score changed though. If you look closely at the scores again, Muscatel has the score of 123 meanwhile Carmel Valley got the score of 134. That's an 11 point lead.
Re: South California
Posted: April 23rd, 2011, 9:48 am
by prelude to death
yogoperson wrote:prelude to death wrote:No, it's okay.... Insert Name Here and I still have one more year to go until breaking away from middle school (although we could always come back as 9th graders.....
) Well, El Rancho didn't go to State this year, and they're in our (Insert Name Here + me) school district, so we were just sort of glad that we beat them. Next year, I'll study even harder and try not to procrastinate too much.... The same thing happened at Regionals with us too. I think we missed the 4th place trophy by, like 4 points or something close to that. The numbers for State are really close this year though, aren't they? (Or is it just me?) I mean, in Div. B, 3 points separated 1st and 2nd place (poor Carmel Valley), 1 point separated 2nd and 3rd place, like... 20 points separated 3rd and 4th, over 50 points separated 4th and 5th, around 15 points separated 5th and 6th, and 1 point separated 6th and 7th. I think, isn't this year a really close run for Muscatel? But Div. C was pretty clear-cut. I mean, Troy escaped with medals in almost every event except for one or two and made a huge difference (almost as big as Muscatel at LA Regionals). They finished with around a mere 60 points, while NoHo (North Hollywood) was well in the mid-100s.
The score changed though. If you look closely at the scores again, Muscatel has the score of 123 meanwhile Carmel Valley got the score of 134. That's an 11 point lead.
Wow.... They changed the score..... I would never have noticed that had you not pointed that out.... I looked back from the old scores, and the only thing that changed for Muscatel was the fact that they didn't place last in Can't Judge a Powder. Instead, they got 10th place, which considerably lessens their score. However, I didn't check for Carmel Valley, but if they were originally behind Muscatel by 3, and Muscatel went up by 16 points, Carmel Valley must have gone up by like.... 8 or so? (Correct me if my math is wrong or something...) I also noticed that our team's first place in Can't Judge dropped down to a 3rd.
Re: South California
Posted: April 29th, 2011, 10:38 pm
by sciencegeek100
LikeAGauss wrote:Whoever did ornitho, what was the answer to the monogamous relationship thing for the red-throated loons?
the answer is "mate fidelity"